great weather day

Planted a bunch of potato starts (Yukon gold) – about a 12’ row plus another 10 starts in the 55-gallon drum.  Potatoes take about 90 days – so I’m looking for some summer potato salad come mid to late July.  Imagine I’ll be planted some more as we have some potatoes on the kitchen counter that are already growing.  Cleaned up some more of the garden spots and planted 3 rows, about 6’ each with 3 kinds of peas (hopefully these old seeds will come up - Frosty and Oregon sugar pod with 1 row of Alderman).  Peas will take about 9 weeks, which will be late June.  Around these parts, folks plant a second season of peas in early August. I plan to try that this year.  In another area I planted 2 20’ rows of fava beans (new seeds of Broad Windsor, Statissa, and Negreta). We usually pick our fava beans when they are young, not waiting until late summer for the beans to get large and dry.  In between the two fava bean rows, I put in a row of radishes (cherry belle, organic).  In the raised cold frame I planted a 5’ row of mesclun blend.  Of course, the mesclun and radishes take a shorter time so we should be enjoying them by Memorial Day or sooner.  I watered all the seeds, except potato starts, and closed the glass cover on the cold frame.   Another day I’ll take the covers off the rhubarb plants and weed, cut their “flowers”, and fertilize.  The chicken wire covers will go back on until we start picking the rhubarb.  Without the covers, one of our “neighbors” will take the first, young stalks before we’ll have a chance to get any.  Gardening at 1500’ and next to the wild is interesting.

This evening I heard a strange cry from a distance, one I hadn’t heard in a quite awhile.  First, thought was the coyote, that is hanging around the neighborhood, may have caught something.  But no, thankfully that wasn’t it.  The sound was from the neighbor across the road and downhill a bit.  Then I remembered!  It was the dinner time cry of a baby goat!  She had one last year and must have gotten another just today.  Guess she her horses and pack of St. Bernards need more company.