I found these collapsible storage containers at Fleet Farm on clearance for $4 each. They're made of two layers of heavy duty fabric and hopefully they'll work for growing potatoes (I saw something similar in a gardening catalog). I've got them sitting around the cement base of my TV antenna tower. They will get good sun for most of the day and they're far enough away from my garden that any insects attracted to these potatoes won't bother the other vegetables in my garden.
Take a look at this:
OK, the sun was shining on this thermometer a little bit to make it 78 degrees, but our "official" high today was 73 degrees! This is the first time we've had a day over 70 degrees since last October (178 days according to the weatherman). It was so nice to be outside this afternoon wearing a short-sleeved shirt!
After supper, I was sitting at the table watching birds out the dining room window when I spotted this huge cottontail stopping by to feast on some corn. He's a pretty good-looking bunny, don't you think?
While I was watching Mr. Bunny Rabbit, look who else hopped into view....
WOW! Brown Thrasher! That's really big news! (at least for me it is). I had two nesting pairs in my yard last summer. It's nice to see this handsome birdie decided to come back for another summer.After supper, we went over to the woods to check on whether there were any tenants in the wood duck house I built and put up last spring. No tenants yet, but I took the opportunity to put in fresh wood shavings and hopefully there will be a wood duck moving in soon as I spotted a drake and two hens at the edge of the little man-made pond in the vicinity of this wood duck house.
There were quite a few frogs over by this little pond. Here's a look at one little guy checking me out.
Enjoy the sweet froggy music (and listen for the pileated who lives in these woods too!)
Happy Spring Everyone!
14 comments:
Happy Spring, Ruthie! When you hear the frog and toad symphony, it's spring :o) Mother Nature is fooling us here with a freeze last night but I hope it's the last one of the season.
Hey, you have quite a variety of birds showing up! I love brown thrashers. I have two this year.
I'm so glad you are in short sleeves instead of parkas. It's about time!
Mary
OK, I'm fascinated by your potato patch. Now, do you keep adding dirt (oops, I mean soil) as the leaves come up so you end up with a tube full of potatoes?
Cool frog chorus! I'm jealous! You have Western Chorus Frogs! We keep hoping we hear them, but they usually turn out to be experimental Peepers.
I always enjoy your posts and your nature-oriented yard. Please keep us up to date on your potatos, I've never heard of this method before although I have very meager potato knowledge. Thanks for all the sights and sounds, Happy Spring!
Hi Mary,
I hadn't heard frogs anywhere until last Sunday, but for me their singing always means spring too!
Hi Jennifer & Beth,
I first learned about garbage can potatoes on Robin's (Bumblebee) blog last summer: http://www.bumblebeeblog.com/2007/08/21/garbage-can-potatoes-082107/
I thought this was a really neat concept, especially since I like potatoes, but have a small garden area for growing them. Here are two other links you can check on for more in-depth information:
http://www.ciscoe.com/archive/spuds.html
http://www.weidners.com/spud_Barrel.htm
I hope it's not too late for getting a harvest of potatoes this fall, but if nothing else, it will be an interesting experiment.
That is one fine looking bunny. :c) Love the frogs being so verbal and so happy to hear you were actually out in SHORT sleeves Ruthie! Yay!!!!
What an eventful spring day for you Ruthie. I love seeing the Thrasher. One surveyed our garden last week but Ihaven't seen it since. I will be working outside today so maybe I will see it again.
We had our first House Wren this morning. This is exciting for me. I love to see these little birds in the garden.
Your potato project sounds interesting.
What a nice spring serenade in the video clip. We got your high winds yesterday and are expecting your warm temperatures today.
Very nice spring post! Great weather for planting - you'll have to keep us up to date on the progress of your potatoes; we've just finished eating the last of our potatoes that we store over the winter. They were so good!! :)
Happy Spring to you, too, Ruthie!
love your potato-growing station.. good luck with it (and thanks for the links) :-)
I know that spring is here when the bats come out at night. I saw and heard them for the first time last night :)
Your sissy
Hi Jayne,
I really love hearing those frogs too. I just wish they weren't so shy and I could get better looks at them.
Hi Lisa,
Good news on the brown thrasher and house wren. I love hearing their cheerful serenades in my backyard too.
Hi Ruth,
Sorry about those high winds--it was awful here too. It was nice that some warm temps blew in with them though.
Hi April,
I'm excited about the potatoes too. I think I've even got a couple people at work talked into trying the same project.
Hi Steph,
Will you have room on your rooftop for garbage can potatoes along with all the other veggies you're growing?
Hi Sissy,
Thanks for the update on bats. I was too busy last night watching deer in my backyard to notice bats, but now I'll start watching for bats too. I should probably think about getting a bat house built soon too, right?
Good luck on those taters, Ruthie. We're planting some more this year. We'll have to compare harvests.
Where did you end up getting your potatoes?
Robin at Bumblebee
Hi Robin,
I picked up a small bag of seed potatoes at Fleet Farm. I went with Yukon Gold and I planted 4 small potatoes in each bin.
I gave the rest of the seed potatoes to my office mate along with a couple print-outs from the internet telling how to raise "garbage can potatoes." She was going to start hers this weekend.
i've wanted to do potatoes for ages, ruthie .. ever since i saw a thing on tv about how you could grow them in a garbage can.
but i daren't put this on the roof because of the weight, at the mo.
i might try and negotiate a bit of space downstairs by the front door to our flat, though.. maybe next year?
good luck with your crop!
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