Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:46 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
bobaloo wrote:
You can either plant them deep, or plant them shallow and pull soil or mulch over them as they grow to make them "deeper".
The problem is that the new potatoes are only created above the original start. If the start is planted too shallow you'll end up with your new potatoes sticking out of the ground, which will cause them to green up and not be edible.
I split the difference. I till the ground, plant the starts about 6" deep, then gradually take the soil from between the rows and pull it up over the top of the rows. In June I'll put a thick layer of rotted straw over the soil to keep it cool and moist and keep the sun off any new potatoes that are exposed.
Awesome info! I'll make sure to mound dirt up once the plants come up and are growing well!!! Damn weeds too they never stop growing, might boil up some amaranth weeds this summer though to see what they taste like. Probably will need salt or something. I think thats a starvation food (like if the entire potato crop fails and we have a Irish famine...)
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12472 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 9:27 am Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
I regularly eat edible "weeds" such as amaranth and curly dock. They make good soup. Or add the small leaves to salad (larger leaves get too tough). _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Joined: Oct 11, 2005 Posts: 409 Location: Arizona, USA
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 3:41 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
pitbull wrote:
Does anyone have any experience growing from "true potato seed", not tubers?
I have a few packets of seeds I ordered and froze along with all my other backup seeds, however I didn't really even realize there were such a thing until I stumbled upon them on a website. I only found 2 varieties available, at that.
Also, has anyone ever tried saving the "true" seed?
I tried TPS a few months back, but I think I screwed up almost every step of the process and ended up with just a bunch of tiny dead vines. I'll give them another shot when I get the chance. I only found one, the Catalina TPS from Territorial Seed.
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:10 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
cestlavie wrote:
bobaloo wrote:
You can either plant them deep, or plant them shallow and pull soil or mulch over them as they grow to make them "deeper".
The problem is that the new potatoes are only created above the original start. If the start is planted too shallow you'll end up with your new potatoes sticking out of the ground, which will cause them to green up and not be edible.
I split the difference. I till the ground, plant the starts about 6" deep, then gradually take the soil from between the rows and pull it up over the top of the rows. In June I'll put a thick layer of rotted straw over the soil to keep it cool and moist and keep the sun off any new potatoes that are exposed.
Awesome info! I'll make sure to mound dirt up once the plants come up and are growing well!!! Damn weeds too they never stop growing, might boil up some amaranth weeds this summer though to see what they taste like. Probably will need salt or something. I think thats a starvation food (like if the entire potato crop fails and we have a Irish famine...)
I find them much easier to harvest with the mounding up dirt method. When I have done the 6" method I come up with untold lost crop due to the fact that not all of it comes up when I go to collect them. _________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."
-Friedrich von Schiller
"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."
John Kenneth Galbraith
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
wisconsin_cur wrote:
cestlavie wrote:
bobaloo wrote:
You can either plant them deep, or plant them shallow and pull soil or mulch over them as they grow to make them "deeper".
The problem is that the new potatoes are only created above the original start. If the start is planted too shallow you'll end up with your new potatoes sticking out of the ground, which will cause them to green up and not be edible.
I split the difference. I till the ground, plant the starts about 6" deep, then gradually take the soil from between the rows and pull it up over the top of the rows. In June I'll put a thick layer of rotted straw over the soil to keep it cool and moist and keep the sun off any new potatoes that are exposed.
Awesome info! I'll make sure to mound dirt up once the plants come up and are growing well!!! Damn weeds too they never stop growing, might boil up some amaranth weeds this summer though to see what they taste like. Probably will need salt or something. I think thats a starvation food (like if the entire potato crop fails and we have a Irish famine...)
I find them much easier to harvest with the mounding up dirt method. When I have done the 6" method I come up with untold lost crop due to the fact that not all of it comes up when I go to collect them.
I find it delightful to dig them up with my hands near the surface. I can harvest much more and it takes much less energy and time to harvest them. An especially needed boost when you've got many more rows to harvest and are looking at a full bucket (or bin) of potatoes and looking at many plants to go. I totally am in awe of potatoes growing power. By mounding dirt up I will do something I will have to do anyways - hoeing the weeds down and hoeing the dirt up... So its so nice to know you are so efficient and not wasting any time. Doing something you would need to do anyways....
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12472 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:46 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
I generally make soup from dock, usually mixing it with other greens such as collards. Just chop the greens small, cover with chicken broth, and cook until tender, then puree in blender or food processor. Don't eat too much dock (probably only once a week or so) because it contains oxalic acid which binds calcium and makes it unavailable to the body. If you eat plenty of calcium-containing foods, this shouldn't be a problem, but as with all oxalic-acid containing vegetables, they should be eaten in moderation. _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
BTW, the reason for avoiding oxalic acid is that it is the most common constituent of kidney stones. As a person prone to kidney stones, let me just say you want to avoid them, and thank god for morphine...
If you've never had any trouble it probably won't bother you, but if you've ever had a kidney stone avoid spinach and research other foods with oxalic acid.
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
I was looking at planting some potatoes in tires (shown in link below) but I went online and the site recommended to me is out of seed potatoes. I never have grown potatoes so I don't know how to get started. A local farmer told me today that I should not get organic potatoes for this since they get gassed, too. Am I too late this year to get started?
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
GoghGoner wrote:
I was looking at planting some potatoes in tires (shown in link below) but I went online and the site recommended to me is out of seed potatoes. I never have grown potatoes so I don't know how to get started. A local farmer told me today that I should not get organic potatoes for this since they get gassed, too. Am I too late this year to get started?
Joined: Aug 14, 2005 Posts: 379 Location: Mississippi Delta
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 2:37 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
As a kidney-stone surgery survivor, I don't guess I'll be eating too much dock. Darn. I already can't eat too much spinach or chard, and I love them both... (Reaching for some more orange juice...) _________________ WWJD? What would Joel Salatin do?
Joined: May 05, 2008 Posts: 32 Location: The field
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:11 pm Post subject: Re: Anyone planting potatoes? Or whatnot?
This weekend way up north we're planting Russian Fingerlings from Johnnyseeds.com and leftover potatoes which we grew last year- they made it all the way through our five months of snow.
We are also planting peas, carrots, asparagus, bush lake beans, watermelons, many kinds of squash, many gourds such as soupspoon and bushel, strawberries from Jungs, and...
We're starting an orchard from trees from Greenmantle Nursery (http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/)
Many years ago I visited an antique apple orchard in Michigan. It was late in the season, and many of the varieties I could not try, but I must say, of those that I could, I was so completely astonished with the taste, colour, and texture of the apples grown there. Indeed, there was even an apple which actually tastes just exactly like apple candy, like Jolly Rancher's apple candy or so. Remembering this, I decided to find a nursery which would supply me with apple trees that produce delicious apples, and certainly not the mealy, weak, simple golden or red delicious ones! Greenmantle seems like the answer, I'll know in five to ten years if it was the right place. At least, they approach apple trees from a pomologist's standpoint, and that is reassuring. _________________ - the ox
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Or add the small leaves to salad (larger leaves get too tough).
