Do you get potato bugs down there? They can be a near full-time chore all season to kill here, however we get no beetles of any real nuisance. Well, we get japanese beetles but they aren't a plague on potato plants. I crush them and toss them to the chickens. They eat them frantic like M&M candies.

We like Kenebec potatoes and Stuttgarter onions. We have two gardens and the largest is 60ft x 110ft surrounded by 7 1/2 ft fence to keep deer out. We dug a shallow well out by the big one but haven't installed a pump yet. The climate engineering often throws drought at us so I've been mainly just planting the small garden next to the house for easy irrigation. There's only me and the wife but we might decide to plant both this year and can/freeze like never before. Since we quit eating meat we've regained our enthusiasm for stockpiling food. I've got most of the triaxle load of firewood left from this winter so I might not be laying up any more this summer. It's exciting to consider all summer spent digging in the dirt,...yeah I know that makes me weird.

It's great to read words from someone who is bonded to the land. Thanks for sharing.

Woodchuck Pirate
aka Raymond J Raupers Jr USA
woodchuckpirate.com