Installing Drip Irrigation For Raised Beds And Container Planter. 5.12.2022

 Today I completed the drip irrigation installation for the new container planter.  Since there are ten nearly round, 25 gallon containers, I made round loops from 1/4 inch tubing which had four emitters.  The ones for the potatoes had 7 emitters, because they will need to soak more deeply.

I might add a length with another emitter or two depending on my observations but this seems good so far.

For the tomato (Johnson Dwarf Cherry), I also covered with kraft paper to reduce fungal disease risk.  The paper covers the emitters.

The drips work nicely.  Over about an hour, the contents of the containers are fully watered.

Then I checked the soaker hoses for the garlic bed.  They worked fine, so I put them under the kraft paper mulch.  I can't believe how big the garlic plants have grown.  The variety is "Music", and I grow them from the biggest bulbs from the previous year's crop.  

Then I checked the soaker hoses for the onion bed.  They work fine.  I cultivated between rows and intend to lay a kraft paper mulch soon.

So that's drip irrigation installed for three of the six raised beds, and the main lines in for the remaining three.  Almost ready for summer.

Edit:  Here is what the drip irrigation system looks like for the container planter.

Lilacs. 5.9.22

 Despite losing some lilac  blossom clusters to late frost, there is a nice show.

First Tree Peony. 5.9.22

 This is the first tree peony of the year.  I don't know the variety name. 

Figs Update. 5.9.22.

 Here are the figs on the "Brunswick" fig tree.  It looks promising.  

This tree likes to make a lot of promising looking baby figs, then most if not all of them fall off before they ripen.   However, when they do ripen, they are the biggest, sweetest fig that grow.

Edit:  Most of the other fig trees are at a similar stage now.

Potatoes' Progress. 5.9.22

With so much rain and not-bone-chilling weather (not warm, just cool and perfect for potato plants), the potato plants are growing like gangbusters.

The first rows, sprouted grocery spuds, needed to have their trenches filled in.  I'm behind on that due to back problems, but getting better.  I tried to be ergonomic, not put my back into it, and fill in the major parts where the plants were largest.  Those were planted Feb 13.  I think.  So this is three months of growing, but the first part of that quite cold.

The ones I bought as official seed potatoes in March, and planted March 12, are growing equally well.  I had dug trenches about a foot  deep, piling the soil between the rows.  Now I'm filling those embankments back into the trenches around the potato plants.  Between my physical limitations and the rains, weeds grew like weeds (LOL).  Most of those get sort of incidentally removed as I relocate the soil back into the trenches around the potato plants.  It's not "Martha Stewart" classy, but then I'm more Betty Crocker than Martha Stewart, anyway.  Or Fred Flintstone, who is much younger than me.

Then I fed these plants with some soluble tomato fertilizer.  I prefer organic but we cant always be perfect about these things.  Potatoes are heavy feeders when young, and we want them to grow strong and produce generously.

Meanwhile, almost all of the other potato starts are emerging from the ground.  The most recent rows, from mid April, show new plants here and there.

Here are the first red potatoes (sprouted grocery spuds) that I planted in the big container planter on April 6.   So in less than a month, we have robust, healthy looking plants.  I had mixed organic tomato fertilizer with the soil, per label instructions.  They are not ready to fill in soil around the plants yet.  Soon.

Here are the Envol, super early variety from Fedco in Maine, which I planted roughly April 10, same method.

Things can change, but so far it looks like it will be a good potato year.  With higher food prices, that seems like a good thing.