Thursday, August 4, 2011

down in the dirt

The kids like to take a little stroll through the yard before bed. We often read stories in the hammock, and they watch the fireflies light up the dusk, count the bats that dive through the air and check for any strawberries that may have ripened under the day's sun.

I take the time to check on the garden beds, where lately I strain to see my carrots among all the weeds and try in vain to redirect the expanding squash and melon vines that threaten to take a hold on all else that grows around them. I've long since given up on our potato box. The plants never flowered as some potatoes do, and with all the extreme heat we've had lately, it seemed they had been cooked. The tops turned brown, then wilted, and then disappeared. Oh well, potatoes do well in cold weather, so if I can find more sets maybe I can try again before winter.

Making our rounds the other evening, I sunk my hands into the dirt inside the potato box and wondered at what seemed to be wood at the bottom of the box. Odd, I thought, since we didn't put any wood under the plants. As I dug a little more, I realized that it wasn't wood I hit upon, but.... potatoes!



The kids and I couldn't believe it! We dug in and found lots of potatoes! Red potatoes! Gold potatoes! (Can you tell how excited I am by these potatoes?) So we didn't acheive the full effect of the box, likely because I let the plants get too tall and go for too long without piling on more soil. But we have our first potatoes, with more still in the ground, and that sure does make this gal feel good.



The best part is that we still can plant more potatoes before winter, and there will be such excitement all over again!

3 comments:

C. Howell said...

Doesn't it feel good to dig up those first potatoes?

Lindsay said...

Potatoes! Hooray! Our potatoes were a dismal failure this year - one plant came up. Oh well, we'll try again later :)

Amanda Greco Holmes said...

Sorry to hear about your potatoes, Lindsay. I wish I knew more about what makes some plants grow well one year and not at all the next. Just makes me that much more appreciative of the farmers who have it figured out!