There's a paddock on the right of our driveway that has been growing a lovely crop of
gorse since we have lived here. Every year it gets slashed and a couple of times we've had a
groomer in but we have never gotten on top of it.
We have never planted it out because we've never had the water or the need for the extra space, but this year we have and we do.
A potato crop is a great way to start off new ground as it breaks up the ground as the potatoes grow.
A potato crop is also a great way to out compete the weeds because they grow a dense ground cover smothering them.
First Dave passed down and created each row on his tractor by ripping and rotary hoeing and then Bren went behind on his tractor and using an angled grader blade dug the trenches.
Wearing apple picking bags full of seed potatoes and potatoes from last year's crop, we walked along the trenches dropping the spuds in and kicking in dirt from the mounds on the sides to cover them.
The whole of last Friday Bren, Liam, Andy and I dropped and covered, dropped and covered.
We planted 20 varieties of potatoes;
Pink Fur Apples,
Ruby Lou,
Royal Blue,
Kipfler,
Desiree,
Dutch Cream,
Pink Eye,
Red Star,
Bintje,
Up To Date (Scottish variety 1894),
Purple Congo,
Tolangi,
Nicola,
Banana,
Bismark,
Saphire,
Spunta,
Cranberry,
Symphonia,
Pontiac,
and a couple of unnamed, unlabelled surprise varieties.
On Saturday it was Bren, his Dad John and I, and after lunch we realised we were racing against the clock to finish the job before the rain came. We changed the process at that point to me and Bren sitting on the back of the ute that John was driving. He drove up and down the rows and we dropped the spuds in and the occasional one through the car window (by accident).
It is such a great feeling to be covering up the last row as the rain sets in. And then to sit inside enjoying the rain and the feeling of a job completed.
The spuds will grow in that paddock for the next five months. As they come through the soil Bren will drag more soil off the mounds getting rid of the weeds on the mounds and on the growing potatoes.
You keep covering potatoes as they grow through the soil so they keep putting out roots. On each root they put out on their way up to the sun they grow potatoes, so the more times you cover them, the more potatoes you reap.
So we'll see you back here in late Autumn and because of the wonderful (and very handsome) list maker, we'll know which variety is which.
Our garlic has been in the ground for six weeks.
This year we've planted most of it in between the new apple trees.
Better look busy, the supervisors are on their way.
Farmer Bren is checking how much the roots have grown in six weeks.
Pretty impressive huh?
Once you remove last year's garlic clove,
you are left with the start of this year's bulb.
He likes to taste things to see how they are going, but can't understand why I wouldn't kiss him for the rest of the afternoon.
Liam is hoeing between the little garlics,
and playing funny buggers.
Its looking like a wonderful crop so far.
