Vegetable change-outs

It's a good thing that we're not totally dependent on my potato harvest for sustenance, although South Carolina is hardly a prime potato growing location. 'Caribe' potatoes seem to do the best, although I've had harvests from all the varieties I've tried. I'm still learning about potatoes - in my second year of growing them, my ecological instincts (about native plants) don't necessarily serve me well with nutrient and water-hungry crops. And, certainly, dry weather doesn't help.

But we had some delicious fresh potatoes (along with new garlic and onions) for dinner, so I'm happy with that.

But, I'm enjoying thinking about rotations, and what to put in the potato beds after they're done. (They still have small developing potatoes at the end of underground stems -- do I water and side-dress with compost and hope for more potatoes -- or do I dig up everything and plant beans, or wait until mid-July and plant fall-maturing cole crops, or seed in basil, or transplant tomatoes, oh my...)

The red cabbages in pots have been an unexpected element, as has the redbor (I think) kale, transplanted from a salad mix, and now handsome in one of the vegetable garden blocks. There haven't been many cabbage butterflies, yet, or maybe tough older kale and cabbage leaves aren't preferred to the younger ones that were chewed up.

And there are young squashes to harvest soon.


And this is the first broccoli plant I've managed to get a head from (although quite small).