Thawk, You have radishes and beets up already? That is awesome. When did you plant them? Maude, We have 5 big gardens (not enough LOL) so hand spading is out of the question. Besides hubby dearly loves getting out there with his tractor and plow/disk. Actually had an extension agent tell us that we wouldn't have much trouble with - oh, what is the name of that stuff tomatoes got so bad last year, wilt?, - staying in the ground because we fall plow. There is something to it, as he was also surprised that we could raise canteloupe. Good rotation practices and fall plowing must be the keys. You are so right about the hard pan. Brother in law had a farmer come in and chisel-plow his garden spot. We don't seem to have much trouble, rarely ever water anything either. Need to get to Chamness in Eddyville and get some more of their inexpensive compost. Black Gold :) Do you have a heat source in your greenhouse? Hubby is in the process of building one, 6'x8'. And please tell me more about growing sweet potatoes...I have developed a taste for them, but have never grown them. Do they get planted in early spring too? SOS

I dug up ONE tuber a couple of weekends ago. I know there must be more, but I couldn't reach way down inside that planter box - it's about 4' deep. It was about 6" long and about 6" in circumference. Not too big, really. But I put it in my cabinet where I store my potatoes. Looks like a regular old sweet potatoe to me. Moni - yours is HUMONGOUS! Susan

Well, you can send all the baby reds to me & that takes care of half your problem. Seriously though, baby reds are fantastic just boiled skin on & served w/ butter, salt & pepper. Alternatively, they're also very good roasted w/ oil & garlic. I would even mash them, skin on. That's because I just love red potatoes. Reds aren't considered a good masher. A dish that I love but my family doesn't is to grate raw potatoes, tie them up in an old dishtowel & 'wring' the excess water out of them. Heat a nice OO in a saute pan & lay the potatoes in, mashing them into a flat pancake with a spatula. (Season w/ S & P) Cook until well browned & the potatoes on top are just starting to get soft. Flip them and just a couple of minutes before they're ready to come off the stove, top w/ crab or imitation crab, cubed fresh tomatoes & fresh (preferably) basil. Sounds like a weird combo, but it really is very good, my family's opinion not withstanding. Another thing I like to do is to grate cooked potatoes and mix into pancake batter. I usually use a pancake mix. Cook your potato pancakes & serve w/ butter & hot maple syrup or just applesauce. And then there's 'New Potatoes & Green Beans'. My mom made this a lot. Cook the baby reds w/ fresh green beans seasoned w/ either ham or bacon, some onion and water to cover.. This is one of those dishes that is good overcooked to the point that the potatoes are wanting to fall apart and even better heated up the next day as leftovers.

We have posted our intern position on the OSU hire board. Fingers crossed. https://www.myinterfase.com/okstate/job.aspx *Job ID:78500 *Job Title:Vegetable Grower Employer Name : Vision Farms Work Schedule:DailyWage/Salary:$400 mo & housing*Job Description:Growing food for sale and for our charity. You will need a good foundation in agronomy and business. We will support you with equipment, seed, tools, etc... Your housing is only one mile from the ten acre plot you will be responsible for. We do not use pesticide or herbicide. You will be responsible for market research, customer development, crop planning, crop care, harvesting, record keeping and marketing. We have another garden plot you can use to grow cash crops to supplement your wages.*Application Instructions:Please call Jennifer Bozarth @ 405-570-2505 or Johnny Coleman @ 405-531-1229 OR email Johnny8@cox.net https://www.facebook.com/visionfarms