Sunday, August 28, 2022

Buried Treasure


I just could not bear another minute going by without getting in the garden to start clearing for the fall garden. I started by pulling up two rows of field peas and a lot of weeds in that strip of ground you see there. It was not wickedly hot when I pulled on my overalls but by the time I had gotten on my knees with a trowel, the sun had come out from behind the clouds, the clouds began to magically disappear, and it got at least five degrees hotter. 
Not unbearable but not exactly pleasant, either. 
Still, once I'm on a task I hate to leave it and so I got that bit done and then I decided to start pulling sweet potato vines. 
Probably about five years ago we planted some sweet potatoes and we never really knew how to pull them and in leaving some behind in the ground, we have ensured that every year the vines come up again and this year they were covering about a third of the garden. Nice, healthy looking vines they are, too. 
So I thought I'd pull a few and see if there were any sweet potatoes where they were rooted and after just a few seconds of pulling vines I came across this. 


Well now. To gain some perspective on the size I offer you this. 


That's a Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole right there in the palm of my hand. I continued pulling vines and finding more potatoes for about fifteen more minutes, max, and this is what I got. Banana for scale.



I feel like I've found buried treasure. I also feel like I'll be finding more when I get back out to the garden and start looking. The sweet potatoes have to cure before they are sweet and that involves keeping them somewhere very warm and with high humidity. This sounds like a description of my back porch and so I flattened out a a box that held beer to set them on and here's what my haul looks like. 


Since we stopped getting the physical newspaper, I often find myself puzzled at what to use for the things we've always used newspaper for. Doesn't really matter in this case. 

I gave the chickens a bunch of the vines I'd pulled. I have no idea if they'll like them or not but at least it'll give them something green to scratch around in. Mr. Moon spent a good part of the day dismantling two old structures in the coop that were used at one time to keep chicks in, thus giving the tiny flock a little more space. I told Glen today that I feel like I should be making meals for them. Like- a spinach quiche or something. They would love that. 

And that's what went on here in Lloyd today. Rain is suddenly falling from the sky. There was no warning- no thunder, no lightening, just an abrupt darkening and now rain. There are two cardinals on the feeder who look as surprised as I am, cocking their heads to look around. 
Oh my but it smells good. Those first drops wetting the earth release a scent like no other. It is funky and dirty and clean and crisp all at the same time. 
Mmmm...
Sounds a little like the Rolling Stones. 
It's been quite awhile since I've posted any Stones videos. Let us remedy that. Here's an eternal crowd pleaser from back in 1981 when they were already being asked if it would be their last tour. 
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I doubt anyone wants to watch all of it but just watch a minute or two to get your juices flowing. 


Be still my heart. And hey Punk Rock- Who's your daddy? 
Papa Keith. Bless him. Bless all those bad boys. 

Love...Ms. Moon

27 comments:

  1. Those are some mighty big sweet potatoes. I didn't know they needed to be cured. I recently found out that normal spuds should be allowed to sit for a day or so to prevent bruising. I am going to plant some when the planters I ordered arrive.
    Petrichor is the name of that delicious smell we get when it rains.

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    1. I have seen that word before- petrichor- but I doubt I've ever heard anyone ever say it. I wonder if petrichor in North Florida smells like petrichor anywhere else or if every ecosystem has its own unique one.
      Yes. You have to let the sweet potatoes rest so that the sugars can form in them. Or so I read.

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  2. My grandma's rule: If a task is once begun, never leave it 'till it's done. Be the chore great or small, do it well or not at all. I wasn't fond of that grandma, BTW.

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    1. She sounds just like my mother, who also said if you do it right the first time you won't have to come back and do it over.

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    2. The one I always heard was, "If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right." Not everything in my opinion.

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  3. Those sweet potatoes are huge! I never grew them, except indoors for the foliage as a house plant. I think I'm too far north for them.

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    1. You may well be too far north. They need long days of heat, I think.

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  4. My eyes are as heavy as your sweet potatoes, but not too far gone to admire some mighty fine growing! Tomorrow waits and they won't know what hit them.

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    1. Well, in this case, I did not lift a finger to grow those potatoes. They just did it all by themselves. Life- there is no stopping it! Sometimes, anyway.

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  5. What a great haul of sweet potatoes and thank you for the curing information, I had no idea and will pass it on to my brother in Perth who has sweet potatoes growing this year. I'm sure the chicken will appreciate the extra space and the greens that you throw to them.
    I notice fencing on both sides of the now-bare patch. Can you fence the ends somehow, for a while and let the chickens in there to scratch for leavings, insects and fertilise the soil at the same time?
    The scent when the first fat raindrops hit the dirt is called petrichor. it smells even better than chocolate cake baking!

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    1. A very long time ago I read a plan for a garden (this was in Organic Gardening magazine) that had two sections. One for the things currently growing, the other for chickens to be kept in to do exactly that- scratch and fertilize, eat bugs and weeds. The problem is that I have discovered chickens can indeed fly. We've gone to a lot of trouble to fence the garden in such a way that they can't get in. Now, of course, that's not a problem. Thank you for reminding me. At this point, I do not know how we'd get the chickens in there as we're not very good at herding them. We have got to figure out some solution though, some alternative to keeping them in the coop.

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  6. How long do the sweet potatoes need to be left for the curing?

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    1. At least two weeks but they can be stored for months.

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  7. Those sweet potatoes are VERY impressive! Can't stand the things myself but kudos to you!

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    1. We love them baked and in soups and stews, too. I'm sorry you don't like them.

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  8. Congratulations on your sweet potato haul with more to come by the sound of it. The idea of a "fall garden" is, I think, a sub-tropical concept. I have never heard of an autumn garden in England.

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    1. Yes. We have two full gardening seasons a year. We are lucky in that, I think.

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  9. I remember when I moved to a garden apartment in Brooklyn. The first night there was a soft rain. I was in the kitchen with the windows open on the garden and there was a wonderful smell. It took me a bit to realize it was damp earth.

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  10. I'm single minded like that too. Once I start on something I don't want to stop til it's done. That's quite a haul of sweet potatoes. We were supposed to get rain yesterday, didn't. Predicting rain for every day this week. I gather no more chickens have been lost keeping them penned?

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    1. No, no more chickens have been taken. As long as they're in the coop, they won't be.
      We got rain again today. We've been getting it pretty regularly.

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  11. I am always amazed at how small Mick Jagger looks on stage. He is such a big personality!
    Good crop of sweet potatoes!

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    1. All of the original Stones are/were tiny. They were Blitz babies and I do not think they had great nutrition growing up. Their spirits did not suffer though.

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  12. Oh my goodness, how exciting to find so much good nourishment buried in your garden. Those are some healthy looking sweet potatoes, too!

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    1. Yes! I look at them and think of delicious soups and stews and casseroles.

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  13. It cracks me up that you have the urge to cook for your chickens. You are such a nurturer! (I'm laughing with you, not at you. :) ) Those sweet potatoes are truly impressive and what a great surprise.

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    1. God, I am a nurturer, aren't I? Maybe you should try growing a patch of sweet potatoes in your garden! They make a lovely ground cover.

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