Pass me that shovel - the potatoes are going in!

Many things in my life may not be as they should, but the same cannot be said when it comes to my garden. This year, I'm off to the best and earliest start of my gardening career.

After plowing a layer of dead leaves into the garden to add nutrients, I'm ready to put in some potatoes! Normally around here (Northern BC Canada) they'd be planted in May, but I'm doing everything 1-2 months early this year. I'm predicting an early (and hot, and dry) Summer, with watering restrictions and wildfires. While other local gardeners are sitting on their seeds and waiting for May long weekend (last weekend of May), I've had seeds in the soil since March. I intend to produce food for my family here, no matter what the weather throws at us this year.

That bag is the leftovers after enjoying the rest over the Winter. I bought them at the local farmers market in September for $5. Really tasty little pink spuds (pink on the inside as well as the outside), which are obviously suited for growing in this region. I didn't finish the bag before they started getting a little dehydrated sometime around February, so I decided to set them aside for planting in the Spring.

They're ready! Little sprouts are showing up all over.

After digging a bunch of holes, I decided this section of the back plot can fit 20 potato plants.

Into each hole went 3 sprouting potatoes and a sprinkle of diatomaceous earth. I think it will help reduce the damage from wireworms, although I'm seeing less of them this year anyway, because now I'm growing in soil that didn't just have grass removed from it.

Voila, ready to go. If 2 of the 3 potatoes in each hole produce a plant, this plot will be filled with bushy green potato plants in a couple months.

I intend to do some more potatoes, of other varieties, but I don't have any starter stock on hand. I may visit a local nursery, or wait until the farmers market starts back up in a few weeks. I'll probably do a couple more potato patches like this one.

Here are the latest 2 yard update photos:

In the second update photo, taken today, you can see the entire length of the garden has been plowed (using a shovel and elbow grease). There's a small strip of grass in the middle so I don't have to walk all the way around the perimeter.

There are quite a few rows already sowed in addition to the potato patch I just did.

The spinach is coming up! Doesn't look like much right now, but give it a few weeks and we'll be picking the first batch for lunch.

There's a pea plant coming up, reminding me I'm going to need to build a new support system for all my peas. I've got 3 rows in already, and they're all the climbing types.

A row of daffodils out front. I put the bulbs in there in October. The dandelions are getting their game on too, but we've got a plan to deal with them, don't worry.

I'm quite happy I started my gardening so early this year. I have to admit, I felt a bit strange in a Winter jacket trying to turn over frozen ground, but aside from a few learning experiences, I've had great success already. This is actually the point last year when I began digging, and it took me 6 weeks of daily work to remove the grass to form this garden. I'm sooooo far ahead of that this year. Now, if only I could run the rest of my life the way I run my garden... Working on it.

Grow in peace.
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