You Say Potato, I Say Potato...

I promised a post about the Top Five Failures of the Farmer, and here it is, finally. You could call them failures, I suppose, but I prefer to think of them as Learning Opportunities. I mean, I certainly didn't know any better when I got the farm into these messes, but here we are all the same...

1.) Overcrowding. I have already explained my mistaken ideas about the percentage of seeds that actually grow, but there are plenty of other reasons why the Farm is too crowded. Generally they involve the farmer thinking, "I know this watermelon plant says it needs 15 feet, but I'm sure I can wind it around somehow and squeeze 3 plants in 5 feet." Surprisingly enough, there are places where the farm is not crowded enough, like the Wando pea area. Next time I have a farm, more Wandos in the same amount of space.

2.) Tomatoes, once in cages, need constant monitoring to stay in those cages. Otherwise, you have to rig them up Whomping-Willow-After-the-Car-Accident style.



















3.) Maisy's antics are getting out of control. She barks at the neighbors, digs holes in H & N's yard, loses her mind when squirrels walk by, etc.

4.) Tomatoes that grow in pots need sterile soil, or else they will get wilt and die a slow and painful death. I'm only hoping the tomatoes on the plants now will ripen before the leaves all die...



















5.) The onions... Well, I planted them thinking it would be a long shot if they were ready before winter. But it turns out that something went very wrong once the seeds each had two leaves. They just fell over. I have no idea why (animal, insect, lack of nutrients, etc.?), but there will clearly be no onions from the farm this year. Here's where the onions used to be:



















Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 86F
Yesterday's low: 69F
Warnings: Fellowship Alert
Mood of the farm: Growing, growing, and growing some more
Reason to consider a new career: If this post doesn't answer that question, I don't know what would