first of the month garden update-potatoes

The potatoes were the first thing in the garden once the space was tilled.  The potatoes that were used for seed came from Lisa.  She had them left from last year and they had been growing long eyes at her house.  There were several varieties, which looked like a red, a white and a Yukon.  I will have to ask her for sure.  They were mixed together in the container so they were mixed together in the rows as I planted them.
 

We planted three 20 foot rows on May 7.  These are the left three rows in the picture.  The other two rows were planted later.  I note that two of the early rows and one of the later rows are flowering and two rows one early and one late are not yet flowering.  I am guessing that is more likely that the different varieties flower at different times. 

This year I tried growing sweet potatoes.  When I planted them I covered my row with black plastic and planted the sweet potatoes through holes that we made into the plastic.  It sounded like a wonderful idea.  The plastic would warm the soil, help keep the weeds away and retain moisture.  I eventually removed the plastic.  Our wind would lift up the plastic and the little slips would end up underneath the plastic.  The rain stood on top of the plastic in puddles and I wasn't sure if the sweet potato slips were getting any water.  I eventually pulled up the plastic and the little slips looked tough.  Now they are getting leaves and starting to grow.  Some are quite a bit bigger than the others but I am hoping the little guys will catch up.  the sweet potato slips arrive during our very wet spring.  I was not able to plant them right away and when I did plant the first row they went into wet, muddy soil.  I waited to plant the others, sticking them into water to keep them from drying out until they went into drier dirt.  The first row was planted on May 27 with the second row on June 1.