The Bovine Bugle

Our "eyes" are on planting seed potatoes today

With the garden tilled and the rows marked out, Noah and I planted some potatoes today. Usually potatoes are the first thing to go into the ground, then the other vegetables we grow from seed, and then the bedding plants that Karen started or that we bought from a gardener here in town.

Noah and I sorted over smaller potatoes we had saved from last year's crop to use as seed potatoes this spring. I told Noah to make sure the potatoes had at least two good "eyes" so that they would produce a strong plant. We both filled a 2 1/2 gallon bucket, then we headed to the garden to plant them. Noah worked across from me and watched how I spaced out the seed potatoes. He did an excellent job, with Dad only having to add a potato here and there to fill in a space between his potatoes.

Hilling the potatoes wasn't one of Noah's favorite parts of the process, and soon after we had started he decided it was too hard for him and he went to get his bathing suit on and jump in the pool. It didn't take me long to get the morning's planting covered up, and the garden of 2005 was officially begun.

Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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