Planting is Underway

Today I got our potato crop in the ground.  I got Yukon Gold and All Blue seed potatoes at the store and I had some mixed fingerlings and Adirondack Reds left over from last year that we decided to plant as well.  Those potatoes just happen to be ones we harvested from leftover potatoes we were given in 2011.  So if they turn out well, it will be really interesting because they're essentially our own seed potatoes.  We are trying the potatoes under biodegradable plastic mulch this year.  Hopefully it will break down enough by harvest as to not get stuck in the digger.

In the greenhouse things finally show up on the camera when I take a picture.  Most everything is up and growing, but we've got some more flats to be planted of herbs and other odds and ends.  The celery still refuses to germinate two weeks in, but I'm still hoping we get some.  Our heater has been working well with the only almost-disaster being a windy day when the power cord came undone.  The greenhouse is staked down, but it was still managing to move over a foot side to side during the gusts.  Luckily I found the problem during a late night check and managed to fix it.

The hydroponics system is going better than I ever expected.  I haven't done much except change the solution once a week and increased the number of floods from 2 to 3.  The system is really simple and just floods the tubes with nutrient solution when the pump gets turned on by the timer.  There's an overflow so the extra solution runs down to the tank before coming out the growing sites.  When the timer turns the pump off, the water drains out a valve at the bottom that drains slower than the pump can fill.  Everything seems to be doing well, though the lettuce has perhaps responded the best.

The hydroponic system, and some other coming announcements, will be at the Fair Food Philly's Philly Farm and Food Fest.  You can buy a hydroponic system like the one we have in the greenhouse from me!  I make them and they're a lot of fun.  Plus, you can garden at waist-height and even put the system in your sunporch over the winter and have fresh herbs, lettuce, and other things all winter long.  Send an to info@samanthasproduce.com or call (717) 306-9096.