Potatoes and pondering

 The weather is windy which is blowing the May Grey away now. It was overcast most of the day yesterday but it's an absolutely gorgeous day today. Not that yesterday was bad, but I love breezy partly cloudy warmish spring days.

I went out with my nozzle to water and, due to it being overcast all the way to morning, didn't need it.

The soil was still perfectly wet in all the beds despite what looked like dry soil on top. Especially the potato bed that  I completely flooded. I could have waited another day to dig the plant but here I am being an impatient gardener again. Everything else looked fine, peppers, peas and marigolds all just perking along.

Suspicious spotting on the pea pod. Not exactly sure that that is and hope it isn't something I have to worry about.

The soil was soft as butter, didn't take much to dig that shovel all the way in and lift the plant. As I suspected, only about three or four potatoes with the original still feeding the plant. There was one small one (smaller than the original) hanging on and left that and the seedling behind.

 I've got a lovely bunch of potatoes now, the largest one of this batch was slightly green around the stem part but not worried about it. Washed them off good and put them in the cupboard with the others. Might even cook them up tonight with whatever else we have in the fridge. Burgers maybe. Or by itself with some butter, salt and pepper.

The neighbor downstairs across from the stair landing has an incredible collection of extremely happy Creeping Charlies as well as a rambunctious Asparagus Fern. Not sure what she does with her plants but she definitely takes care of them very well paired with an ideal location under the stairs.

 Something that I saw at a house that was for sale caught my attention way back. The one that's near Clear Lake that had so much room and solar panels. For gardeners it is a must if you can: an outdoor sink. Sure, if you have a hose you can wash things off with that but a dedicated sink with a small countertop like a laundry tub sink is perfect! Having the drain go to a holding tank for watering is ideal. Only need cold water, no need for two handles so single handle for one source of water.

No soap is needed at this point as it's only for washing off veggies and your hands before going in the house. The one I saw was a white plastic type, built into a wood counter, nothing fancy but was also under the porch cover which is best so you don't have to worry about metal rusting or getting fouled. Any number of designs out there but when I had to wash off the potatoes using the hose I thought about this and should I ever have a garden I will make sure to have one.

The Jacaranda is still blooming like crazy so the bees and hummingbirds are going crazy outside. I'm considering getting a 6 pack of strawberries to put all over the garden. 2 or three in the bed formerly known as the tomato bed, the remainder in the former potato bed. Still want to plant some chives in the south bed as I am not convinced the potato I put at the back of the bed is going to grow very quickly. Chives can take over... oh speaking of that.. something I noticed in the neighboring bed.

I am not entirely sure what those are but a partially educated guess is... possibly cucumber. It's not mallow weed, definitely looks like a cucurbit. If it is, and it takes off... it's going to swallow everything else. Keeping an eye on those for sure. 

So yeah, strawberries and chives are next on the list. Hopefully. Who knows anymore? Chives go really well on potatoes with cheese, butter and sour cream.

Am I hungry?