Potatoes!

We planted seed potatoes about 3 months ago and the plants were growing really well until a few weeks ago when they started to die of and be eaten by slaters and bugs. We thought they were a lost cause. This morning Ken suggested that we go down to the vegie patch and pull out the plants that were worthless.

Ken pulled out all the straw that was in around the potato plants and then pulled out the plants themselves, there were a few small potatoes, which Ken gave to me to put on the bench. He then dug through the soil (that looks so much healthier than when we started) and there were more potatoes. He asked me to get a bucket 'cause there was getting to be a pile of them. We filled one 20 litre bucket with potatoes and then we filled a 10 litre bucket.

So our potato patch that we thought was going to be a failure has reaped rewards. We have estimated that we have 10-15 kilograms of spuds from half a $6 bag of seed potatoes. I hope Dad's potatoes are just as successful - he's got the other half of the bag!

These potatoes were grown in the soil that had been dug through with sheep manure and protected by straw. We watered them regularly and used no chemicals on them.

Artichokes!

Three of the artichokes are ready to be eaten.

Ken is going to cook Fettucine with Artichokes.

I forgot to take a photo of the dish when it was

served up, but I would have paid for it. I have

never had fresh artichokes before, it was a

beautiful meal!

Vegie Harvest!

We've got so many vegies we did up a box load

for Deb (Ken's sister) and her family.

Parsnips, carrots, leeks, spring onions and

beetroot.

Updated Vegie Patch Photos

Here are some updated photos of our vegie patch.

At this stage we have 3 garden beds with

vegetables growing.

We have leek, cauliflower, rocket, lettuce

and corn in this bed.

The artichoke - it has been in the garden almost as

long as we have been living here and it is finally starting

to bear fruit!

This bed has potatoes and kale.

We harvested the onions a bit too early, apparently

we were supposed to leave them in the ground until

the tops died off, but they are still edible, they will

just be a bit green - oh well it's the first time we've

ever grown onions, really its the first time we've

grown any of these vegies!

Ken's first gig with the Mary Janes

Friday night Ken played his first gig with the Mary Janes at the Pier Hotel. They had a good crowd, management were happy. They had a crowd up dancing almost all evening everyone enjoyed themselves - except me who wasn't able to dance (because of my knee) - so I just had to sit and drink!

New vegie garden!

We were so pleased with our success with our existing vegie patch that we have expanded and created another garden bed. Dad came around to help Ken build the new bed, around the soil and manure. We have planted beetroot seedlings, parsnip, carrot and onion seeds and thinned out the onion seedlings that we had already planted.

Brining Olives

Bruce's olive trees were laden with olives so we picked some, so that Ken can have a go at brining and pickling them. The olives were washed. Each one was scored and then put in the brine. They are washed and changed every couple of days.