Potatoes, Prom, and A Picnic Under a Tree

This week the weather cooperated with us, and we were able to get a good portion of work done in the garden.

It is such a welcome sight to see the blue sky peeking out through the clouds! 

We made good progress on the weeding, and rearranged my veggie garden to make room for my two new raised beds that we will be building very soon.  It is so nice to get the garden beds weeded and ready to be planted.

Back in March I bought seed potatoes and Potato Planter bags so I could try growing a few potatoes in my little backyard garden.  I was finally able to get them planted this last weekend.

You start with the bags rolled down, they were a little smaller than I thought they would be, so I will be very curious to see how they manage to grow potatoes.  First you add a layer of dirt, then add a few seed potatoes.

I put in five of these little purple variety because they were pretty small, and I don't intend to let them grow very large.

The larger Red Pontiac's, I only put three per bag.

Then we covered them in a layer of dirt, and as the plant starts to grow up through the soil, I will add more soil, and unroll the bag until they come all the way to the top of the growing bag.  I will have to post their progress, and if it works well, I would love to plant even more next year, we love potatoes around here!

I also decided to plant my old re-purposed wheelbarrow turned planter with some lettuce starts I bought, for a little instant veggie garden gratification.  A green leaf variety, and a red leaf "Merlot" variety.  I look forward to a pretty bed of lettuce

The turnip I planted last fall, from an old grocery store turnip that I forgot to use up in my soup, has the most pretty yellow blossoms that I have been enjoying.  I am looking forward to getting the rest of my garden planted over the next month.  The weather man reported weather in the high 70's next week, and I am looking forward to some nice warm sunny days!

Last week my daughter also attended her Senior prom. She spent the day getting ready with a group of friends, so I don't have any before the prom pictures yet, and I am eagerly waiting to see the prom pictures she took with her friends at the prom, but I was able to snap a few pictures when she arrived home late in the evening after a fun night out celebrating with her friends.  They all went out to Thai food, then headed into downtown Portland for prom, which was a masquerade themed dance, then ended the evening by stopping in at Portland's well loved Voodoo Doughnut shop, before heading back home.

This last week we also had the fun of a visit from Sarah and Joe's youngest cousins, they had a great time playing board games together.   They were all so cute, I'm glad I got a picture!

The cousins spent the night, and the next day, while Sarah and Joe were off to school, I had the fun of hanging out in the garden with the little ones while the sun was out.  My little niece discovered that she fit quite nicely under my Weeping Katsura tree.

She ran and brought her brother, and they both enjoyed their new found little hidden garden.

There is a little stone path under the tree, that they enjoyed exploring.

I think they looked like cute little garden elves peeking out from the branches!

We decided that it was the perfect spot for an impromptu picnic, so while they were playing I made a few sandwiches, along with chips and a cookie for dessert.  I remember as a child how fun it was to find little hidden spots among trees and shrubs!

What a fun spring day!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for reading! :)