I unearthed my first new potatoes. So fun. We had a gigantico bistecca on the outside fire and I thought it was an appropriate time to dig a couple potato plants up and see what we got. Like a treasure hunt! Each plant produced 4 potatoes We had them for dinner and they were tender and creamy with melted butter on them.

The big project is my new composter! The beds outside and all the planters seem to “eat” soil. Every year they need additional. Where it goes, I have no idea! I have a lot of clippings from the gardens out there. Olive branches, weeds, trimming for the winter. Things perfect for composting. And I always have lots of biodegradable garbage. We have every sort of recycling container outside the building. Normally I go down five floors (thank god for the elevator!) and walk outside to dump it. My idea is to just use it as compost. Make my own soil. I ordered a nice looking composter from Amazon. Luther lugged the box up and I unpacked it. Whoa! It looked very complex. I hate assembling things. But I got started and then had to enlist Luther. One person just couldn’t do it. Progress so far.

And the finished product. I have started putting in my refuse already. It is called a noble art which goes back centuries. The first recycling as it were.

Today I heard from Luca at Orto Box, the farmer entrepreneur who is trying to organize farmers and consumers for bi-weekly veggie deliveries here in the Upper Tiber Valley. I wrote about him a while ago, Tomorrow I get my first delivery. I will write a post soon about the box and what I get. Ciao!