Yesterday was more about getting more work than actually doing it. The first order of business was to go out in the morning to Weston Nurseries. The front yard of our landscaping was going in this weekend. Well the rest of it at least. The edibles in the front had already gone in.
We got: a 'Radsunny' Knockout Rose, a Callicarpa 'Early Amethyst', three 'Mountain Fire' Andromidas, three white creeping phlox, a 'Jelena' witch hazel, 10 'Sulphure' epimediums, and five 'Mrs. Moon' pulmonaria. This will fill in most of our front yard foundation plantings and the small bed at the end of the rock wall garden in the north corner of the yard. We will have to come again and pick up the side and back yard plants next week.
When we got home my townhouse mate asked me if I wanted to go for a bike ride. I hesitated since I wanted to plant up the end of the rock wall garden that will just have flowers. But then I remembered that I needed my seed potatoes. I called Wilson's Farm yet again (I've been doing this every day for a week now and weekly before that). Finally they said yes. They had their potatoes in. The bike path goes right down to Wilson's Farm so I said yes to the bike ride. I'll plant the bed another day.
Now the potatoes are chitting by the back door (Kennebec, Yukon Gold, and Russet). I can see some signs of life from them already, but a week in the sun, or at least a few days ought to do them good.
When we got back from the bike ride there was a package by the door. My last fruit trees had shown up. Ginger Gold and Honeycrisp apples for the back yard and a Green Gage plum for the rock wall garden. I guess we will plant those this weekend too. I've got a lot of work to do, but for this I'll have help. All four of us will be out working this morning.
Looks like you have some great varieties of potatoes to plant. I had to look up your Ginger Gold apple, it sounds like a wonderful flavored early producer and one that I will have to keep my eye out for. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have everyone home when there is all that work to do! Have a good and productive weekend!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed with number of fruits that you are growing.
ReplyDeleteExcellent prospects for your weekend ahead! Lots of work but at the end you are going to have such a wonderful edible and visually beautiful landscape. :D
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you are having a ball, planting with a clean slate!
ReplyDeleteAlas, I find I have no room for potatoes this year, and that's one crop I do so enjoy bringing in fresh. Next year I'll have to plan more carefully, I really didn't need so many cabbage and broccoli plants, one of the beds could have been used for potatoes.
what a lovely fruit and veg garden you will have
ReplyDeleteAlthough you're ahead of us weather wise and planting time, I'm surprised that your potatoes came in so late. We've had those varieties in our zone over a month ago!
ReplyDeleteI think the seed potato on the East Coast ships later than on the west ... I called Wood Prairie Farm to check on my order of Rose Golds and they weren't going to ship them for another 3 weeks. They shipped right away when I asked them to. I ran out of room in my beds, too...all my potatoes are in boxes or wine barrels this year.
ReplyDeleteYou can bike ride to a farm. Very nice! And those potatoes look good. Lots of eyes that can be split if desired.
ReplyDeleteAnd more fruit trees. Wow, looking forward to the finished product. Lots of fun work ahead. Enjoy!
Mr. H, I fell in love with it at the farmers market. It was one of the first out there and still tasted really good. They don't keep well, but that's OK I can always turn them in to sauce.
ReplyDeleteRobin, getting my townhouse mates to be here on the weekend is the key. They are so often out and about. I'm much more of a homebody. Though if I hadn't been out planting all morning each day I certainly would have been out for something. It was such a beautiful weekend.
Diana, I just wish I could grow citrus too. Way too cold for that. But at least the apples grow very well here.
Laura, I hope so. It will take a while to fill in though.
Granny, Last year I didn't have any potatoes. I usually don't have any ore not many. But this year we have so many. It will be interesting to see if we can eat them all.
cathy, thanks
RandomGardener, I don't know why they don't ship them out earlier here. I wish they would. They said they were later than usual though because of the cold weather this spring.
Deb, I just wish I could get my hands on them at the start of April instead of the end of April. Then they would have enough time to chit before planting.
Sinfonian, I can. It is a farm in the burbs. Inside the 128 belt around Boston. The land is actually conservation land that Lexington rents to them.
I love Wilson's Farm. They have the best chocolate milk and the field is so pretty in the fall. Good luck on the potatoes!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a busy weekend. I was just wondering what you were doing with the potatoes in the egg cartons? Last year we planted about 50 lbs of potatoes and ended up with several hundred lbs. We gave most of them away as gifts but had enough to sustain us and my parents through winter with enough "seed" to plant this years crop. To plant them we just dig trenches, if the potatoes are large cut them in several pieces, throw them in the trench and cover. If we get a cold/frosty night we just cover the potato plants up with dirt.
ReplyDeleteThomas, I've never had their chocolate milk. But I love seeing their fields. I used to come close to causing accidents there because I wanted to see the field and wasn't paying enough attention. Now though I bike there, so its safer.
ReplyDeleteKacee, I'm chitting the potatoes. It isn't a necessary step so late in the season, but useful for early planted ones. I've actually cut some of the larger ones up and now the wounds are healing over. Again some plant right after cutting and some people think letting them heal over is better. Everyone does it differently.