Off the Needles and playing in the dirt.

The sockettes are done!  Of course footie socks are only half socks, so didn't take as long as a full pair.  It took one skein of yarn and an extra metre or two.  These are from Paton's Kroy, so are shorter skeins, but a skein with a few extra metres would mean I'd get both from one skein.  That is handy.  Luckily, I had the leftover bits  from a previous pair of socks from this colourway.  I'd bought a bag of 6 skeins from the outlet store.  While you get a bit of a deal on price, it does mean that you either have lots of socks in the same colour or you need to trade them off with someone else.

Potato flowers are so delicate and pretty.   I've got two varieties planted this year, Kenebec and another variety, either Chieftan or Russet..  Normally I plant Yukon Golds but decided to get wild this year and try something different!  The little mesh bags holding the seed potatoes weren't labelled, so once you grab a couple of bags and set them on the counter, there is no telling which was which.   I planted this row early and while I worried that the wet, cold spring, would rot the potatoes before they had a chance to grow, they are doing really well.  The other two rows were planted later and are definitely playing catch up.  It will be interesting to see whether they do indeed catch up the the earlier planted potatoes.   I wonder if there will be a difference in amounts of potatoes harvested or if we just get to enjoy an extended harvest of fresh potatoes?

Weeding seems to be an endless task this year.   It was a great year for the Maples to produce keys and those keys have decided that conditions are perfect for growing.  I'm plucking out hundreds of Maple seedlings from my gardens this year.   I swear that I pull them out for hours and by the next day, there are more growing in their place.   It feels like I am weeding the same patch over and over again. ( It kind of looks that way too and is probably fairly accurate)   The only good thing is that the spots that have a heavy straw cover have few to no weeds.  It's only where I haven't mulched yet or where it's thinner, that there are problems.    Of course you can't use the straw mulch on seeds until they've grown substantially but on planting seedlings, it's been a huge help.

The Petunias are doing well. I plant Petunias in memory of my mother, who loved them.   These are in half barrel planters.  There are regular and Wave Petunias. I'm hoping the Wave Petunias will drape down the sides of the barrel dramatically.  I've never tried them before, so it could be interesting.  Usually I just toss some Marigolds in with the Petunias as it makes a pretty colour combo, with the added bonus that I can snip off the Marigolds for dye plants.  Yep, it is a year for shaking things up in the garden!   Different varieties of potatoes and Wave Petunias?  What next?  hehehe