Spud patch 10/11 season

[Medbury Gardens]

That time of year again to get all the potato variates in,this season a local pig farm has 150 large squire straw bales that they are giving away,so i got a few.
There's 10 different types most are ones that i grow every year but there's some of Tom's that are now going into there second season,so they will be interesting to see how they bulk out.
The rows are about 40x40cm apart,a layer of horse poo and sawdust over the top then the straw as the final layer,ive covered with bird net till the potatoes are nicely established.
The net is to stop the blackbirds from flicking this stuff everywhere looking for worms.

Whats seen in the photos is my potato area only that's divided into four,the second block in behind was last seasons residue left overs (greened cut etc) that i covered with sawdust,these are our early potatoes.

The next block was the residue block of last seasons that this season i;ll dug out of all left overs for next's Broad Beans that are in the fourth block along,next season spuds will go in there as part of the rotation .

[mdvpc]

Med:

Nice! That is a big patch!

[GunnarSK]

The wind break looks almost like in Denmark (Western Jutland). Are those white spruce by any chance?

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by mdvpc

Med:

Nice! That is a big patch!

Its about the right size to keep the family in 12 months supply
The adding the broad beans to the ration is new this season,this should help maintain fertility or next seasons spuds.

Originally Posted by GunnarSK

The wind break looks almost like in Denmark (Western Jutland). Are those white spruce by any chance?

The tree line was planted in 2005 of Cupressus Macroarpa and interplanted with Eucalyptus gunnii, which was a big mistake as all but one died (tall one on the right),so then the race was on to get replacements going before the macroapa's got to big,i then tried Eucalyptus fastigata(tall one on the left) of which about 50% made it,the final replant came from seed off a tree just down the road from here E fraxinoides and these are now in the gaps,problem is the macroarpa is now getting rather big and i have to trim them back to keep the gap open.
Plan is to keep trimming up the Eucalyptus trees and train them into gun barrel like trunks and keep macroapa low down as a dense hedge but at the same time let the higher branches grow out to create an over hang on the sunny side where i'll grow citrus trees in round 1000 liter concrete stock water troughs that will themselves sit on round wooden fence posts so they can be pulled out to allow for machine pruning of the tree line

[wmontanez]

Looking great there Richard. Pretty good size potato patch. Keep the pictures coming to enjoy some greenery during my winter months. Very nice landscape you have too. How big is your farm?

I also plant all sorts of beans before planting an area with demanding vegetables. My favorite are cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) for the nitrogen fixation and eating plus the best thing is no bugs like them around my area.

[Medbury Gardens]

Thanks Wendy, we are on 15 acres of fertile flatland with truck loads of underground water one meter in winter and five meters down in summer which is so important as its a low humidity,low rainfall area in summer,i had a digger come in and dug a hole down into this water table so as pump from it,this has made it a gardeners paradise really because its a pest/disease free area due to the climate.

I had to Google what cowpeas were as ive never grown them,in fact i don't know if this variety is even in this country,how do you eat them?how tall do they grow to.

[wmontanez]

Gardeners paradise . Someday I will have a small farm, one or 2 acre will do.
Cowpeas are native to Africa and it grows very well in drought conditions, low fertility soils, even sandy soils. It is grown is Southern USA and the Caribbean, a variety called black-eyed peas is common, but there are black, red, brown etc . I eat them green out of the shell in a rice, bean and cured ham dish. Also it can be left to dry and cook it in soups.

Here in Zone 6 (Northeast USA) grows well, I plant it early summer and start producing in early fall. It is not frost tolerant but it will grow 90cm wide/tall and if it is trellised will grow until season allows. My mom has some in Puerto Rico growing up to 6ft tall like a bean tower and produces constantly 3 months. There are so many legumes, she also grows a tree/bush called pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan) but so far I managed to grow them and overwinter, hope to get oeas next season. That one sends a tap root up to 3ft down in search for water, very drought tolerant.

Here are some pic's. Richard if you are interested in trying some seeds of cowpeas in NZ I could send you some. I have 2 types, a black-eyed and another with a faint brownish eye, mostly cream colored.