Farm Fresh:Sweet Potatoes, Comfrey, and More Rodents

 We brought all the potted plants in for the Winter. Miss L harvested two meyer lemons for us and there are 3-4 more that we are waiting to ripen. 

Shark heard something in the gutter.  I came around the corner and she was furiously digging to try to get at whatever it was.  Probably a chipmunk since it is hickory nut season. 

While I was digging in the sweet potato patch I hit a rock.  Of course, I thought I should just take a minute and get it out... Half an hour later, I unearthed this boulder. The sweet potatoes that I dug out while I was near the rock had been nibbled by something. And sure enough a vole ran out while I was digging.  It was not terribly smart and hid with its head in the dirt, but I could still see its hind end.  I mercilessly called all the cats. None came. The dogs were quick to respond to my whistle though, and equally quick to catch on to what I needed help with.  I dug and they hung out nearby. They killed all 4 voles that dared to skitter out.  I love these dogs!   Star came later and spent some time hanging out while I finished digging around the boulder.  I imagine that the cats have kept the numbers down somewhat, but with such plentiful food available, there are probably a bunch more voles down the line.

We dug up about a third of the sweet potato patch with mixed results. I planted 4 different varieties and they all had some XL ones near the main plant that split -- too much water or sporadic watering is likely the cause (irregular rains). 

I have purchased a lot of comfrey plant roots over the last couple years.  I finally felt confident enough to harvest some from my own plants. I usually buy about 50 at a time.  I chopped these into 47 pieces.

I planted them in gallon pots in the basement.  They usually take about a month to sprout.  It will be too cold to put them outside then, but I should have space under my grow lights since I will not be doing the plant fair again this spring.