May 18, 2014 - Sweet Potatoes

What began as a science experiment—causing shoots to grow from sweet potatoes suspended in water—has become the most recent addition to the garden.

Have tried several times over the past three years to grow sweet potatoes. Each attempt ended with very few actual tubers. Starting with the shoots cut from the potatoes suspended in water could yield better results. At the very least it won't yield worse ones.

Planted four varieties:

1. Japanese
2. Jubilee
3. Garnet
4. Something picked up at a grocery store—it was the start of the experiment

We'll see what happens.

May 4, 2014 - Tomatoes At 5 Weeks

Despite an early April chill, the tomatoes are starting to show impressive growth. Healthy doses of compost tea on a weekly basis have helped them survive the vagaries of Texas' springtime weather.

I spent part of today training them back into the cages, and it looks like next week will be the right time to pull off the plastic.

May 4, 2014 - Potato Boxes At 10 Weeks

Potatoes continue to grow well. I added more soil — I'm using mostly soil from the garden amended with compost — to the boxes this week, and next week, I'll need to build them higher.

It's possible that I'll add the final two layers of wood to the Purple Viking, and only one more layer to the Purple Fingerling.