Spud Time

Ok spud time again - check out how we went...

Fantastic little helpers too! It was like unearthing gold to them.

This is the first crop in the new patch, so I had allot riding on this – well my own self-interest anyways.

Yep our yield was better than last year, but I wouldn’t be boasting to the ABC’s Gardening Australia about it put it that way. Maybe we got 6 spuds (good size) under each plant so not super happy with the deal considering the time and space it takes up.

But worth noting is; other than the pre-planting fertilizer, I didn’t add any other fertilizer so next crop I will add some blood and bone and see what happens.

Planting in the Rain

Laying out the packets, deciding what to plant.

Planting in the rain is as much fun as a kid playing under the overflowing tank – well nearly!


Yeah…it’s raining again and one month has passed since my last feverish planting effort - that crop is powering, almost waist high corn…yippee!


So yesterday I planted more corn, beans and a couple of different types of lettuce. I should plant some more carrots while the rain is here too.


Remember best time to plant small seeds is during a wet period as they need to stay moist, planting now can sometimes cut germination time in half.

Also now is kind of last chance in these parts (SE QLD) to plant potatoes, next time I get to town I’m going to get some seed spuds to plant, can’t wait.

So, c’mon get planting - don’t wait another day!

Wet, lush, green and powering - I love the rain!

Motivated - like plants feeling that warm spring sun

I couldn't believe how organised I was a few weeks ago when it got noticeably warm - out came the balance of the ol broccoli crop and some old lettuce. I re-mulched, fertilised and planted: corn, beetroot, more lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, chilli, then mulched again.

Corn thriving planted from seed approx 50cm tall now

These are going good now and the garden looking great but very full as usual. A bit of a surprise at the moment is the snow peas - I only planted them because I had left over seed from last year, and now they are the cream of the crop! So I will plant them again next year for sure

The spuds (potatoes) are coming along good as well, lets hope they're better than last years crop otherwise I'm gonna go postal I swear!

A few leftover spuds went into the main
vege patch - bulk into 'top paddock'

Spud Time

Yep check out the pic of my “ex Broccoli crop” from the top paddock - well in this part of the garden it never really came off cos’ some stinking rabbit, or hare kept eating the tops off and all the leaves...

So, plowing it in and planting some spuds cos, the time is right,. There should only be a few frosts left and definitely by the time the plant emerges anyhow (That’s my farmers risk for the season; all big time farmers like me have to take risks right?).

For local crew get your “seed potatoes” from Sauers garden centre opposite the rattler – 2 kg for $5.50. Some are quite big with a few sprout points (the white 'eyes'), so I have sliced them in half. Make sure there is at least one sprout point per piece. I will leave them for a couple of weeks so the cut side seals over and the spuds sprout a bit more.

To prepare the soil, cultivate until friable - do it pretty deep like couple of hand-spans and then drag yourself a good trench through for planting. At the bottom of the trench lay a good bed of fertiliser (organic stuff like KATEC Dynamic lifter) then drag a few inches of soil over this then throw your potatoes along the trench a bit more than 1 foot apart ~ 40cm with the 'eyes' facing up. Cover them all up with soil back to ground level and wait a few weeks and they’ll be up! We should at least double, if not triple our crop!

As they grow I will need to hill the soil around them, keeping a good pile of soil covering the spuds as they don't ever want to see the light. I'll let you know the progress!