So far so good. Straw mulch time.

Today I picked up 2 bales of wheat straw for mulching.  First things first: at the garden another tarp had partly come out, but with not as bad consequences as last time.   So I pinned down all the tarps rather more thoroughly than at the outset.  Hopefully there they will stay.  

All the heirlooms are doing fine.   The F2 count is down to 57;  like a dope I accidentally broke one at the base else it would be 58.   Most F2s are looking OK, though mainly they are slightly less vigorous than the heirlooms.  Fortunately we got good rains over the last week.

An exciting find on an F2 - a growing fruit that already has very distinct purpling! , and also, has a wide/slightly flattened and ribbed phenotype that almost certainly reflects Cherokee Purple genes!



I also found about 5 or 6 potato beetles, and several of their egg clusters under leaves.  I removed and terminate all I could find.  Sadly one little F2 seemed to have been stripped clean by the beetles.

Finally I spread the straw all around the plant bases and put up a bit more twine.  Feeling good about how things are going so far.