Potatoes, level 2!

Four days ago I added a pallet collar to each potato bed. Man, those plants are exploding from the ground!

The theory behind the raising of the beds is simple:

A potato plant will grow to a certain height. What grows from the "armpits" (where a leave sprouts from the main stem) depends on the armpit being above the soil or below it i. e. in the light or in lightless conditions. If no light is present a root will form. This is where the potatoes develop. If exposed to sunlight a leaf will form. By adding another collar I effectively shorten the plant. The plant will now grow back to the height it "wants". Below the soil the snipped off armpits will now develop into roots that should produce more potatoes.

This is how everything looked when I started.

Here's what I did:

I snipped off all the leaves from the main stem on the area of the plant that would be covered in dirt. Like so:

Then I filled in the beds with dirt. I added a top layer of pot soil for a bit of extra nutrition as well. Here is the end result:

One of the beds is already growing hard and fast, so I'll probably be adding another collar within a week or so. The other bed is also growing, just not so fast. The plants were a bit smaller when I added the collar, so those will have a few weeks left to grow before adding the next collar.

Some pictures of growing plants. And a fireplace.

So today we spent weeding the beetroot, potatoes and the front yard. The parsnips aren't really visible and I'm starting to think they might have frozen during the one week of frost right after I planted them. Only time will tell I guess.

My girlfriend repotted the tomato plants! They are growing along nicely. These are the cherry tomato plants. The normal tomatoes didn't survive so far, so we planted a few more of those hoping the second try will give us viable plants.

Here are some pictures of the beetroot and potatoes. They seem to be coming along nicely.

And the beetroots too ofcourse. Can't leave them out. Cute little buggers.

 The rest of the yard will be filled in with gravel. I also wanted a fireplace so we can sit outside by the fire as long as the weather permits. Fires are great! An added bonus is that my girlfriend likes to dye wool. With a proper fireplace she'll be able to do so more efficiently, using less wood and get it doen in less time. So I got on the internets, found myself a stack of cheap fireproof bricks and got some of that fireproof (well, 1250 degrees Celsius proof) glue/kit/stuff. And here's the result!

It has to sit for 24 hours, then I'll get a small fire going to harden the glue completely. Next job: Get shoveling to level out the rest of the yard, buy gravel and fill it all in. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. It all depends on the weather and how I feel after the coming 4 night shifts.