Sowing for a potato harvest

In the fall of 2010 I diced up some potatoes to use in my first ever lasagna garden. My husband warned me that I would reap a potato harvest from this, but I insisted that it wasn't possible since I had diced the potatoes up REAL TINY! Of course, he was right!

When I pulled back my black tarp the following spring I had hundreds of potato plants growing and sure enough there was a harvest!

So this fall I'm sowing on purpose with the goal of reaping a potato harvest.

Did it freeze last night?

According to the The Weather Channel it doesn't appear so, but sure enough this morning there was a light glaze of frost on the rooftops.

I found this excerpt from a website called About Frost while Googling the matter:

But the low temperature was only 35°F, How did frost form?

What is important is not what the temperature was at the thermometer but what the temperature was where the frost formed, and if frost formed the local temperature was below freezing.
A thermometer indicates the temperature where the thermometer is, usually a few feet above the ground. Because cold air sinks relative to warmer air and because the ground can cool very quickly the temperature at ground level can be cooler than a few feet higher where the thermometer is, eventhough the thermometer indicates a temperature that is above freezing, it can easily be below freezing a few feet lower. 

So it appears that we had our first frost of the season last night. I really need to a get a ground thermometer and start tracking temperatures in the garden.

Garden Pictures

Tartine Bread

We had a really good rain last night and the 2nd growing season of North Texas is in full swing. Radishes that I planted last month are ready for harvest, beans are growing, tomatoes are getting larger each day. I am so excited!

Last night my husband and I celebrated our 7th year of marriage and while waiting for our table at the cheesecake factory we decided to browse Barnes and noble. That was when I spotted the Tartine Bread cookbook.

The country bread loaf on the cover made my mouth water, so much so that I decided to give it a try today. Which is when I realized that it's about a 3 week long process. However, I was determined to give it a try!

I didn't buy the book, but  instead found the recipe on Martha Stewart's website. If it turns out well, I'll probably go back and buy the book to try the other recipes. Despite the fact that it first appeared incredible complicated, it was actually pretty easy. I must admit, I've never made bread before....ever. I've wanted to try for a while now, but never actually braved it.

Basically Chad Robertson's recipe focuses on simple ingredients and commitment, lots of it. I made the first part of the recipe tonight, the Starter. Now I begin my 20 -ish day journey to Tartine Bread. I weighed, mixed and poured my heart out and now the real challenge comes, the wait. Over the next 20 days I will be committed to "feeding" the starter around the same time each day until it has reached perfection. Then I can make the dough. 

I'll keep you posted.