On Monday afternoon I decided to lift a few of our Casablanca early potatoes. The photos tell the story better than any words.
Last year two rows of Casablanca potatoes produced 30kg. I lifted one quarter of this year's crop which produced 1.5kg. If anyone had asked me which beds had the best soil for cultivation at the beginning of the season I'd have said the four beds on plot 42 which is where these potatoes were planted. I've no idea how to get this soil back into a workable condition. I had planned to sow a green manure crop once the bed was cleared of its potato crop but that's not possible with the ground in its current state. Some rain might improve things but there's none of that in the forecast for the next seven days.
We did have some rain late on Monday night which amounted to 0.8mm (0.03in) but that won't have any effect at all and the sunshine early on Tuesday morning will have dried up any moisture left on the top of the ground.
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Caramba!
ReplyDeleteWe need some rain! Hope all our beds don't finish up like this one.
DeleteI empathise! Water is the key to life - potatoes and soil included...
ReplyDeletePotatoes sacrificed for other crops. Might have been a bad decision.
DeleteFeel so sorry for you Martyn i keep praying for some rain for us all but its in god;s timing and not us gardeners blessings to you both
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming it will rain again eventually. Forgotten what a wet day is!
DeleteWell I hope the spuds tasted good after the fight to get at them!
ReplyDeleteMaybe this week we'll actually get more than 1mm of the promised rain...
They do at least taste good. Not looking forward to digging any more up though!! Doesn't seem to be any "rain" in the forecast for the next week.
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