The ‘taters have sprung forth their stems and leaves out of the soil. Hurray! Now it doesn’t look like a sad, brown bed anymore. And it looks rather orderly too. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with a tape measure… When they get to about 15cm high I will mound the soil up around them.
I also planted a few potatoes in compost in this blue barrel, which has drainage holes in the bottom and around the side near the bottom. This is how I’m used to growing potatoes to save space. It’s also way less labour intensive. We shall see which method produces more ‘taters though…
In other container-growing news, here is the lovely watercress that I’m growing. The watercress story goes like this. During winter, I bought a packet of salad mix for a short-notice lunch. It had watercress in it, and I noticed that a few pieces had tiny roots on them. Genius! I put them in a glass of water on the window sill where the roots and stems happily grew bigger. Then I planted them in this self-watering pot with potting mix. I’ve just made sure it stays wet, and the watercress is happy as Larry. Free watercress! I used my first harvest in a salad last week. It just has a ‘minor’ aphid problem that I need to deal with…
And speaking of salads, the lettuces are behaving like absolute beauties, giving us plenty of leaves for salad after salad. Ah, I love spring! Even if the weather is nuts. Lets keep lowering that fruit and vege bill. I think that’s enough segways for now. And in case you’re wondering, I haven’t just been doing gardening, I’ve also begun homemade Christmas decoration experimentation. Stay tuned…
Wild Hope Homestead 
Everything is starting to look very lush in your garden! I like to grow potatoes in two seasons – summer and autumn – to get the most crop all year round. I also haven’t had much luck growing them in barrels or tyre stacks, and had a whole season rot away one year – Ive been a bit gun-shy since. You can see my potato efforts from last year on the blog if you’re interested! http://bit.ly/1taxY5n
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Thanks! It is nice to have a bit of lushness as a reward for my continuous weed-control efforts. Your ‘taters from last year look tasty. =) I had problems with potatoes rotting in a barrel one year, but you just have to make sure there are plenty of drainage holes and that you don’t water them much. Although the soil may be dry on top, it often isn’t further down, so it pays to poke around a little if you’re not sure.
-Twiglet
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