ursulas_alcove | Entries tagged with potatoes

At least our deer anyway. I am keeping with my plan to grow 325 pounds of food. I need to grow 30 lbs of potatoes. While squirrels may dig in the pots, deer seem to leave them alone. The squirrels leave me an assortment of peanuts. More potatoes would be even better. Since I average a half pound per grow bag, I need 60 plants to achieve that number. My thought is that if I have six different kinds of potatoes, I need at least ten of each variety. This is definitely an achievable goal.

Varieties
At present, the six varieties I have are Purple Viking, All Red Potatoes, German Butterball, Yukon Gold, and some kind from the farmer's market, maybe a Russet? My sixth doesn't have 10 potatoes; I only have 4 tiny French Fingerlings.

Plots
I don't have a lot of room for potatoes. I suspect that some potatoes will come up from last year's crop in Bed #1 near the mulberry tree by the driveway. That might help with my 60 plants. The odd potatoes out already got planted along the fence line where deer have a lot of access. Those were potatoes that were too small or were damaged but not badly. There are several varieties. Most were those tiny things you find when sifting the soil. The fence line path is planted solid with potatoes for the 2025 season. The second bed I have in mind is with the rhubarb. I planted some there several years ago. They did fine. The soil test indicates that all I need is a pound of Nitrogen to grow them. I picked up feather meal because it's organic; it only has slow release nitrogen; and I don't need much. After doing the soil test, I compared it with the University of MN nutrient guide for potatoes. https://extension.umn.edu/crop-specific-needs/potato-fertilization-irrigated-soils
I compared it to my own soil test see picture below. Potatoes do not need any additional calcium but they do need nitrogen. The soil looks good. Potatoes like a little more acidic soil. It should work out.

I had been growing potatoes in the fire ring. That soil is compacted, think of concrete and you'd be right. It needs perlite or else biochar to keep the soil looser. I may rework that entire bed. Aerate the soil and add amendments. I need to collect soil samples to see if it needs amendments. I have in mind to just plant sweet potatoes in it. I could also move the fire ring to another location and encircle it with fence because deer love themselves some sweet tater vines. The next step involves counting. If ten potatoes are along the fence line (possibly more) and 10 are in the rhubarb bed, then I need 40 grow bags. At one time I had 30 bags but I've since bought more. I just don't know how many more. Some are in the front yard and some are in the back yard and the rest are in the basement. I will have to hold a counting once the snow melts.

Then I need to work on getting soil for the additional grow bags. I plan to start with scraping the top layer at the uppermost part of the yard. The sawdust and leaves have decomposed. More sawdust will be put down to suppress weeds, but first I harvest what's there. I will harvest worm castings as well as add biochar from the 2023 cherry tree cuttings. I also have some coconut coir. It'll get me a couple of bags but blending all together with purchased soil would be best for the volume I need. I know that I did not fill more than 20 grow bags last year. I'll be short on soil.

Timing
The algorithms are wrong. At least for my potatoes and climate. The potatoes all die from the heat in June/July. The algorithms say to plant April 1st. That only gives 60 days before dead potatoes, possibly less. Only the mighty purple Viking can manage that feat. I find that potatoes need to be planted at or just before Spring Equinox in order to make it. Even then, a lot will be tiny. The German Butterballs are a fall potato. The grower sent them in November. I find that to be wild. They should be planted in late July to give a mid-October harvest. I don't know how I'll swing that one.

Right now, the All Reds and the Russet are getting a start in cups in the basement. The All Red started growing everywhere, sending out vines. The "cut out only the eye method" is being used on the russet. I have 8 of those so far. It's far too early but I don't know what else to do with these unruly beasts. I tossed the vines in water to grow roots. The actual seed potatoes went into dirt - slightly bigger pots. I'm hoping the effort pays off. I don't need 40 grow bags hanging out in the basement through March. Oh , and yes, potatoes, rhubarb, lily-of-the-valley, and foxglove are the only things I am sure deer don't eat. Anything else is debatable.

Yes, it's time to plant the potatoes. Last fall I did put in some potatoes because I thought it'd save me time come spring. Those potatoes are in raised beds. They are just poking through and looking good. Some are a little slower to start. It's early yet. I also planted a few grow bags. I emptied one grow bag and yes, there was a nice little potato in it. It just hadn't started yet.

I poked through the basement where I keep the potatoes over winter. It used to get very cold in the coal cellar. Not so much these days. At its coldest this winter, the coal cellar hit 45 degrees. Needless to say, I had potato vines everywhere. I only had two containers in the basement. The first was a Purple Viking Potato with 13 spuds. The second was an Austrian Crescent Potato. Perfect. That's about the number of grow bags I have. The vines weren't too long. They've been a mess in past years.

I have mature worm castings and soil. I was going to try a Ruth Stout method and just cover the potatoes with dead grass or leaves. I filled 13 bags about half way full. For me, the onerous part is spending so much time bent over. I call it standing on my head. My compost bin is deep and I have a long way to reach. Two things I've learned as a woman gardener, wear a tight fitting shirt or one that's tucked in. The neighbors don't get a peek for free. And second, the type of bra you wear matters. Yes, standing on my head is an apt metaphor. 13 bags is all I could handle in a day. Because, after they are full, they need to be moved to their spot of residence in the yard. Most of my bags have handles, but not all. I can manage two at a time. I lined the driveway and started on the front walkway. There was a lot more reaching into bins to grab the leaves. When I ran out of leaves, I grabbed a scissors and cut the pernicious garlic chives that took over the front yard.

Now I'm congratulating myself, thinking I only have to do this one more time. I gathered containers for tomorrow. Then I got to thinking. I was growing French Fingerings, Austrian Crescents, Purple Viking, a Real Red, and the store bought Yukon Golds. I only planted the Yukon Golds last fall., didn't I? Where were the others? It was one of those "Ah shit" moments. I never put those containers away last fall. We had to rearrange the kitchen when we got the new fridge. The cord wasn't long enough to reach the electrical outlet. The table got pushed in front of my shelving unit. I have two boxes of vines climbing the wall behind the shelves and fridge. It wasn't as bad as I feared.

Now on to the next problem, where to plant them? Truly, plants that are in the nightshade family should not be put together. I already have 15-20 tomato plants planned for the year and 3 Eggplants. I can't put them in the same bed. Okay, more grow bags need to be ordered. I went to Botanical Interests/Epic Gardening. Not that I have anything against other shops, but these guys are fast. I have less than a two week window to get these potatoes planted. Otherwise we hit the heat of summer and they die or are extremely stunted.

Next problem, soil. I ran out of worm castings and potting mix. The co-op no longer has bags of soil. Not sure if they'll reorder anytime soon. The hardware store was getting down there too. They've also had labor problems and are closed more often. I want a nice organic OMRI rated mix. The whole point of growing my own food is to control the chemicals that go into it. As much as I hate giving my money to Jeff Bezos, I headed 36 miles north to the only Whole Foods that carries the Soil Mechanics potting mix. At least it was the same price as the food co-op's.

That was yesterday's excursion. Today I'll move on to the next batch of potatoes and get those planted. I'll change the name of the potatoes to Renfri Vellga. You Witcher fans will know why.

Current Location: Garden during the Eclipse
Current Music: I might as well be walking on the sun

Once again, I was too ambitious or had too much to do. Somehow my seedling starts have yet to make it into the ground. Seed potatoes too. A combination of work, weather, and other chores have prevented me from transplanting all my food.

Today I populated the Kuiper belt with kale, collards and Spanish onions. The soil is plenty moist and rich. Deer just come through and eat everything to the ground. Over the last couple of years, I lost my buckwheat cover crop, 20 strawberry crowns down to 3, over 30 potatoes down to nada, Bok choi, zip. I think one year I got a handful of radishes and some arugula. I took my 6 wire hoops and spaced them along the bed. Then I clamped on some tule fabric, leaving the ends open for pollinators. I'm hoping the remaining three strawberries recover. Before I installed the hoops, I put in one kale and a collard with some onions. The deer left that alone, preferring the strawberries. The shade should keep the cool weather plants ftom bolting too soon. Fingers crossed. The blackberry has been left alone by the deer and is growing well on the trellis. I will need to fill in all the hoof-print holes with soil or mulch.

I also dug out a large section of pure weeds at the top of the terrace in the front yard, leaving a huge pile to compost in the sun. Red cloud potatoes went into the new section. Potatoes liked to be spaced about 10" apart, taking up a lot of room. Only nine got planted. Must find more planting spots! These potatoes are all late season varieties so the goal is to get them in by June 1st. The butterballs that got left outside overnight got planted by squirrels. Next year, I may just put all the potatoes out and let the squirrels plant them for me. We found potatoes in two weird places so far. Then I have some in the mandala that I missed last year. OMG! Waist high. I have been hilling potatoes all week. That goodness for coffee grounds. As soon as I bring a bucket home, it goes straight to a potato patch. The bookcase garden and cinderblock garden are French Fingerlings. The grow bags are blue potatoes. The front yard garden has German butterballs and red cloud potatoes. I still have three containers of potatoes to plant, at least four beds worth. I don't have four beds.

So when I checked the seedlings tonight, the half-off sale plants were all dying. Toward evening, I cleared an additional section for two Monarda and also put in our zucchini because it grew very large today. We figured out a section along the front walkway for the purple sage. Chrono babied the thyme and majoram, finding them suitable habitat. They looked the worst. After watering, I put together another trellis, this time for the watermelon. I mowed the back section of the yard as well. I snuck in some nasturitiums and another amaranth into the terrace area. It's possible that I can weed one more terrace section for potatoes. Basically removing a boatload of coltsfoot. So a home for nine more taters maybe?

Earlier I had a discussion with a yellow jacket. It was very confused by my work. I think it had designs on a new colony where I tilled and planted potatoes. All its landmarks were gone. I told it it could easily find a place in the neighbor's yard. The yellow jacket moved on. The neighbor has yet to even mow her lawn this year. I've been mowing the neighbor's grass along the curb. The gas company has not finished fixing the curb or put in any grass at my house. So I only have a tiny bit to mow. It's easy just to run the mower down her section. I also cleared a path for the mailman. Creeping Charlie is taking over everything. Then I trimmed the neighbor's side. Her grass was about 24" high along the path. We both need weed wackers. Not sure why she has no interest in maintaining her yard. She comes and goes. Each time she appears to be surgically attached to her phone. It was her husband who wanted a house. He died very young. She doesn't maintain anything, just lives in her own little world. She's lucky a neighbor kid comes over and cuts her lawn every once in a while. He does this of his own accord. He wasn't asked to. When he can catch her, she does pay him but a heck of a way to run a railroad.

It's going to storm tonight. Got to get my empty pots in so they don't blow away!

I can say that its Sunday. And I got down on my knees for roughly 2 hours. As an inspiration, we started reading Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. It's the one with Brother Brutha and the god Om, who manifested as a turtle, much to his surprise, and was dropped by an eagle into a melon patch.

Unlike the discworld, my clay turned hard as dryness has fallen upon the land. I dug in some unusable, undyed fleece for compost and to retain water. The pot that held all the potatolings over winter is now finally off my kitchen table. The crab grass from one small 4 ft section is gone. It now has potatoes, garlic, and two lonely onions.

In the backyard, I have peas and radishes coming up. I don't expect much else. That late freeze was probably a killer. We'll give it a week and see. I did find slugs in the new raised bed. Not happy about that. Meanwhile, back in production, sock rainbows are being made. Winding and skeining to commence. Yesterday's excursion to Waynesburg's Sheep and Wool Festival was inspiring. I've got to get busy so I can have an awesome display too.