Back on The Farm, people

Finally got a nice weekend -- not cold,  not snowing, not raining. What else to do but pack up Jeb the Wonder Dog and head for The Farm?

He does like to ride. And stick his nose out:

So, when I got to The Farm, there were new beds, and even the old beds were newly filled with soil:

What else could I do? I put in tapes of carrot seeds, as well as loose seeds to finish the parts I didn't have enough tape for:

I put in radishes and spinach, then watered the crap out of those beds:

On the south side, the far bed got the carrots, but I also put in peas in the next two beds:

And I watered them, too. Plus, I put up anti-dog fences:

Down by the old asparagus bed, which was being prepped for onions, there was some serious tilling:

I think it might have killed the tiller. Still, we got the bed prepped:

Farmer Tom hoed it:

And Farmer Tom's daughter planted onions:

Looks good:

The two potato beds had plenty of soil, but Farmer Tom and I had a disagreement on planting strategy. He wanted to go with mounds, while I wanted to go with planting directions and go for trenches. 

The difference is not inconsequential. Potatoes can grow quite close to the surface. If planted in mounds, it is difficult to put dirt over them to ensure continued growth. Farmer Tom went with mounds. The seedlings are planted in the mounds.

I chose to go with conventional farming wisdom and planted the seedlings in trenches. That way, the mound in the middle, in which nothing is planted, allows me to shove dirt onto the potatoes as necessary during the growing process. Farmer Tom planted two rows in mounds, while I planted two rows in trenches, with a mound of available soil in between. 

We'll see how that turns out. I expect to have a better yield, but I guess we'll see.