Since spring took it’s sweet old time getting here we were a little late with getting our crops in the ground. Everything has been in for a few weeks now and things are coming a long nicely.

I’m so excited to eat some fresh veggies right off the plants again this summer.

The Mommyland Farm

So what’s new?

This year we were able to use our compost to fill some of the beds. The stuff had a certain aroma that I wasn’t quite fond of but Bill assures me is really healthy.

We decided not to do eggplants this year since they never get big enough for humans to eat before the animals get to them. It’s fine with me, I’m not a big eggplant fan anyway.

Instead of the eggplants we are doing strawberries. Who doesn’t like strawberries?!?

We switched the potatoes and the carrots around mostly because the one bed had more soil than the other.

We have added an irrigation system! With the new system we hope to use less water and be more efficient with watering the plants. Each bed has two of the little sprinklers. Now instead of watering the entire area in and around the garden just the plants will get the water they need.

One of the irrigation heads

No new security measures have been taken except that we sprinkle what I call death around the entire garden to help keep the critters away. The stuff smells so God awful that it makes me gag but it’s supposed to deter the animals from coming around. To be honest, I think it’s only kind of working. The things in the back two beds (peas and cucumbers) are being attacked by the furry “friends”. Maybe it’s time to fix the hole that someone dug under the fence back there.

How’s it going?

Besides the aforementioned nibbling of the peas and cucumbers things are coming along nicely. The tomato plants are getting bigger by the day and the carrots that never made it last year are going strong.

We’ve got a few flowers here and there which of course is a sign of food to come.

This year’s Mommyland Farm will include: peas, cucumbers, strawberries, grape tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, potatoes, and carrots.

Off The Farm we have set up a small, potted herb garden on the front porch. Last year the squirrels got to all my herbs and we had nothing. This year we have basil, cilantro, parsley, and oregano. 

Herbs

OK, now my tummy is growling just thinking about all the goodness we’re going to have this summer.

Do you have a garden? What will you be growing this summer?

This Spud’s For You!

We had mix results on The Farm this year, mostly because of the damn animals eating everything they could get their furry little lips on. The cucumbers, peas and carrots all ended up being a lost cause and the weeds quickly took over their beds.

We tried our luck with potatoes this year. Neither one of us know a thing about potatoes but we got a little guidance from good old Google and figured we would get a little something from our potato plants. The other day when Bill and the boys were out in the garden cleaning up they decided to check out the potatoes and see if we’d have any to enjoy.

Man we hit the jackpot with the potatoes! As Bill pulled the plants from the ground it was like a potato bonanza, each plant yielding more than the one before. Within a half an hour we had a five gallon bucket filled to the rim with fresh potatoes. There were some BIG ones too!

This isn’t even a quarter of our haul

I have to admit, I’ve been very stingy in sharing my potatoes. I begrudgingly gave my mom six or eight and I refuse to let anyone else have them now that I’ve tasted them.

That’s right, they are the most delicious potatoes I’ve ever eaten. Bill fried a few up with some onions, olive oil and seasoning and they were melt in your mouth yummy. We even got Cameron to try some and he LOVED them.

I’m looking forward to homemade chips and fries, maybe even some hash browns. Of course we’ll be frying some more up for dinner tonight!

The potatoes are by far my favorite thing from the garden this year.

What is your favorite thing from your garden this year? Did you get an unexpected yield like we did?