Potatoes and visitors

[macklingirl]

Yesterday we harvested our potatoes and had unexpected visitors. I never thought they would let me take the pictures. But the first was very brave.

Here are our potatoes. My sister always washes them and she thought it might be a good idea to put the rubber duck (could be Bodie's) behind them, so that you have a size comparison.



And we had two visitors.


She was very brave and let me take some pictures without flying away. In fact she didn't want to leave me and I had to put her on one of our bushes.



And I don't know who this guy is, he always ran around the leaf and it was difficult to catch him. I'm sure he is wanted. *g*




All in all it was an exhausting day, but the result was worth it.

Comments

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I am *so* impressed with your potatoes! (You should go into business.) I've never grown anything, even tomatoes which someone gave me have totally collapsed. And the insects... I don't like insects very much but they're very pretty, is the small one a kind of ladybird?

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you, we're very proud of the yield, we hadn't thought that it might be so much. *g*
I think my whole family has the green thumb. My father grows tomatoes on his balcony. You know, they don't like to get wet from above, they need a roof.

The small one is a leaf bug, but I never saw such a colourfull before. And for the hay horse, I love them. They are very clever and it is good in the garden because it eats flys, aphids and caterpillars which will eat your plants. So it's usefull for us. :-)

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Wow! As a potato lover, those look...wonderful.

And the visitors are very cool.

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :-)

In our first year we had over 40 kilogramm. I think this year could be the same or some more.

The hay horse was funny, it wanted to go into my hair and climbed the whole way from my finger over my arm up to my shoulder. *g*

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Hay horse - praying mantis? The big green one? Never heard that before!

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

No, it's not the praying mantis. The biological name is Tettigonia viridissima, in english it's the great-green bush- cricket I learned that now. Wikipedia Tettigonia_Viridissima

But it can fly like the praying mantis.

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you. Google wasn't being helpful!

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

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[mistymess4.livejournal.com]

your pictures are great! i am new to the site and just poking around...love things gardening, so checked out your journal. that's ALOT of potatoes!

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much and welcome. Yeah, it's alot of potatoes. And they taste really, really good.

[sw33n3y.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's an impressive crop! Are you selling them at market?

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

No, we're not selling them. We always split the crop. One half for my sister and her husband, the other half for our father and me. I think it'll last three or four weeks. (We love to eat our own potatoes. *g*)

[sw33n3y.livejournal.com]

Why not! Enjoy the fruits of your labour.

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

We'll do. :-)

[unbelievable2.livejournal.com]

Fantastic potatoes! I wish I had so many!!!
The bush cricket is a female, BTW. That long thing at the end is her ovipositor.
The little one looks like a Southern Green Shield Bug.
:))

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Well, we were lucky this year. A few years ago we had such as many but they all were infected with wireworms, the larvae of the click beetles and we had to throw them away.

Thanks for the information about the bush cricket. I like them. And thanks for the information about the Southern Green Shield Bug. I didn't now that it was a nymph, I thought it was an adult.

I learned alot today. :-)

[ali15son.livejournal.com]

Wow....that looks like hard work but very rewarding and your insect pics are fab.

Well done.

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, that it was. My back hurt for the last two days, but it was worth it. And thank you for liking the insect pics.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Looks like you're in for some lovely jacket potatoes - that really is an impressive crop.

I wonder if your unidentified visitor could be some kind of shield bug?

ETA: I've just spotted in the comments that unbelievable2 has made a more specific identification as to which type of shield bug 😊

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, jacket potatoes are a great idea. We had some today and they taste wonderful. And even the peel is thin enough to eat it. And we have very small potatoes which we use for Papas Arrugadas.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

The skins are the best bit 😊

I'd not heard of Papas Arrugadas - they sound lovely.

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

I really admire your potatoes - and your visitors are pretty nice too :-)

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Shame on me, I forgot to answer. So sorry. Thank you for looking. And the potatoes are delicious. :-)