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Food Security
25 Mar 2025 11:43 amJust an update on the potato situation. My goal was 60 grow bags of potatoes. Some people might think that excessive. I have a track record of a half pound of potatoes from each grow bag. That only nets me 30 pounds of potatoes. I don't have a great track record. I may buy potassium to add to the grow bags as fertilizer. It might help. The type of potatoes I grow are smaller varieties. That too has an effect on the yield. At the moment, I have Purple Viking potatoes, Red potatoes (center is red too) and Yukon Gold from the food co-op. Mixed in, I may have old seed potatoes like French fingerling or others I have grown in the past.
Sixty is a lot to get from my motley collection of seed potatoes. When the shoots/vines started going everywhere in the basement, I cut some and put them in water. That is another experiment. Some took and others didn't. That experiment is still ongoing. The ones that rooted got transplanted in dirt in yogurt containers. When those got too big, they were transferred to a grow bag. The current count is 14 bags in the garage and 8 in the basement. Two more nights of cold temperatures before they all get put outside to grow. Tonight's low is 30 and tomorrow is 25 degrees F.
I just transplanted a bunch more cuttings into dirt. I won't count my chickens before they hatch. I can say I have 22 grow bags going out of 60. Even if I can plant another 10 from the cuttings, I am still short. I ordered potatoes to fill in the gap. It has been a long time since I ordered seed potatoes. Like every other company, they downsized the packages instead of upping the price. I am a little disappointed. I got 5 raspberry potatoes. Some are long so I should be able to chit both sides and get 10 chunks to plant. The Purple Majesty I ordered are small. 5 potatoes cannot be subdivided easily. I'll get 5. I haven't opened the German butterball yet. Those are a fall potato. If they hold up for a bit, I'll plant them later rather than sooner. That should at least net me another 25 grow bags. Fingers crossed that my shoots take root to make up the difference.
The seed swap was this past weekend. I popped in to drop off seeds. Each time I order, I get a packet of mixed lettuce seeds as a free gift. I don't need 5 packets of "salad" seeds. I'm still working on the lettuce I planted last fall and have new seed coming up for spring. We can't eat brassicas because of the high sulfur content so I dropped off the Hakeuri (salad) turnip seed too. Excess dyeplant seed went to a textile artist in Columbus. This is the part of permaculture that I call Returning the Surplus. For my efforts, I got another grow bag from the seed swap. Locally, the Center for Coalfield Justice runs the seed swap. It was crowded and I didn't stay long. They didn't have anything I wanted. I am a little particular in what I want to grow.
Everyone seems to be afraid of the economy tanking or losing their jobs. I have never seen so many people anxious to pick up seeds without spending any money. There were people of all ages. MI Gardener is experiencing the same. He has 8,000 people waiting for seed orders. Wow. I find March is too late to buy seed. The selection is limited. Also, when stuff should be planted, the seed is not necessarily available. I typically buy my seed after Christmas. I actually don't care if it is from the previous year. That only matters with onions. I ordered my live plants on Black Friday for delivery in March. That worked out okay. It spreads the cost out over the whole year. Live plants are purchased in November, seeds in December, seed starting mix in January, additional grow lights in February, raised bed dirt and amendments in March, and soil tests in September. I think I bought more grow bags in October. Gardening can cost money. It all depends how resourceful you are. Composting never nets me enough for what I need. I live on a hill - erosion is a real thing. I lose a lot of soil.
There are other ways to save money. We do save seed, but not for everything. Theoretically, I could make seed trays out of wood and treat them with linseed or do the Japanese wood burning to preserve the wood. Then I'd never have to buy trays to start seeds. Perlite can be replaced with biochar. Worm castings act like a basic plant growth hormone to the soil, boosting growth. Worms are cheap and bins are anything kicking around the house. There are a lot of little tricks. Personally, I really dislike using plastic to grow in. I worry about micro-plastics. We have enough pollution where I live; I don't need to make more. Lately I've been following Branch and Blossom Farm in MN. She is working to reduce the amount of plastic on her farm. Look for her on Instagram. Just a thought.
This week the weather changes on Thursday. All my cold hardy plants will get put into the ground. The rest of the onions will too. I hope to expand one cinder block bed to put my cucumber trellis on. Now I am off to call tree services again. That tree has to come down so I can work safely next to the garage.
Sixty is a lot to get from my motley collection of seed potatoes. When the shoots/vines started going everywhere in the basement, I cut some and put them in water. That is another experiment. Some took and others didn't. That experiment is still ongoing. The ones that rooted got transplanted in dirt in yogurt containers. When those got too big, they were transferred to a grow bag. The current count is 14 bags in the garage and 8 in the basement. Two more nights of cold temperatures before they all get put outside to grow. Tonight's low is 30 and tomorrow is 25 degrees F.
I just transplanted a bunch more cuttings into dirt. I won't count my chickens before they hatch. I can say I have 22 grow bags going out of 60. Even if I can plant another 10 from the cuttings, I am still short. I ordered potatoes to fill in the gap. It has been a long time since I ordered seed potatoes. Like every other company, they downsized the packages instead of upping the price. I am a little disappointed. I got 5 raspberry potatoes. Some are long so I should be able to chit both sides and get 10 chunks to plant. The Purple Majesty I ordered are small. 5 potatoes cannot be subdivided easily. I'll get 5. I haven't opened the German butterball yet. Those are a fall potato. If they hold up for a bit, I'll plant them later rather than sooner. That should at least net me another 25 grow bags. Fingers crossed that my shoots take root to make up the difference.
The seed swap was this past weekend. I popped in to drop off seeds. Each time I order, I get a packet of mixed lettuce seeds as a free gift. I don't need 5 packets of "salad" seeds. I'm still working on the lettuce I planted last fall and have new seed coming up for spring. We can't eat brassicas because of the high sulfur content so I dropped off the Hakeuri (salad) turnip seed too. Excess dyeplant seed went to a textile artist in Columbus. This is the part of permaculture that I call Returning the Surplus. For my efforts, I got another grow bag from the seed swap. Locally, the Center for Coalfield Justice runs the seed swap. It was crowded and I didn't stay long. They didn't have anything I wanted. I am a little particular in what I want to grow.
Everyone seems to be afraid of the economy tanking or losing their jobs. I have never seen so many people anxious to pick up seeds without spending any money. There were people of all ages. MI Gardener is experiencing the same. He has 8,000 people waiting for seed orders. Wow. I find March is too late to buy seed. The selection is limited. Also, when stuff should be planted, the seed is not necessarily available. I typically buy my seed after Christmas. I actually don't care if it is from the previous year. That only matters with onions. I ordered my live plants on Black Friday for delivery in March. That worked out okay. It spreads the cost out over the whole year. Live plants are purchased in November, seeds in December, seed starting mix in January, additional grow lights in February, raised bed dirt and amendments in March, and soil tests in September. I think I bought more grow bags in October. Gardening can cost money. It all depends how resourceful you are. Composting never nets me enough for what I need. I live on a hill - erosion is a real thing. I lose a lot of soil.
There are other ways to save money. We do save seed, but not for everything. Theoretically, I could make seed trays out of wood and treat them with linseed or do the Japanese wood burning to preserve the wood. Then I'd never have to buy trays to start seeds. Perlite can be replaced with biochar. Worm castings act like a basic plant growth hormone to the soil, boosting growth. Worms are cheap and bins are anything kicking around the house. There are a lot of little tricks. Personally, I really dislike using plastic to grow in. I worry about micro-plastics. We have enough pollution where I live; I don't need to make more. Lately I've been following Branch and Blossom Farm in MN. She is working to reduce the amount of plastic on her farm. Look for her on Instagram. Just a thought.
This week the weather changes on Thursday. All my cold hardy plants will get put into the ground. The rest of the onions will too. I hope to expand one cinder block bed to put my cucumber trellis on. Now I am off to call tree services again. That tree has to come down so I can work safely next to the garage.
