Today's harvest - potato failure

[Rhodie Ranch]

Been too hot for me to go up to the Garden much, but with Hoodat's tropical storm that came up here, it cooled down nicely in the morning.

Here is today's harvest. The big metal bowl is just out of the pic on the left and holds another load of tomatoes.

See my attempt at the potatoes? I had a 3' diameter wire cage, about 4' tall, with hardware cloth at the bottom and lined with shade cloth. Dirt on the bottom, then as the seed potatoes (6 ea) grew, layered with straw and dirt fines. 3 months. plants died. Toppled the cage over, undid the wires, and this was my bounty. Maybe better luck next time.

Oh, and I bought 2 okra plants at Lowes this summer. One died and the other produced 2 okras. My aunt from North Carolina is here visiting, and says to slice it up and add it to some of the tomatoes I'm gonna can today.

 

[lesa]

Have you tried potatoes in the ground? I tried the "barrel" method and got a handful of potatoes. The next year, I planted in the ground and I have ever since. They grow a lot better in the garden. Your tomatoes look great! Happy Canning!

 

[vfem]

It all looks fabulous to me! With our crazy heat, a lot of things failed this year between heat and dryness!

 

[thistlebloom]

Hey Murph', I'll trade you some potatoes for a few of those beautiful tomatoes!

 

[April Manier]

Your tomatoes look heavenly!

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Thank, April! I've been canning, dehydrating, eating, giving away, eating more...tomatoes coming outa my ears. But its what I wanted and they have thrived here in the Foothills.

 

[muffy]

Hey Murphy. I say forget the wire thing for potatos also..just plant in the ground, or I am using one of my raised beds this year..I try to rotate and plant in a differnat place every year.Hopefully that discourages the bug problem. I never even tried to grow potatos in CA when I lived east of Visalia... I think Elko's heat is just as bad, but then we get that good freeze in the fall..just keep growing! every year is a new adventure, no matter where we are!

 

[CountryGirl]

This year I planted potatoes in a shallow trench and covered them with straw. Since this was a trial run I planted only a small patch. It worked out great. All I had to do was pull aside the straw and pick up the potatoes. No potato fork, No digging, no impaled potatoes. I plan on expanding the potato planting next year. Maybe try sweet potatoes using this method.

 

[CountryGirl]

Sorry murphysranch I did want to say that your tomatoes look wonderful. Nice color. I got caught up talking about myself.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

nah...I like it when ppl reply to a post. I feel wanted and special. Really.

I'll try that next year. So I had the right idea for straw, but the wrong direction (vertical vs horizontal) for planting.

I'm sure my gophers will LOVE the spuds that I will try to grow....:/