Staples for the Veggie Garden

  

 

Cooking up a roast or a soup, what two items might you likely use? Onions and potatoes that is, so hopefully the seed potatoes and onion sets are in the ground by now. As I mentioned in previous posts, it’s time to get the tomato and cucumber lovers out of their comfort zone. Too many folks overlook potatoes, an easy to grow crop for your summertime garden. Why would you want to test the potato waters? Check out this archived July post for a myriad of reasons to grow potatoes. http://blog.bilowzassociates.com/2011/07/potato-banter.html

 

But one of the best reasons, besides the flavor (because you’ll never want a store bought potato again) is how one crop of potatoes can build your soil. Do you have a garden area that has been fallow or needs improvement? Plant a row of potatoes and when you start digging in the earth to find those treasured nuggets, you’ll be amazed at the richness and texture of the soil. The next year you’ll have beautiful growing conditions for planting your leafy greens, onions, garlic… remember, even if your garden is small, you want to rotate your crops whenever possible. But not to confuse you. All the images in today's post are onions! Doesn't it look easy? It really is.

 

 

 

And it’s not too late to get the onions and potatoes in the ground. The trick is finding a friend who might have some extras seed potatoes and onion sets hanging around.

But who's thinking roasts or soups on another glorious spring day? That's the beauty of growing onions and potatoes. Even if storing your harvest for the wintertime seems snow piles away, when you grab a fresh onion or potato in the colder months, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Hopefully on this beautiful spring Tuesday, there's inspiration to create what Jarod Kintz calls ‘noise soup.’ “Noise soup, I just made it. Taste it with your ears.” Hopefully there are some fresh ears out there listening. It's time to rethink tomatoes and cucumbers. Extend your veggie collection. Try onions and potatoes.

Top image of onions in cold storage last fall by Ann Bilowz© 
Bottom image of onion sets just planted under black plastic by Ann Bilowz© 

If you like this blog, hope you check in daily. Like our fan page https://www.facebook.com/abilowz follow on twitter https://twitter.com/annbilowz or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at annbilowz@gmail.com You can now follow with visuals on Pinterest, too! http://pinterest.com/bilowzassoc/