Connie–We’ve been having crazy wind here, too! All my cloches blew off my gardens and I found them in a pile. I”m so glad that you were able to rescue some plants and eat the others!

Jaimie–Welcome to DigginFood! I’m so happy to hear that you find my site helpful and kudos for starting a garden and getting chickens. It sounds like you have the perfect spot for a veggie garden. All veggies need at least 6 hours of bright, direct sun each day. Since you live in the NW I highly recommend you buy the booklet Maritime Northwest Garden Guide. It has info on what to plant month-by-month and suggest varieties that are good for our climate. But cherry tomatoes, beets, chard, and greens are always a sure thing up here. Have fun!

Oh well, at least all is not lost!

Potatoes were an experiment for us this year. We have unbearably hot summers (ave. temps of 110) and they just don’t grow in this heat (or so I’ve been told). Anyway, we planted some in Nov. and a few in Feb. They all pretty much produced at the same time, the earlier ones went dormant thru most of the winter and both got a bit of frost damage but recovered quickly.

Unfortunately, after looking strong and healthy for so long, they have developed some sort of disease AND bugs are eating them. We’ve had to pull up quite a few before the spuds have fully developed (hence the rather small tots – tho some plants actually had full sized potatoes as well).

We are going to be doing a bit more research on how to better handle the issues that came up (we’re completely organic so we didn’t spray and we did get lots of lady bugs).
One of the good things about planting in the parkway was that I met some resources for the future. Several people would be walking by and say, “Oh my mom used to grow potatoes.” Hopefully, they will not mind my pesky questions.

When do your pototes go in the ground? Do you plant in dirt or use straw? Any diseases I should be aware of? (this is where the pesky questions come into play)

thanks!

Maureen–I’m curious why you have early potatoes. I’m jealous…I haven’t even gotten around to planting mine yet!

Sandy–I used to have the same problems with beets until I had this fantastic beet salad with anise seed vinaigrette at a picnic. I am not a beet fanatic!

Dee–Thanks for being apart of the exchange. I hope you get a fun recipe and seeds in return.

Erica–glad that I can save you some time in the future. In the meantime, enjoy your perfectly spaced radishes.

Michelle–I agree, eating greens is more fun when you watched them grow in your own garden.

Robin–Can’t wait to come to your plant sale in May and pick up some of your greens.

I just discovered your blog b/c of the article in Sunset. I am thrilled to find a local gardening blog — I live in the Seattle area. Looking forward to learning more. I am growing spring veggies this year because we visited a CSA in Fall City — Jubilee Farm — last summer and it got my kids hooked on bok choi and lots of good veggies. They chose seeds at the store and bok choi was the first seed packet they chose. There is nothing like watching your seeds sprout, then eventually eating them. I am looking forward to learning from you.