Preparing Seed Potatoes

I should have done this several days ago.  Better late than never, I guess. I cut the seed potatoes into plantable pieces, and laid them on this old screen to dry. It's propped up between two raised rows in the garden, so air can get underneath. 

Here are the pieces. You can see I have some pretty good sprouts already.  Though you CAN plant the whole potato, you may end up with several plants all bunched together, because each one of these eyes, with it's sprout, is a potential plant.  So I just cut around the eyes, leaving some potato with each piece.  You CAN plant these right in the ground after cutting, but that is risking the pieces rotting before they can grow. Better to let them dry for several days, a get a leathery dry surface to prevent the rot from happening.

Heirloom raspberries, a gift from a neighbor who is thinning her rows. Gotta get these in the ground soon.

Mostly what I did today was clear brush. It was hot, sweaty, and buggy work. The black flies are out, nasty little critters.
You can see the before and after in this shot.. I got as far as the trees, and just had to stop and take a break from the heat and biting insects.  All those thorny bushes are what I am digging and cutting... they all have to come out.