I don't have time (or the energy!) to write much tonight, so I'll show some photos instead.
First of all.... the lord of the manor, hitching a ride in the neighbour's tractor.
Isn't he adorable!
The plot was rotavated the other day, so the Builder began erecting the frames again. Not all our vegetables will be inside 'cages', but they protect from the wind, rabbits and butterflies (there will be netting over the top).
Here's our hired help. The best kind of hired help is the help you don't actually hire. Work, for no hire. That's what I call a good deal.
Here are some of the tatties, waiting to be planted....
See Jackson? Helping. (You all remember the kind of help our toddlers were? Yep, we've got it all again with Jackson. Only worse...)
As always the Builder and Big Brother had meticulous planning discussions. The Wheres, Whens and Whats of all eventualities are gone over.
"Give me strength! Just put the potatoes into the ground. They don't care whether the furrow runs North to South or East to West. They don't even care whether they're straight or not."
"Yes they do!"
"No they don't. Get them into the ground!"
My patience was wearing thin.
Phew!
Oh this felt good.
Too complicated to give a running commentary, but just to let y'all know - Catherine and I were the ones doing the hard work.
DR and Big Brother have no bending. No aching backs. No hard work. But oh boy, plenty orders.
"Catherine, do it this way."
"Anne, for crying out loud, put that potato straight."
"Catherine, the spaces are too small."
"Anne, these potatoes are too far apart."
On and on....
Oh the joy of seedlings.
Ahhhh. Peas. They don't speak back to me.
Coriander doesn't order me about...
And just before I leave you all. Come and see the ...
yep, you guessed it. Tonight's sunset. Ahhhh.
love it! that first pic is adorable! that looks like lots of tatties...are they just for your family??
ReplyDeletehave a great rest of the weekend~
BEAUTIFUL sunset! Beautiful seedlings! That's a heap of taters! Do you all eat that many?
ReplyDeleteAnd Jackson...oh Jackson...what a cutie!
Dear Anne,
ReplyDeleteOh, my dear, my body aches for you! We haven't planted our taters yet...our ground is still a bit too wet. I noticed that you plant your whole...we cut our up first. Have you found that you get better results leaving them whole?
My husband and I were noticing all the fencing you have to put up...what a lot of work! You must get quite a bit of wind. Our biggest issue is with the deer...but I have an organic spray that I make that helps out in that area. Our rabbit population is way down...so they don't present too much of a problem.
Jackson is so adorable...I remember that puppy stage...neverending energy!
Have a blessed evening,
Laura
Go, Jackson, go! I love it!!!
ReplyDeletePerfect sunset.....sleep well....after your hard work today, I think you will.
Jackson is a crack up. He is definitely a character. Love it all, those furrows look great.
ReplyDeleteTell us about the potatoes... are you growing for you and big brother and families, or are you going to be selling any. I am wanting get an idea of how much planting it takes to feed a family for a year.
Great pictures,
Many Blessings,
Pam
Loved the pictures and the quip about the 'hired help'! And, yes, that hitch hiking dog is adorable. I'm sure our two dogs think they are 'real working dogs' when they get to do this - they are employed part-time at the dairy farm where my daughter works but only one gets to go down to the farm on the quad bike and the other one has to walk!
ReplyDeleteI am a bad friend...there for the easy work, sick for the hard part. Rest! Start making me a list of things that can be done in the evenings in these hours and hours of daylight.
ReplyDeleteI hope precious pup doesn't get a notion to dig up tatties!
ReplyDeleteI always thought we ought to half the tatties - as long as there was an eye in each part. But hubby reckons they're better going in whole - the more eyes and sprouts, the better.
ReplyDeletePam, last year, we had ...maybe the equivelent of 3 of these trays (as opposed to 4 this year - that's the furrows I've shown in the photos and an extra 3 on the other side of the plot). We had a really poor harvest last year, but even then, we had potatoes for our family from the October lifting until last month. We eat lots of potatoes - hubby and his brother do like rice and pasta, but at heart...they're real potato men!
I told Jackson what you've all said. He thanks you all for your comments, but isn't at all surprised y'all love him. He reckons he's pretty adorable too ...! x
Wow everything looks like it is coming along wonderfully a lot of hard work going on ~That picture of your pup hitching a ride is too cute!! Praying you have a most Bountiful Harvest!! Love Heather
ReplyDeleteOh my, so funny!
ReplyDeleteWe always cut our potatoes before planting, but I'm not nearly as much of a perfectionist as the gardeners you work with seem to be. ;-)