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Post by solargeek on Apr 1, 2015 1:43:10 GMT
It was almost 60F today after 14F on Thursday last week so I raked about 10 of my 39 garden beds to pull out the weeds and expose them to the really cold weather that will still come and KILL THEM!
Then, because Martin (Paquebot) said we could plant potatoes (ground was quite warm and completely dry) and he is only a little south of me, I took the sprouted organic potatoes I had left from what I grew last year and planted them. Didn't bother cutting them up as they were so small. Buried them 8".
And maybe, just maybe, I will have potatoes earlier this year. Last year we had such a cold wet spring/June, my potatoes couldn't go in till mid June - they would have rotted. Although I snuck some small ones in late August, I couldn't really harvest till mid to late September.
We grow our own organic potatoes even though they only cost $.39/lb year round at a store called "Kwik Trip". With organic seed potatoes so expensive, it is hard to justify growing them. To save $$$$, I bought my original "stake" of seed potatoes at Whole Foods, no more than $3.50 for 3 lbs and I bought the 3 kinds we like the most. Bought a total of 9 lbs., cut them up when they had sprouted and planted them. They worked great! The Yukon golds tasted fabulous but the yield was quite small last year. Will try 1 more time this year and see if it was the crazy weather last year.
We live in the middle of a huge area where it seems like nonstop spraying of the pesticide-which-shall-not-be-named on potatoes. They spray very often and then kill all the potato plants in 1 week with intensive spraying by the crop dusting planes. They cost $.39/lb year round at a store called "Kwik Trip". Before we lived here, I had no idea.
So we grow our own.
*Thanks to MLF for spotting my rather large typos, (slinks away sheepishly, muttering "tomatoes, potatoes, I just can't type.....)
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Post by Muller's Lane Farm on Apr 1, 2015 1:47:31 GMT
You had me worried, solargeek .... you're title said Planted Tomatoes .... waaaaay too early for those to go outside up here! Glad to see you're talking potatoes in your post. |
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Post by solargeek on Apr 1, 2015 1:56:55 GMT
You had me worried, solargeek .... you're title said Planted Tomatoes .... waaaaay too early for those to go outside up here! Glad to see you're talking potatoes in your post. Got your tag -- THANKS! (And I added you in an * in the main post!) By the way I have shortened your wonderfully long name to MLF - sounds very official! |
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Post by Muller's Lane Farm on Apr 1, 2015 2:34:19 GMT
It's all good!
MLF is my nickname on forums ... kind of like my name is Cynthia but everyone calls me Cyndi
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Post by solargeek on Apr 12, 2015 5:52:21 GMT
Planted 2 more beds today, REDS and Yukons. Last bed tomorrow of "whites" but I would call them "bakers" or "Russets".
My wonderful DH redid all 39 beds today the Mittleider method for planting -- essentially you have your beds (I don't have raised beds per se; mine are on top of 36"-46" of straw that is now compressed so the beds look a little like raised graves). We took our large rake and scraped the soil on each length side of the bed (mine are 10' long, 3'-4' wide) so that you form almost a trench in the middle with raised sides. Naturally, water is better retained in the bed where the plants are!
Since we used 100% compost a year before planting, we have great drainage.
Saw this method on the HOMEGROWNFOOD summit video. For free thanks to whoever here gave us the website.
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Post by paquebot on Apr 12, 2015 14:54:00 GMT
If I were still planting potatoes at home, I would be at least 2 weeks behind schedule. If you've planted potatoes for a number of years, sooner or later there will be some volunteers. They would have been in the ground all winter and if the ground didn't freeze solid, they survived. In one part of my garden, Carola was almost a weed by coming up where I didn't want it. When tilling, sometimes I would find a tuber that was half-rotten. That meant that only the top half of it froze while bottom half remained alive.
Martin
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Post by Callie on Apr 12, 2015 19:00:47 GMT
I haven't even decided what potatoes I want to plant yet! Now I have stress.
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Post by paquebot on Apr 13, 2015 1:44:50 GMT
Some trying to decide what to grow while I try to decide what not to grow. I'm down to 11 after paring 4 from previous years. A few this year will only be 5 or 6 just to have some on hand. Scheduled to plant are:
All-Blue
Carola
Kennebec
Mega Chip
Ozette
Red Fingerling
Redgold
Red Norland
Russet Norkotah
Yukon Gold
Zoluska
A friend and I are combining our Kennebec and Russet Norkotah to grow at least 50 in a farm field. All-Blue will be given one more chance to produce something bigger than a golf ball. The Red Fingerling is an unknown and may not actually be a fingerling. We just know that it's a small long red that is so delicious that my friend ate all of hers before she realized that she forgot to save some to plant back!
Martin
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 17:54:50 GMT
Martin, what are the Zoluska variety like? I've never heard of them before.
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Post by paquebot on Apr 16, 2015 18:34:58 GMT
Zoluska should have been Zolushka. It is a TPS variety which means that it can be grown from true seed. First year, got big marbles. Second year got mostly small and medium tubers. Third year resulted in just a little smaller than Kennebec would produce. Storage is decent but not as long as Kennebec. Friend and I grew about 125 hills of it last year in his plots. I'll only plant about 15-20 this year in my plots.
Martin
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momo
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Post by momo on Apr 17, 2015 20:01:27 GMT
The old south rule around here is to plant your spuds on Good Friday. We did ours a week late though. DH is a major potato fan and could eat them every day!
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Post by paquebot on Apr 17, 2015 23:24:57 GMT
Of my list of a few days, 200 are in the ground as of today. Numbers range from only 5 for All-Blue to 30 of Russet Norkotah. That was just from my stock. Tomorrow we continue with my friend's but maybe only a hundred or so more. Then done with spuds for a couple weeks before we can get into the community gardens. We agreed today that we're going to have one awful lot of potatoes this fall!
Martin
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Post by Weed on Apr 18, 2015 10:22:57 GMT
That is a lot of taters Martin! (BTW, you're sayin: every day in the ground = 2 in storage sure seems to be holding true here)
Mid/3rd week of March was my "planned" time to plant, but the ground was still frozen solid. 20 excuses later and I'm still sitting on about 40# of small but solid Kennebecs from last falls harvest that need to go in ASAP. Planted Red Norlands, Yukon Gold, Superior and Kennebecs last year and the Kennebecs stomped all the other varieties - production wise.
Too much on my plate here to consider growing a 2nd variety this year, but I'd like to find another all purpose type tater that produces heavy & keeps well to try out next year. Any recommendations would be appreciated
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Post by paquebot on Apr 18, 2015 13:26:17 GMT
"One more day in the ground means two more days in storage." That is true about storage in relation to time in the ground. My grandparents would leave them in the ground almost until snow was in the air. No curing needed since that was accomplished in the ground. That still applies.
Of the most common potato varieties, Kennebec leads the way for having the longest dormancy period. From my list for this year, probably Mega Chip is the only one which matched it but that is an improved Kennebec. It was developed 30 years ago in Wisconsin and only recently available to home gardeners. This year will be a good comparison as both will be growing in ground which produced Kennebecs of a pound or better last year.
Martin
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Post by Weed on Apr 20, 2015 1:10:16 GMT
One more day in the ground means 2 more days in storage...I got it now  Last year we only harvested taters as needed, even after they were done growing. It wasn't until Dec. when I dug them all out and it made a huge difference in storage and overall quality. We usually lose some to spoilage before they're all gone, that wasn't the case last year. I was thinking of trying an alternate late variety that keeps well "just in case", but after further researching the Kennebecs I'm confident they'll always be easy to find/purchase here locally. To me a tater was always just a tater...I'm learning  Mega Chips sound like they would be an even better choice since they're also kennebecs, but I doubt they'll make their way to my suppliers shelves anytime soon. Not many retailers advertising them on the www either. Look forward to your results after harvest What I "should" be looking into is an early potato, as a hedge to fill the big gap. My supplier has 10 varieties left on the shelves that I need to look into for next year. |
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Post by paquebot on Apr 20, 2015 3:39:52 GMT
Actually, I think that it was originally two more days in the cellar. That was what my grandparents always said but half of America doesn't know what a cellar is!
Russet types are also long-keepers but their use is generally limited to baking as they don't fry well. I was stuck on Russet Burbank for years until Russet Norkotah was available around here. Now nobody carries the Burbank one.
Early around here always means Norland. Planted early enough, 4th of July is the time to start eating them. I've actually planted them back-to-back with decent results. That is, get them all out of the ground by the middle of July and plant a second crop.
Martin
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Post by Weed on Apr 20, 2015 5:26:25 GMT
As a young kid growing up in Alabama, I didn't know what a cellar was either. Wasn't until we moved up here to jersey into a house built on stacked concrete block piers. Dad said we're gonna jack this house up and build a cellar underneath it...and we did, my shoveling days began early! Mentioning the word cellar does seem to confuse most people up here.
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Post by solargeek on May 15, 2015 4:23:26 GMT
All of my potatoes are showing!!! Even the ones from last fall that I inadvertently let sprout -- think about that -- they were good to eat till about January and then I babied them not to sprout till February and planted them. God is really ingenious with these potatoes!!!
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Post by paquebot on May 15, 2015 4:55:01 GMT
Checked on ours Tuesday evening and very spotty for all varieties. Some of the seed stock was a bit dried out and that garden in need of a good rain. Next week should see 100% up in that garden. Meanwhile, added 18 each of Purple Viking and Red Pontiac in another garden. If we weren't going to have a lot of potatoes before, definitely will now!
Martin
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2015 4:05:55 GMT
My taters are blooming and making spuds. If I get taters sprouting by July/August I will try and do a second crop. Shouldn't have a killer frost till mid/late November and maybe even December. But then again it could snow on Halloween. This is Oklahoma
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Mega Chips sound like they would be an even better choice since they're also kennebecs, but I doubt they'll make their way to my suppliers shelves anytime soon. Not many retailers advertising them on the www either. Look forward to your results after harvest