Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday!

Last weekend, I spent a bit of time

helping a friend plant her garlic.

These first few shots are of her fabulous homestead.

Yep, she's a chicken lady.

Her husband is a handy guy who fashioned this chicken tractor.

I love that it provides ventilation, shade 

and protection from both rain and predators. 

The best part is that it's mobile,

so they can graze wherever you move it.

Handsome fellow

white sweet potato bed

 Back at our place,

I did manage to plant some snap peas along the arches,

which promptly came up in about 5 days.

Another bed was filled with chard, kale, lettuce and spinach seeds,

and we're still waiting for them to germinate.

We were blessed with almost an inch of rain this week,

with more predicted for Sunday.

We welcome it.

 All of the sweet potatoes were harvested this week,

and are now curing for 10-14 days.

The orange sweet potatoes yielded only 3 pounds,

while the white variety offered up 18 pounds of spuds.

It was difficult to dig these up because

they got so long that they embedded themselves into the clay

beneath the bed.

When I grow them again, I will be sure to make the bed one layer higher

so that they will be easier to harvest.

Next year, I'd like to plant a lot more,

so that some can be donated to our local food bank. 

These will not last us too long,

as C and I eat them often.

Live and learn.

dried loofah gourds

Today I plan to plant the garlic cloves I grew last year.

It's a highly satisfying crop,

and the result was the best garlic we've ever tasted.

I'm hoping to get some beets, broccoli, and more kale planted as well.

With the weather finally cooperating,

it's just a matter of time before we have goodies

from the garden again.