Mother Nature likes a joke

I had two plantings of potatoes:  Almost two rows of kennebec potatoes planted on March 17, and a row of Yukon Gold planted on April 15.  Thanks to all the cold weather we've had in March and April, the first ones planted finally started coming up about a week ago.  This morning I noticed the Yukon Golds are already coming up, even though they were planted almost a month later than the others.

The first picture is of the early potatoes.  The second, the Yukon Gold.  Several are showing up above ground already!  That sprout will be green after a day in the sun.  So much for having two potato harvests. 

The strawberries are finally getting ready to bloom.  I'm excited!

Yesterday I got tomato cages around my five tiny tomato plants.  I pounded in the metal posts myself, although Cliff was going to do it.  That closest cage has seen better days, and there are a couple of sections of wire sticking out of it that I need to wrap in duct tape of something to keep from puncturing my arm.

Blue and Gabe are almost always playing around in the garden when I'm out there.  You can see them through the battered tomato cage.  Over between the house and garage is my source of well water, so I can water my crops with the soaker hose if they need it.  I got a different kind of soaker hose this year off Amazon, and it works much better than the ones I've been getting at Walmart.

I love being able to step right out the back door to my garden.

Cliff's brother and his wife came to visit yesterday, hauling a mower Phil is hoping Cliff can fix.  He's not a farmer, but he does have 60 acres or so and a tractor big enough to pull the mower.  He and Cliff worked on it for three hours in the afternoon and still have plenty more work to do.  It is an old, well-used piece of junk mower, so my dear husband is doing his best to try and make it work for his brother, who evidently thinks Cliff is a miracle-worker.  A new one like this one would cost in the thousands; they paid $1,200 for this.  (That price is wrong, Cliff tells me; it was $2,400.)  They spent an hour just greasing everything on it.  Cliff was worn out last night.

We could get some rain today or tomorrow; I'm hoping!

Peace.