More Potato Starts. 03.08.2021

 At Winco, there were some potato starts.  I just bought one box,  I have more coming from Fedco in Maine in a few weeks.  These are my most favorite of all potatoes, Kennebecs.  I sliced a couple in half to get more plants.  It's enough for a row.  I will let them dry and grow a little bigger in the sunroom for a week or two before planting.

Planting More Potatoes. 3.12.19

 I planted another row of potatoes.  I may not be allowing them to grow long enough stems while chitting, but I think they will be OK.  The other uncertainty is with timing.  I need to check the ground temperature.  However, this is actually later than last year so, again, I think it is OK.

This time I planted some Red Norland.  Good for potato salad , new potatoes, and potato soup. 

I also added some organic 5-10-10 to the bottom of the trench, and hoed it into the underlying soil using a narrow garden rake / hoe.  I have not fertilized potatoes in the past.  I did so this time, after reading that yield and size might be improved.

Last year, this bed contained zinnias and cosmos.  The previous year, it was sweetcorn and onions.  Before that, it was a large, impenetrable blackberry bramble of uncertain age.  So no potatoes have grown in this bed before, which is a good thing.

I like the trenches better than planting more shallowly and hilling up.  I think the hills dry out more quickly, and I don't want to water more than I need to. 

Chitting Potatoes. 2.20.19

Seed Potatoes, Kinnebec.  2.19.19

Seed Potato Labels.  2.19.19

These are the first batches of potatoes that I plan to plant.   I bought 2 packages at the hardware store, Kinnebec and Russian Banana.  Not having grown either variety before, it's nice to try.

I had lots of the smaller size russets in the garage over the winter, with 6 inch or longer sprouts.  I broke off the sprouts, and am chitting them in a sunny window so new, stouter sprouts with shorter interstems will grow.  

Russet Seed Potatoes from Garage, Overwinter.  2.19.19

More Russets from Garage.  2.19.19

Russian Banana Seed Potatoes.  2.19.19

I still have packages of Yukon Gold, Red Norland, and I think some fresh Idaho Russet seed potatoes.  That's enough.  I don't know if the overwintered ones will work, or produce as much.  I'll wait a couple of weeks before chitting the other batches.  Too much to plant, otherwise.

Chitting Potato Starts. 2.25.17

 Chjitting potatoes refers to sprouting them before planting.

Chitting potato starts.  2.25.17

These are potato starts that I bought at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago, and Fred Meyer this week.  The first 2 boxes are Red Norland, the puny ones to the right of those are Yukon Gold, and the bottom grey/brown ones are Burbank Russet.  I use certified seed potatoes to avoid disease.

I just opened the boxes.  Most of the first ones are already sprouting but not too much.  The boxes are a good size to cut into half to serve as trays for sprouting in the window sill.

Now I need to get the garden bed ready.  That may take a week or two.

It's hardly worth buying potatoes by mail order.  The shipping alone is much more than several full bags of potatoes.  Buying these from local stores is much less expensive.  The flavor of home grown is excellent, and by growing them organically I have no concerns about pesticides so I'm not concerned about eating the skin, although I wash them and eat the skins anyway.  Yukons and Russets keep several months in a cool dry room.  Not sure about the Red Norland.