Update: The 2026 Garden is Underway (Podcast Included)

The Trusty Gardener-The Potatoes are Now Planted

The Potato Gow Bags/Author Photo

Welcome back. It’s been a while since my last update. It’s almost go time. Memorial Day is fast approaching. Around here, that is the official date for planting without fear of frost. We’ve had temperatures in the mid to upper 80s on Monday and Tuesday of this week; however, yesterday and today were much cooler (low 60s), and there is a chance of frost tonight, the 21st.

What Have I Planted Thus Far? Have You Checked Out My Podcasts?

In my last podcast and article, I talked about and showed the progress of the kale, lettuce, onions, and peas. They continue to do well, except for the peas. They germinated sporadically, so I will have to replant some of the seeds.

[embed]Episode 7 of Leaf, Wing, and Sun Garden 2026 Update-Lettuce, Kale, Onions, and Peasmedium.com

The 2026 Garden Will Be Very Different

My old gardens are no more. Forever covered and frozen in time, part of the process of having a new septic leach field installed. I have been writing about this since last November. The contractor finally returned yesterday and today to finish the grading and seeding of our side yard. In the process, the gardens were covered and leveled to blend in with the rest of the yard. The rainy weather predicted for this weekend will give the grass a good start.

Leveling the Lawn and Old Gardens/Author Photo

Even though I will miss the old gardens, mowing the yard will become easier since I won’t have to trim around the 2 gardens. This involved quite a bit of trimmer-mower work and weed-whacking as well.

My New Potato Planting Method-More Details Included in My Podcast

I didn’t think I was going to grow potatoes this year. With only 4 raised beds and a couple of small in-ground gardens, there just wasn’t room. However, I love growing them, and did some research into using grow bags. So I ended up buying 10-gallon cloth grow bags (10) and decided to give this technique a try.

These bags are made well and have handles for convenience. They also have a “window flap” that can be opened come harvest time, to see if any potatoes are present.

Planting Potatoes/Author Photos

Initially, I added about 6 inches of soil to the bags, then placed 3 seed potatoes evenly spaced in each bag. I decided to grow Yukon Gold, our favorite variety. I then covered the potatoes with a few inches of soil and watered them. As the plants grow, I will add more soil until the bags are eventually nearly full.

It will be interesting to see how good the yield is. I’m thinking it should be good, as the soil is loose, which should allow for the potatoes to develop. Time will tell.

Here is the latest episode of my podcast regarding the planting of the potatoes:

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Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more updates.

[embed]Spring Migration is Bringing a Fresh Variety of Birds to Central NY State Dan’s Almost Daily Journal-Volume 96-Are You Seeing the Migrating Birds?medium.com