Tag Archives: yukon-gold-potatoes

It’s So Green In Mendota

I was in South Carolina over the weekend, and when I returned home, I kept thinking “it’s so green in Virginia!” Mendota really shows off in the spring. Just look at my yard and garden!

Here’s the meadow behind the house where my enthusiastic husband has planted 11 rows of beans.

That’s ELEVEN…as in TEN PLUS ONE…or TWENTY MINUS 9! And there’s many more beans to be planted. What in the world am I going to do with all these beans? And…just let me say, he does not pick or can green beans and barely eats them, but oh how he loves to plant them.

And may I show you my potatoes yet again? I’m excited about how well they are doing in the raised beds. These are planted with the no planning, no worries, no hills…no problems method of just sticking potatoes in the dirt with your hand. And….if you live in Bristol, Virginia… thank you for your garbage…now my compost…although I could do without the occasional plastic lid.

Here they were a week ago…I am kind of bragging at this point.

And if you want a few chives with your potato…thanks to the Schanzenbach ladies for giving me chives many years ago. They are still performing. Everywhere.

Chives in Mendota

Or if you prefer onions…I bought my onion sets from my friend Dewanna at Enterprise Nursery in Gate City.

And here’s some other performers. Lupine is so pretty, and it’s a perennial. Notice the pink flower starting to peek out? There are two planted near the guesthouse….hope to add more this year. Yay to Phil McCroskey’s Horticulture Class at John Battle High School!

It’s raining, and I’m anxious to be outside working in the yard planting more flowers and veggies.

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage.

Luckie’s New Ride

The big news of the day comes from Luckie Beaule. Wow! As in Bow Wow! She has a new ride…a new set of wheels!

There is a person at the Toyota dealership in Bristol who walks each new buyer through all of the things that the new automobile features. The only thing I was interested in was in how to fold the back seat down so that the doggies could ride. Seriously who cares about blue tooth when you live so far out that your phone doesn’t work most of the time?

Here’s a full view of our Luckie in her new chariot.

Our old Ford F150 was getting unreliable. It was time for a change. We’re all happy! Even the cherry tree is weeping with joy.

Tomorrow is a big day here at our hobby farm. We’re planting green beans. Mike bought three different kinds, but it’s the half runners that I’m looking forward to growing. Last year, it was 100 degrees when the beans arrived, and I just let them die. I hope this year is different, and I get a good crop.

And…in case you’re interested, here’s an updated photo, taken today, of my yukon gold potatoes (planted with no planning, no hilling and no problems).

Tater Head

In Mendota, Virginia, we usually plant potatoes on Good Friday. I don’t think anyone thinks much about why we do this, but I Googled it once, and it’s an Irish tradition. However, it was so cold that I missed this date.

This evening I decided to plant them in the raised beds. I have no idea if the “signs” were right, but I knew that if I tripped over that bag of potatoes sitting in the garage one more time, I was gonna….you get the picture. I have purchased organic potatoes from Southern Exposure in the past, but I didn’t have great luck with them. This year we purchased the potatoes from Southern States. Mike loves Southern States.

Yukon Gold potatoes are my favorite.

Most everyone around here halves their potatoes if there are enough “eyes” on them. I only halved a few of them. Mostly I just put them in the dirt.

I planted 18 per bed; four beds total. I have 72 potatoes planted. One year our granddaughters just stuck them in the dirt (similar to what I did tonight), and they did great. I’m hoping!

No hills, no planning, no help from Mike who is laid up with his new knee. I can tell you one thing…it’s not as much fun planting potatoes by yourself. Hate to admit that.