Well, it’s the beginning of a new month, so it’s time to see how things are growing out in The Funny Farm. Some things are doing pretty good, but with this drought, others are not.  Today we’re going to talk tators and about last week’s column, The Laughter Intervention.

Way back in February

When I planted them, there wasn’t much going on. But gardening teaches patience and how to kill bugs, so they grew.

An April view of the potatoes

Potatoes are easy to take care of with little fertilizer and plenty of water. The hardest parts are hilling in the beginning and harvesting in the end. You have to dig for dinner.

When Sand Tart Spadette came for The Laugher Intervention, I put her to work digging potatoes. Hey, I’m no dumbie. She had a blast and I didn’t have to do all the hard work by myself. Worked out quite well, thank you.

We started by removing mulch

I mulched this bed heavily and since you have to dig for potatoes, I needed to move the mulch. Then I removed the dead tops gently and started to dig. Sand Tart Spadette looked on in wonder.

Look! It’s the beginnings of potato salad

Once we found a couple of potatoes, Sand Tart Spadette couldn’t wait to dig in. Literally.

A proud potato digger

After quite a bit of work, we were rewarded with this.

Red and Gold Potaotes

We dug, and dug, and dug and I know there’s still potatoes hidden under there, but they store fine in the ground. We only did half the bed because the other plants were still growing nicely. The tops are starting to die on those now so probably next week I’ll start digging again. Feel free to come over and help.

What I did with all the extra dirt

Because you have to hill potatoes up, you have to deal with all the extra dirt. I kept filling up the wheelbarrow and dumping it in a pile outside the garden. Will use that dirt again for something else.

After we were done digging potatoes, we got the first picking of green beans, too. Then Sand Tart Spadette came in the house and whipped us up a lovely, simple dinner.

Appetizer of one gold potato and steamed green beans

And the main course was mashed red potatoes with enough butter and salt to turn Jenny Craig into a blimp. Just what the doctor ordered for a Laughter Intervention. Then we watched Hangover and laughed until our sides hurt. Obviously, fresh veggies are good for the soul.

Tomorrow we’ll do an update on other things growing in the garden.

Spreading laughter throughout the world…one chuckle at a time. Pray for DDM.

Mikie Baker
www.mikiebaker.com