WOOD PRAIRIE FAMILY FARM GETS DONE PLANTING POTATOES! With another half-inch of rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, the crew came in today and we finished planting first-year-in-soil Potato Minitubers. The Minitubers will be housed in a 600′ long ‘Caterpillar’ tunnel covered with special aphid-excluding netting.
At the far end of the field we began setting in place and bolting together some of the thirty 20-foot sections which make up the Caterpillar tunnel. After this rain we’ll finish re-assembling the Caterpillar sections and then spread over and secure the skin of heavy-duty netting.
In this shot taken mid-afternoon today, Caleb (straw hat) is in his blue Jeep bringing materials. Megan & Amy are working together using the solar-electric Lithium-battery-powered ‘Ro-Hand II’ Picking Assistant. The Ro-Hand is a great invention (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfTSrVREPu8)! It saves backs by eliminating stoop labor and is a great advantage in getting this intensive manual planting job done efficiently.
After a dry Spring, since the weather pattern shift beginning May 15, we’ve had 5.75″ of rain. Caleb, Megan & Jim
