Toby had a couple of hours of respite on Saturday which went quite well. He's visiting for a few hours at a time and building up to a full day at the end of August. It was lovely to have a little weekend time to myself (Amy was busy writing a story) and I made the most of it by dodging the rain showers and tidying up the fruit and veg beds.
Some things have done really well this year – french beans among them. These are a delicious yellow variety called Rocquencourt and we've had loads.
Other things have not grown so well, including my potatoes. I dug up a whole potato sack that I'd planted with 5 tubers back in March and this was all I got for my weeks of careful tending!
Pretty pathetic really, my harvest doesn't even fill a small paper bag!
Don't think I'll be bothering with tatties next year, unless anyone has any good growing tips?
little cotton rabbits 
The beans look amazing – I’d grow them just for the colour alone!
I didn’t grow any potatoes this year, but next year I am going to follow this advice:
http://purplepoddedpeas.blogspot.com/2011/06/labour-of-month-june.html
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The potatoes I grew in a dustbin did not give a big crop , we are waiting to see how the ones in the ground have done . My husband puts the problem down to lack of water , just been out in the rain to pick courgettes ,beans and rhubarb for a crumble .
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what a lovely blog you have!
and it’s really funny to see that you have the same beans and the same “bowl” (i don’t know the english word… i’m sorry for my bad bad english :(…)
bye!!! maria
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What beautiful beans. I love the color.
I don’t grow potatoes because they are so inexpensive to buy here but I did once grow the purple ones. They had such a low yield that I have’nt tried them again.
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Glad to hear your little chap got on OK!!
We step ages tending our first attempt at growing veggies last year – just a small raised bed – and the slugs ended up having 90% of it!!
Haven’t bothered this year!!
S x
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My spuds have been quite good this year and I’ve had a good pea crop considering they grew in pots, but my beans have been a dismal failure! Those yellow ones look great.
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My spuds haven’t even flowered yet, I do hope I’m not disappointed either!!!
So glad the respite is going well, it will be lovely for you to have a whole day to ‘play’.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend, don’t know about you but ours is very wet!
Vivienne x
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So glad that you managed some time for yourself. I haven’t grown potatoes, but my tomatoes are very poor this year for the first time ever! The plants would make a perfect illustration for Jack & the Beanstalk but are sadly lacking in fruit.
Love your beans & I wonder what Amy’s story is about.
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Well, the Irish will tell you that potatoes can be touchy. We don’t garden very much – none at all in the last many years. But I knew a family who gardened very seriously, and I remember digging up potatoes with them. They did very well. I think the ground has to be ground up fairly fine and loose – but then, knowing your garden, you’ve got that. It may have to do with space, J. In Idaho, the potatoes are grown in huge, wide fields – it must be that the root systems have to have plenty of room for spreading out, something that a backyard garden can’t often offer.
Still, though – isn’t digging them up like a treasure hunt?
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J,
My dad would probably say try a different variety.
That can often do the trick.
Love kx
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Both your beans and potatoes look wonderful. My beans, on the other hand, not so much. Something was eating the plants, either snails or bugs and even though we put out snail poison and sprinkled Sevin on them, I lost all the plants in one bed. Very disappointing, I live for green bean salad. There’s be enough on what’s left and I’m happy about that.
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We live in Cheshire and the farmers grow delicious potatoes, so I don’t bother growing them – but last year had great success with some freebies planted in large tubs in the greenhouse for early new potatoes.Your beans look like they did well though…
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You may not have many but they look lovely – we have lots but they are quite marked with potato scab. Could maybe try a different variety next year but I guess they do take up quite a bit of space. Your beans look fab! We had our first broad beans this evening :o)
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Did you grow them in the same place as last year? I’ve heard something about not growing potatoes in the same area/soil within 3 years…?
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A little break will probably do you both the world of good I hope Toby enjoyed it. Can’t help with the potatoes I’m afraid but those beans look great.
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I live on a fruit and vegetable farm here in the US state of Michigan. My family has grown potatoes for as long as I can remember and we’ve managed to gather a few tips.
1. Potatoes grow best in light, sandy soil. I’m not sure if this soil type is available to you, so just choose the lightest soil you have. Potatoes and light soil work splendidly together because it is easy for the tubers to grow in size. Potatoes also don’t like really saturated soil (white dots called lenticels form on the potato in wet ground), so there is another good reason for sandy soil.
2. Space the potatoes 18 inches (approx. 43 centimeters), apart when planting and bury them roughly 8 inches (20 centimeters) deep.
3. When the potato plants have germinated and are about 5 inches tall, fertilize them with a fertilizer high in nitrogen.
4. Another way to make sure you get a good yield, try one of my family’s tried-and-true potato varieties: Norland, La Sota, and Pontiac.
Well, there’s my two cents on planting and tending potatoes. I hope you try them again next year!
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It’s good to see you got a bit of time to yourself. As precious as they are, we all need a break from the wee ones.
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Hi Julie, glad you had some peaceful time to yourself, have to say I LOVE those scissors in your beans – just so cute!
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Your beans look amazing! And beans are far more exciting than potatoes in my book. Off to look up Rocquencourt. K x
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What pretty beans! I seem to grow my finest potatoes by accident in the compost heap. Sometimes I chuck a sprouty one in there and I always get a little crop when it’s time to dig out the finished compost!
Glad Toby’s respite is going well.
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I have to laugh at the timing of this post. My husband and the kids harvested about 400 lbs of potatoes this weekend from our little garden. He thought they had not “made” I don’t know what we are going to do with all these potatoes. I told him I think next time he should not plant quite so much!!
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That’s a shame about your potatoes – we haven’t dug any of ours yet – but your beans are fabulous!! Lucy xx
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Hi Julie! Glad Toby enjoyed his time…and that you had “me” time too! Is Amy a budding author do you think? Loved your gorgeous bright beans! We’ve had potatoes in bags this year, and altho’ we watered them every day, the salad spuds and “first earlies” were a thin crop! Our maincrop try-outs were much better…so I shan’t bother with earlies again! Love Jx
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I run a little gardening club at school. A few years ago we threw far too many seed potatoes in a large tub and forgot about them! When we eventually dug them up we had an amazing crop. It was a better season with no long dry spells and I think this is what may have messed up the potatoes this year, as we have a similar problem home here.
What a lovely harvest of beans, though. You win some, you lose some!
Glad to hear you are enjoying the long awaited respite. I’m sure it will be good for Toby too.
Becky x
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Did you mound them? You want to keep burying the tops. Some people use stacked tires to contain the mounded soil, although there are prettier methods out there.
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My potatoes haven’t really flowered yet so I’m giving them some more time. I have read that they are quite a hungry crop, meaning they need good soil and fertiliser. If you use twitter, check out #allotmentorguk. Some really good and useful articles…
Glad to hear the respite is slowing starting to kick in.
Take care xx
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I wonder if it is just the year. My potatoes haven’t grown at all! I talked to someone else about it and theirs didn’t either…… We’ll see next year. I’ll try again…… maybe. 😀
Glad to hear that respite is going well with Toby. That makes my heart happy!
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I so admire your skills (knitting and growing your veggie garden). Your yellow wax beans (that’s how they are known in the US) are among my most favorite. They look so fresh I would like to eat them right off the page.
You are amazing. My best to you and your family as your summer vacation begins.
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Our garden has been a bit neglected this year. So it will be interested to see what we reep. We did dig our tatties up the other day, and I have to say there wasn’t a great deal of difference to last years (when they were pampered). You may not have got many but I bet they tasted 100% better than shop bought.
louise
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