?!? Can't find the second expensive cover for the potatoes!

What the heck -- looked everywhere, absolutely cannot find the second expensive cover for the potatoes.  The one I found was Cuba (with its three Cuba hoops).  Can't find the Brazil cover, though I do have the three Brazil hoops.

Oh well, I'll use one of the huge smelly sheets from the basement.

GA: Planted half the potatoes, and sowed carrots

First planting day today!  (Yesterday the staking happened but I didn't plant anything yesterday.)

The potatoes planted today are in bed 1B.  All are Superior, bought from Ritchie's, which I cut in half several days ago and left in the basement.  (Basement worked -- they look good, not all rotty like last year when I started with them upstairs in the hot big room.)  Gave each hole a sprinkle of mrp, az, alfalfa, and kelp, then placed the potato, then watered it, then filled the hole.  Then put leaves over top of all.  Then immediately covered with the good cover.

Carrots are all bolero.  First I sprinkled az, mrp, and kelp (no alfalfa).  Then I hand-dug those in while feeling for / breaking up clumps of soil.  Then watered it to find low spots.  Then spread leftover GA compost from last year.  Then watered again to find low spots.  Then sprinkled the seeds free-style.  Then spread more GA compost form last year to cover the seeds.  Then placed burlap.  Then watered over the burlap.  Here's hoping that this method will be a one and done!!!!   This bed, which is 3 feet by ~5 feet, used almost all one bucket of the last-year compost, and I really should have used it all bec the base layer wasn't thick enough as after I watered it I could see a lot of the original soil come through.

Started hardening most tenders (plunked them in shade by fence, leaving there all day bec nice and warm)

The only things not hardening yet are the basil and ground cherries, plus cukes and zukes which haven't sprouted yet.

Sliced the potatoes today

The only variety I bought this year (see previous post) is Superior, from Ritchie's.  

Also have a few fridge potatoes from last year's harvested that sprouted.

Today I cut them (Superior and fridge potatoes).  Placed them on cardboard/paper, in the basement.  Let's see if hopefully being in the basement from the get-go stops them from looking all rotty as they did last year.

I put the fridge potatoes in a separate area of the basement, and sliced them with a different knife than Superior, in case of any diseases.

Transplanted celeryx4 and parsleyx2 (yard)

One of the parsleys is probably dead but I put it in anyway just in case.

Potatoes bought: 12.3 pounds of Superior (plus will use some fridge potatoes, not sure what variety)

So yes, I bought only one type of potato this year:  Superior (from Ritchie's).  12.3 pounds worth, which cost a total of $21.39 including tax.

And I have ~10 potatoes in the fridge left over from last year that are great size and have started sprouting, so will use those too, whatever type they are (not sure which type).

Up-potted some broccoli and cauliflower, will uppot more in coming days

And this is another reason why I'll wait another 2 weeks next year for broc, to avoid the need to uppot...

Argh -- the dry beans from last fall have weevils!! (Only the GA ones I think)

Noticed today that several of the jars of beans saved from last year have weevils inside the jars!  And escape holes in some of the beans -- including weevils inside a jar that had only pods that I had carefully inspected that I didn't see any suspicious holes in.

This definitely has me inclined to NOT do dried beans from GA anymore, only from the yard where I don't seem to have had this issue (knock on wood).

Although I guess I could always leave the dried beans for a year, during which hopefully any critters would have emerged, then remove those and eat the remaining beans..... 

STEVIA ALL DYINGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!! and peppers not great either

WTF!!!! All of a sudden the stevia is dying!  I thought maybe I forgot to water for too long, but now I'm thinking no, maybe they were TOO wet, or have a disease.

This will be the first year that I will have ZERO of my own stevia seedlings.  I had SUCH a hard time getting any of the germinated seeds to take -- I thought at least I would have 5, then buy the rest.  Very disappointing.  

And, the previously-best-looking pepper plant seems to have succumbed to the same thing.  Most of the rest of the peppers are stagnant / not thriving and yellow but that seems to be a different issue.

Lettuce sowed directly outside, next to the a/c

 A scattering of romaine, ruby red, and black seeded simpson.

Still tons of fungus gnats in outside plants, see them when remove from big plastic tub; still a few indoor fungus gnats but not a ton

^^^

Started peas soaking in bowl; tomorrow will move them to paper towels

^^^

Started tomatoes, tomatillos, and ground cherries

(The tomatillos are a purple variety, my first time trying growing tomatillos.)

(The ground cherries are from the collected seeds from a plant that grew really well in patio stones.)

Basil round 2 started bec several of round 1s dried out due to not enough watering and being in vermiculite

^^^

Basil started

^^^

Hardies starting to harden off -- and they will live downstairs/outside full time

Finally the days are becoming mild enough to start hardening the hardies.

I'm not babying them much in terms of being the shade -- putting them out for as long as the day is mild enough.

Won't start them in sun until later and will definitely do the sun part gradually.

Fungus gnats are still VERY much a thing so I'm glad to have these downstairs / outside.  When they come inside at night I'm covering them to prevent the gnats from invading everywhere downstairs.

Zinnias started

 Random assortment of talls, and yellow shorts.

Fungus gnats GALORE continues

The dunks truly seem to have done NOTHING.

SOOOOO many flies in the yellow sticky traps.

Several newly emerged seedlings have gone kaput, I'm guessing some of which are related to the gnat babies.

Started round 2 of sweet peppers (low germination in round 1)

^^^

Started sweet peppers (California wonder and Hungarian Sweet)

Amidst the hoards of fungus gnats, the seed-starting must continue...