Three Potato Four

Beginning Rehab for Spud Patch Obsession!

but, i don't think i'll weigh every bucket this year . . .



Steve

since we have already dug up about 1/2 a row it may be to late to strart the weigh in! Maybe next year. Would like to hear how they did. Keep us posted.

Here is a little on the spud subject:

In Your Potato Patch - 2011

How are the potatoes? - 2010

Curious about what is out there under the soil and curious how the potatoes turn out for everyone!

Steve

Well Steve..you have me in suspense! What do they look like? Show us a picture. I'm thinking of trying potatoes next year. Just a teeny, tiny row, since I'm probably going to plant less onions. Are they a good yield for the amount of space they take? Any you recommend for my area?

Thanks
Mary

Mary, I had nearly a pound of potatoes for every square foot allotted to them last year. Ohio State University says, "A good yield would be 150 to 175 pounds of usable potatoes from 100 feet of row." They recommend spacing at 9 to 12 inches in rows 28 to 34 inches apart. I think we could say that's about 1.5 pounds per 2 square feet. So, about the same.

When I lived on the northern California coast, there was a potato field nearby. I was told that they were growing them for chips. Kennebec was in my garden for several years. It is a good producer. Kennebec is still considered an important variety for chips, even tho' I never used them for that. Potatogarden.com lists Atlantic, Snowden, Mountain Rose, and Adirondack Blue as good for chips. (Blue potato chips - huh, huh!?! )

But of course, you could make French fries out of them instead .

Steve

Here's my first ever potato harvest for 2011. I planted two 1/2 wine barrels as a fun project for my kids The potatoes were a bit small and I didn't get a whole lot, but I think the heat and the fact they were in potting soil was the issue. The purple and pink/red fleshed potatoes were a hit with my 3 yr-old daughter. I actually got her to eat potatoes that weren't french fries

Those are the prettiest 'taters I've ever seen, Northernrose!

I am so excited to see how mine are doing too, but it's too early to dig them up since I planted them so late. They are just now starting to flower. They are looking pretty good from the surface though. I just hope they are as easy to collect as they are supposed to be. I did a big patch of straw-covered no-dig 'tater this year.

I'll be weighing whatever I get! Hope they don't disappoint!

Heh, i will admit to being a little excited when one of my potato plants died (errr...got killed, whoopsies...) so that i could find out what was down there!! There were 5 pingpong sized lil red spuds! :rainbow-sun

journey11 said:

Those are the prettiest 'taters I've ever seen, Northernrose!

I am so excited to see how mine are doing too, but it's too early to dig them up since I planted them so late. They are just now starting to flower. They are looking pretty good from the surface though. I just hope they are as easy to collect as they are supposed to be. I did a big patch of straw-covered no-dig 'tater this year.

I'll be weighing whatever I get! Hope they don't disappoint!

Click to expand...

Thanks It was a fun and easy project for the kids. I diced some up the other night and seasoned them with first press/cold press olive oil from my dad's orchard, bread crumbs, garlic salt, and some extra Pappy's seasoning. I then baked them at 400 until they were crisp. Wow, did they taste good and looked so pretty. I wish I took a picture, but we ate them too fast! The purple ones were purple all the way through and same with the pink/red ones. The yukon gold were very buttery tasting too.

Trisha

Trisha, that picture makes me want to harvest the different varieties all at once!

I'm too methodical for that, tho' . Part of what I'm up to out there is burying the "compostables" as they become available and getting those beds ready for a fall planting of greens. Since I will stagger that planting, I can just harvest about 20sqft at a time.

So, here are the first 17 pounds of Red Norland:



It is a good, dependable red that we have already noodled a few from to go with this year's miserable crop of shell peas.

More reds next and then on to the Yukon Gold. I think that will be the proper harvest schedule, this time around .

Steve