An update on the potatoes

Happy potato plants transferred into the larger tub.

So, we've had success with our potatoes!  They have actually grown into plants, much to my delight.

After just a couple of weeks, little green plants sprouted up out of the potatoes in the soil.

Since then I've had to transfer them to a larger pot with much much more soil as they filled the tiny pots.  As I was transferring them I discovered they had already produced some tiny brand new potatoes.

I have no idea how to tell if the potatoes are ready to eat or not, and I'm sure we learnt this all at school, but can't remember any of it now - I blame 'baby brain'.

Now I had better do some research about when to harvest them etc... If anyone knows, let me know :)

The random tomato plant that has popped up under the fence is thriving.

A little bit of Dirt Girl in our backyard‏

Today, we planted potatoes. 


My three year old and I have been planning this for quite some time. I find the kids TV show, Dirt Girl, very inspiring. She has a fantastic veg garden and has all sorts of projects happening in her yard. And today, we wanted to bring a little of Dirt Girl into our day.

A while ago, maybe about 4 weeks back, we popped a handful of potatoes in a bag into the back of the bottom shelf in the pantry cupboard. I could only vaguely remember the process of getting potatoes to turn into potato plants, and I didn't Google a method for our project. I figured it would come to me as we did it.

So after about 4 or 5 weeks in the dark, our potatoes had all sprouted lovely little knobbly beginnings of plants. I must admit, today was the first time we'd actually looked at the potatoes since putting them in the pantry, so I was a little nervous about what I might find! Luckily they were perfect and ready to go in the soil.

We took the baby outside and popped him on a quilt in the grass to wiggle about, and we sat on the path with some pots filled with soil, the plastic toy spades, the potatoes and a knife. I had memories of cutting the potatoes near to the sprouts so the sprouts could be placed individually in the soil right side up. So I cut the potatoes, and Ava planted them in the pots with her plastic spade.

Next, I made sure they were all covered in soil and we gave them a splash of water.

I don't know for sure if we've done it right, but we'll soon find out when we see them grow (or not).

Considering a tomato plant has just popped up out of the crushed granite in our backyard, I figure these sorts of plants must be fairly hardy and easy to grow! And I'm sure it didn't require much effort when I grew potato plants as a kid.

If they grow, I'll let you know!

Quarterly Clear Out

Some people have a yearly "Spring Clean".  Others, like the people on the TV show Hoarders, never clear out.

Personally I like to clear out at least one area of my house quarterly.  The change of the season always makes me feel like culling and reorganising.

The crisp Autumn air has just arrived and already I've started clearing out the vintage dresser in our kitchen, all the kitchen cupboards, sorted through the kids clothes, and all my maternity clothes.

When I clear out, I always like to ensure that I sell, reuse, recycle, re-home as much as possible to reduce landfill and give items a new life.

There are a lot of great options I utilize to clear out my house, and I thought you might appreciate me listing them in case there are one or two you haven't come across.  I've included the obvious as well.


Places to sell your goods:
eBay
Gumtree
KID size Living Community Garage Sale
Tempe Buy Swap Sell
Tempe Yard Sale Trail - annual event happening again in September this year.

Donate your goods:
Salvation Army
Marrickville Council Collection
Little Wonder - donate your baby clothes and equipment her to help premature babies at RPA
Reverse Garbage - donate excess materials, stage props, paper, fabric etc
The Bower - donate windows, doors, furniture etc.
Local Nursing Home - donate your unwanted magazines and books to your local aged care facility

If you don't know about the Tempe Yard Sale Trail, I'll be publishing a post about it on here soon, or visit the Facebook page for more info.


And of course a lot of these places are also fantastic for buying as well, just try not to fill the space you've just created from clearing out!

I hope I've inspired you to clear out your own home, and at the same time give as many of your items as possible a second life.