First Day In The Raised Bed Kitchen Garden ~ Planting Potatoes

It's the first day in the garden. I'm a few weeks behind but everything will be fine; slow and steady wins the race. I only really have about 30 minutes each day to spend working in the raised beds but I'm hoping to be rewarded more than 10 fold.

My rewards were evident today. The weather was beautiful; nice and warm with a cooling breeze. When I directed my attention to the kitchen garden and turned the soil in my first bed I was greeted with beautiful, living soil. 

It was teaming with beneficial bugs and rich with composted rabbit manure and straw. The texture was spongy and it smelled fresh and earthy. I forget every winter how wonderful our garden system is. 

Today was potato planting day. I always manage to forget to order potatoes for planting so instead I grabbed a couple of bags of organic potatoes that I picked up at the grocery store. They had been growing roots in the pantry for a while. It doesn't take very many potatoes to plant a 4' by 6' raised bed. Especially since you only need a few eyes from each potato.

Using an old shovel handle to create holes was especially helpful in planting today. I know all the gardening books say to dig trenches for planting and to fill them in to mounds as the potatoes grow However, I don't have time to babysit these plants. They will come up fine and give us buckets of potatoes by the end of the year. At least, that's the plan and what has worked in years past.

Watering in after planting is essential. I'll have to make sure and water deeply every day. It's much easier to water with a hose but our collapsible, long hose sprung a leak last fall and we haven't replaced it yet.

30 minutes goes by quickly. Turning that first bed and planting some potatoes were the accomplishments for today. 

Here's hoping you have success in all your endeavors,
Jess

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"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." 1 Corinthians 3:6