I'm slowly getting various things planted in the garden, notably the cool-weather stuff that can handle spring temperatures. Last week I planted potatoes.
Unlike last year, when I planted eight beds and harvested 230 pounds of potatoes, I'm limiting our potatoes this year to just three beds. That's because we are still swimming in potatoes and don't need eight more beds' worth.
I had already layered compost on the beds from a couple weeks earlier, so all I had to do was turn it over (which takes just a couple of minutes per bed).
Lots and lots of worms, always a nice thing to see.
We were pressed into using this space as an impromptu root cellar, and to be honest it's worked out amazingly well. In previous years, without a dedicated place to store potatoes over the winter, they were ridiculously overgrown by April – fine for planting, but not for eating.
But last year's potatoes – and remember, we still have lots – are still in excellent shape, even after six months in storage.
For planting, I brought out the burlap sack that contained the smallest potatoes, which I used as seed potatoes.
I arranged three rows of seven potatoes each, for a total of 21 potatoes per bed, or 63 total potatoes.
Using a trowel, it doesn't take long to bury each potato deeply.
That's as far as I got last week, and ever since then we've been dodging some fairly major rainstorms.
With more rain on the way, the one thing I hadn't yet done was put straw mulch on the beds.
Mulching takes no time at all.
Mr. Darcy supervised the process.
Except for a little light weeding (notably, of the volunteer wheat that will grow from the wheat-straw mulch) – and watering, of course – that's all I'll need to do to the potatoes until October, when I'll harvest them.
It's a good thing I got the mulching done when I did, since we had a dramatic bit of rain move through today.
Could I ask what variety of potatoes you stored up?
ReplyDeleteI have some last fall planted potatoes just starting to peek up over the mulch here and was thinking of adding some more as I expect the food bank will be needing them this year.
I'm amazed at how good your potatoes still look!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love that storm picture--having grown up on the prairies, I'm a thunderstorm kind of girl.
Has the broccoli seed come up yet? It sure would be nice to skip raising seedlings of everything.
ReplyDeleteNot yet, but we've had some chilly and rainy weather recently. We have a few warmer days predicted, so we'll see what happens. If they don't sprout within two weeks, I'll replant.
Delete- Patrice
Old-Fart-Here:
ReplyDeleteI Doooooo love the homegrown Taters for sure, makes those store-bought Potatoes taste like…. XYZ
You get the picture HAHAHA
I Plant the Yukon Gold, a wonderful flavor and keep very well. I may drop in a few Red-Russets just to try them.
Have already planted mine here in northern NM, they are up 3-4” already, and that’s from planting them 12” deep.
Last year I planter 39 Seed-Potatoes and yielded 80+ pounds, ranging in size from about an inch, to well over 4 inches in dia., more than enough. So of course I expanded it and planted 80 HAHAHA what was I thinking besides Potato Soup, Fried Taters, Potato Salad and dozens of other concoctions. Ohhhhh yeah, don’t forget the Baked Taters…. YUMMMMMM
Amazingly enough, tis surprising how hardy they are, been in the high 20’s here and no damage at all.
Thanks for sharing the thoughts.
PS:
Someone asked me if the Taters are “cost worthy”?
Welllll probably NOT!!! But when you eat home grown Taters, and everything else ya grow at home, that taste 10 times better than Store Bought “stuff” that’s coated with chemicals (why do you think produce can sit in the stores for weeks on end without going bad) and tons of fertilizer and other “stuff” and God only knows where they come from then YES it’s worth the trouble and the cost, tis why most Homesteaders grow a Garden.
Maybe I didn't hit post well enough.
ReplyDeleteWhat variety of potatoes did so well in your storage?
And do you chit or just plant the smaller ones this year.
Thanks
I planted just regular russets. When buying seed potatoes, I chit them; but most of the time I just replant our own potatoes (in different beds from the previous year) and plant a whole (small) potato, because we have so many.
Delete- Patrice
I have had trouble with storage over winter, they always have this growths. I do store in my very cold basement. Last fall I started the storage in my basement (that is always cold) and having each small potato in egg cartons. The cartons went into a box and I wished them good luck. Took them out a few weeks ago and they were all still firm and no growth. I want to add that these were from what I grew last year. They were all about the size of golf balls and they are all russets. Now if I can only get cartons big enough for goose eggs for the rest of the potatoes. Hmm.
ReplyDelete