The Final Product

This phase of my farming endeavors has been a real success, despite the drought. The Irish potato has been the biggest win so far. I got thirteen potatoes from the one I planted. I reaped them about fourteen weeks in because the leaves had started to wither and I wasn’t sure if it meant they needed better care or if it was time to reap. Farmer Google had said about 18 weeks so I figured I would check to see if they were edible.I took two first.

I was careful in digging because I didn’t want to damage the potatoes so I used a gardening fork to loosen the soil and then used my hands to dig through the bucket.

They were very soft and had a pure flavor which I do not get from the store bought potato. So, you may have guessed it, I dug up the others 🙂 . They were just as delightful and worth every ounce of effort I put in.

As for the other things in the ground, I continue to reap. I had the last of the leeks, and the green onions are still going; I think I will reap them one last time in the next week and plant a new set. These ones are getting thin. I haven’t yet checked the growth of the garlic but I think they are okay. I will check on them soon. The sweet potato is still going. It seems to have stalled in its growth after I put it in the ground; the leaves were severely burnt from the sun. I am thinking, I should have gradually transitioned it into direct sunlight. Anyway, It has started sending out new leaves so I am expecting ‘big tings’ from it.

Over the last two weeks we’ve been blessed with rain so I planted some cantaloup, watermelon, and pumpkin seeds. We’ll see how these perform in the coming months.

In the meantime, how is your posh farm coming along? I hope you have been able to reap from what you have sown. Until next time…Happy Posh Farming 🙂

Two weeks after!

I returned to my abandoned farm and I am in shock! 😮

The Irish potato has almost doubled in height, the scallion is tall and thin (not sure why), and the leeks have outgrown the pot and has toppled over. Just think how far they’ve come in such a short time. So, I am happy to report that I used scallions from my posh farm in my soup yesterday….yes, I had split peas soup 🙂 . I will use the leeks tomorrow and I am thinking I may also make some fritters just so I can use some more of my escallion 😀

As for the onion, I’m not sure what’s happening there. I will keep the pot just as is and see if anything eventually emerges. The leaves on the garlic are looking very well. According to farmer Google, the garlic will be ready to reap when the middle leaves have made a full circle. Some of them have already made a 180 degree turn so I am waiting to see the full circle 🙂 .

Cut escallion

Leeks got too big for the pot

Cut leeks

Leeks and escallion

The sweet potato now spends most of its time on its side because it is too tall for the container. It is almost a foot tall and I am not sure what to do with it. I think I am going to ask my neighbor (the one re the hog plums :)) because he has sweet potato growing in his yard.

Garlic

Irish potato…still growing

Roots on the sweet potato

Very tall potato (still on the window sill)

Leeks, Onion and Garlic

Update – Potato, carrot and escallion. The tallest potato plant is 12 inches tall. Nothing else appears to be different. It continues to grow on the surface but I guess the magic continues underground. The carrot and the lettuce died 😦 . I changed the water for the carrot every other day but it still rotted. The lettuce initially showed some potential but it also died. It could be that I placed it in the soil too quickly. I may try again, but in the meantime, I’ve concluded that it might be more practical to grow carrots and lettuce from seeds.

The escallion is now between 4-7 inches; it’s incredible! Each stalk can yield enough new growth for one meal after 1-2 weeks in either soil or water. Both approaches seem to produce the same level of growth, but I noticed that the one in the soil had a darker shade of green when compared to the ones in the water. I also prefer the soil method because the water method is too much work. To avoid breeding mosquitoes I had to change the water daily and that could not work during periods of abandonment. Now I’ve put everything in soil and left the pot under the eave. I will check back on them in two weeks.

Now unto growing leeks, onion and garlic.

Onions and garlic are a usual part of my shopping but leeks is something new. I chose it because it had roots growing from the base….these days I am more vigilant in my grocery shopping. I am happy to see roots because I may be able to regrow the produce… I had no idea how to prepare leeks so I decided to learn.

Leeks – had it in the fridge too long

Potted leeks

I removed the base just like I did with the escallion and lettuce and I potted it straight into the soil (using water to start is becoming tiresome). I am trusting that the roots that are on it are not too badly damaged from being in my refrigerator for about two weeks before being used. I used the rest of the leeks to make a shepherds pie (my first). I complemented it with red onions, cabbage, callaloo, carrots and broad beans. It turned out just great…yummy 🙂 .

Back to planting.

For the garlic, I separated some cloves and potted five of them (the biggest ones) directly in the soil. In each instance I tried not to disturb the bottom of the clove because I am hoping that’s where the roots will come out. I poured soil in a planter and placed the base of each clove down, while spacing them about 3 inches apart. I then covered them fully with more soil (about an inch). Let’s see what happens.

Garlic for planting

As for the onion, I planted about one-third of it – the bottom part which had some very dry roots; I am hoping that life will return to the onion. I’m also not sure how to plant onions and farmer Google wasn’t of much help with planting from cuttings. So, the first day I put the roots in the soil and had the top of the cut part of the onion exposed. That didn’t sit well with me, and as I thought about it in the night I decided to cover the entire thing with soil, which I did the next morning. I am hoping that a new onion or onions will emerge somehow.

For these new additions I’ve taken to watering them each morning. I’m trusting that that will be enough because they will be on their own for the next two weeks.