The Yellow Farmhouse Garden

An old farmer’s tradtion says you plant your potatoes on Good Friday. We were all set to do just that. This record breaking cold weather put a schreeching-halt to our well laid plans.

In addition to the regular potato varieties we grow, ( Russet, Irish Cobbler, Pontiac, Yukon Gold) we are planting German Butterball this year.

The desciption in the Seed Savers Exchange catalog reads:

First place winner in Rodale’s Organic Gardening “Taste Off”. A good choice for roasting, frying and especially for mashed potatoes. Russeted skin and buttery yellow flesh. One of our favorite all-purpose potatoes. Excellent for long-term storage. Very good yields. 100-120 days

Here’s the five pound bag of seed potatoes we received from SSE:

I know you can’t judge a book by its cover but, they look just like any other ‘tater to me!

Bob

I believe I mentioned something about growing Easter Lilies way back in my first post last December. This week marks the end of our annual Easter Lily growing project. So I thought it only fitting to “bid them adieu” in this post.

Lilly delivery began on Monday and ended today, Holy Thursday.

In the following photo taken on Monday, you can see how excited the Lilies were about Easter…they could hardly restrain themselves from opening. Some actually did open.

Some got dressed up for the trip:

Here they are, all set for the ride to their new homes:

We always like to pass along some simple suggestions for Easter Lily care to the new owners:

1) The Lilies prefer a brightly lit yet cool area of the house, if that is possible

2) Don’t over water them nor let water sit in the foil wrapper…let them dry out a bit before watering

3) Remove the yellow anthers to keep the pollen from staining the flower petals and your clothing:

4) Plant them outside after the weather warms up to enjoy them again next summer (2008)

In a way, I kinda hate to see them go… but we need the room!! The best part of the whole project is seeing the pleasure folks get when they receive them.

Bob

How about a little fun? I already know what this plant is because I planted it a few years ago. Do you know what it is? I took this photo today just before it started snowing:

Just leave your guess or answer in the comment section if you think you know what it is.
Bob

I thought you might be interested in seeing some photos I took a couple of days ago during that record breaking warm spell. Here are just a few of the things happening this week.

These are part of a 90 foot long crocus bed with some tulips mixed in:

Look here, some early daffodils already have their flower buds up and ready to go:

The ‘Black Watch’ Hollyhocks have been out of the ground for quite a while now:

What does this tulip think its doing? 2999 of its brothers and sisters in this bed are still waiting to bloom:

The rhubarb is awake now too:

That lettuce mix I planted back on March 13th is doing fine:

Have you had a chance to see what’s up in your garden?

Bob