Tuesday, 17 March 2015

Potato Planting on A Bank Holiday Tuesday.


Happy St Patrick's Day.  It's a bank holiday here in Ireland.  The weather is fantastic at the moment and we have got a lot done around the farm and on the vegetable garden.



The orchard.  Planted 2 more apple trees yesterday.  Then I cleared the weeds with a bucket and my trusty Azada digging hoe.  Today I forked it over with the four prong pike and the old long handled Celtic shovel.  I always have one or 2 tools to work with me.  I fluctuate from the pike too the shovel and any roots like nettles and couch grass get picked up and dumped over the hedgerow.  I also split some Phormiums (Newzealand Flax) and made new plants.  They are great for wrapping the leaves around the petrol strimmer.  I am going to rake the soil out and sow some grass seed in a week or so.  I will wait for Lidl or Aldi to get some in.  Last yearI made my Lidl lawn for 12 Euros.
The rest of the potatoes got planted today.  Well it is St Parick's day and it's traditional to plant them on this day in Ireland.
 Tne 'new' orchard from a different angle.

 Seed potatoes waiting to be covered up.  Being the tight wad that I am.  I cut the seed potatoes in half and planted them.  It saved me having to buy another bag.  Hopefully they won't rot.  It will be intersting to see how fruitful the cut seed potatoes will be against the not cut seed potatoes?  I once knew somebody who grew his potatoes from potato skins - honest!
One of the blogs I follow: An English Homestead:  Kev shows us his latest veg plot gate today.  Here's one number one son made for me.  He bought the galvanized tube from the local farm centre and welded it together, flattening the weldd joints withe sledge hammer.  It should last a long time!  
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16 comments:

  1. Kev Alviti17 March 2015 at 09:42

    Thanks for the mentio but your gate looks a better job than mine and should last a lot longer! I'll be lucky to get three years out of the wood ive used.
    I'm getting my potatoes in this week now. I got given some black ones last night at a talk I went to so it'll be Interesting to see what they taste like.
    Is your garden rabbit proof? The little buggers would strip mine bare if I gave them the chance. I need to get out more with the gun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. northsider 17 March 2015 at 11:17

    Your gate looks great Kev. Hardwood gates cost a lot of money. You could make them and sell them. Traditional rustic stuff!

    I saw some black Polish potatoes on Ebay a few weeks a go.

    No it's not very rabbit proof. But we don't see many of them these days. I think myxomatosis and lots of foxes must have culled their numbers here.

    Thanks!

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  3. Vera17 March 2015 at 14:13

    Crikey, we haven't gone anywhere near our veg plot yet, but I did have a thought today that perhaps we would keep a low profile with veggies this year and concentrate on getting other things finished, sort of 'clearing the decks' so we don't stretch ourselves so much so we can make veggies our priority next year. Of course it is possible that we might change our minds!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 18 March 2015 at 01:44

      Hi Vera. I don't think it matters how big the veg plot is. I grassed over 30 percent of ours last year. It's easier to keep tidy than becoming a labour of love or even chore. The poly-tunnel is providing us with all our veg plants and we are also making new plants for the flower garden. Thanks!

      Delete
  4. Twiggy17 March 2015 at 14:16

    Happy St Patrick's Day Dave !!
    Twiggy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 18 March 2015 at 01:45

      Same to you Twiggy. The English should celebrate St George's Day. Give everybody another bank holiday and it's also Shakespeare's birthday!

      Delete
  5. Chickpea17 March 2015 at 15:15

    Happy St Patricks Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. northsider 18 March 2015 at 01:46

      Thanks Chickpea. I believe Easter is going to be an heatwave in Britain - 80 degrees even!

      Delete
  6. Anne Wilson18 March 2015 at 07:08

    We also got all our first earlies planted yesterday, main crop gets planted at Easter.
    St Georges day is an important day in many parts of Spain, it is celebrated by the men giving their ladies a red rose and the ladies give their men a book.

    ReplyDelete
  7. northsider 18 March 2015 at 08:07

    Good for you, Anne. Do you spray your potatoes against blight? We only grow earlies and I normally just cut the tops off with the strimmer.

    Never knew that Spain celebrated saint George. You would think England would celebrate him and give every body a day off. The politicians never refer to England or English any more it's always being British and living in Britain.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anne Wilson18 March 2015 at 10:38

    Have never sprayed Dave, prefer not to have a dose of poison with my meal, first earlies should be ready before blight strikes but if it does happen as you say just cut of the foliage to ground level and burn the foliage, never compost it. and we grow Sarpo Mira for main crop, we also spray the earlies with stinging nettle juice and use plenty of seaweed, either fresh or seaweed meal.

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  9. northsider 18 March 2015 at 12:32

    I don't like spraying chemicals or poisoning my food either, Anne. I have even heard people asking for: "weedkiller to spray around the potato plants". The mind boggles.

    Sounds a good idea to burn the foliage. I have grown Sarpo Mira in the past. Think they originate in Hungary and are said to be blight resistant. We have collected seaweed from the pebble beach down the road. Have also seen it for sale in garden centres. Thanks!

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  10. Anne Wilson18 March 2015 at 12:52

    I agree Dave the mind boggles, I wonder how all these chemically addicted people will get on when they have to produce the document proving they have done a course on the safe use of agricultural herbicides.

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  11. northsider 18 March 2015 at 13:04

    We just don't know what's sprayed on our food, do we? I can pick a lettuce and it will wilt. Buy one from a supermarket and it stays the same for at least a day before wilting. I have read that handling 'bag manure' (granulated fertilizer) with no glove scan lead to Parkinson's disease. I know a lot of garden chemicals are banned because of the danger they caused.

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  12. Anonymous21 March 2015 at 05:34

    Unfortunately, a lot are not!

    ReplyDelete
  13. northsider 21 March 2015 at 12:59

    You are right Irene.

    ReplyDelete

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