Potatoes Are Growing. Planted Onion Starts.

Potatoes, planted in feb.  4.17.17

 With the chill and rain, I wondered if the potatos that I planted in February rotted.  Almost all of them have emerged, now, so they are fine.  Last week I planted the russets, which were very slow to chit.  So they are not up yet.  There were some old sprouted potatoes in the garage.  I panted a few that had the shortest - about 6 inch - and stoutest sprouts, and sent the rest to the compost pile.

Collards are starting to bold.  They had a good run.  Still some leaves to pick and cook.

Onions that I planted last month are beginning to look darker green and stouter.  I had enough unplanted seedlings in containers for 4 more 8-foot rows.  They look really puny in the rows but maybe they will perk up soon.

Garlic is about a foot tall.  This year I grew it in the open beds.  I don't think deer or rabbits usually eat garlic plants.  They ate some when they first sprouted last fall but all look good now.  Weeds are harder to hoe out in those beds, it rained too much for me to hoe and the weeds got out of control.  I weeded them yesterday.  Looks like we can get a big crop of good garlic this summer.

Overwintered Collards.  4.17.17

Onion Plants after One Month.  4.17.17

Onion Seedlings.  Ailsa Craig and Patterson.  4.17.17

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.

New Potatoes. 6.26.16

These are the first potatoes.  The red ones are a pink flesh potato.  I think - forgot to take notes - this is Red Thumb Fingerling.  The brown ones are Burbank Russets.  I harvested about 2 plants of each.  Estimating the yeild here as 5 pounds.  We should be past the rainy season now, so I think I can dig them as I need them.  Tomorrow:  pink flesh potato salad.

Some flowers. 6.9.16

Buddleia "Miss Ruby"  6.9.16

Buddleia "Miss Ruby".  6.9.16

Daylily, unknown variety.  6.9.16

Potatoes in bloom.  6.9.16

Roses.  6.9.16

Daylily, unknown variety.  6.9.16

Kitchen Garden Update. 5.20.16

Grafted "Better Boy" Tomato Plant.  5.21.16

Tomato Raised Bed.  5.21.16

Here  is how some of the kitchen garden plants are doing.

Most tomatoes are growing vigorously and a few are producing flowers.  The furthest ahead was Jersey Boy, but then the top of that was eaten by deer.  I plan to build a fence, meant to and procrastinated.

The grafted Better Boy has caught up with the others.  The grafting process puts it behind.  The grafted SuperSweet100 was too close to the Deer Superhighway, and therefore has a major setback.  I don't know how much fencing I can put in, it's awkward to work with and there is a cost, but if I want to grow plants that deer and rabbits also love, that's the only choice.

The potato plants are in the exposed  - not fenced - garden, and are growing lush and big.  I hilled them up as much as I could.

Potatoes.  Yukon Gold (front), Burbank Russett (back).  5.21.16

The collard greens are also exposed.  One plant vanished without a trace.  Space aliens?  But the others are all looking good and not chewed on so far.  They look small but actually growing pretty fast.  They have a grass clipping mulch to hold in the soil moisture and keep weeds at bay.

Collard Green Starts.  5.21.16

Egyptian Walking Onions.  5.21.16

I love the look of the Egyptian Walking Onions.  They are past the edibility stage - these are early Spring and late Fall kitchen plants.  Other onions are filling the scallion role, sets that I bought in April and am growing for bulb onions.  Back to the deer and rabbit issue, those beasts don't seem to eat onions or garlic.

I need to fence them in, but some of the okra seedlings remain.  Same theme, some were eaten last week.  That was mostly the transplants, so I won't know if early starting is helpful.  The seeds sprouted nicely without pre-soaking.

Okra Seedlings.  5.21.16

Fava Beans.  5.21.16

Fava bean pods are in the tiny stage, to about 5 inches long.  The plants continue to bloom.  I ate a raw fava bean pod, it wasn't too great, but it was raw. 

Green pepper plants - purchased - are looking good.   Pumpkins and squashes are also looking good.  I think there will be zucchini flowers in a few more weeks.

Sweet corn is looking good.  I continue to plant more seeds every 2 or 3 weeks.  The last batch was "Mirai" - wrinkled seeds that are hard to imagine they will grow.  In fact, it's been cool and rainy, and I read that Mirai seeds will rot if not given ideal conditions.  I'll give them a week and if no growth, plant something else.

Kitchen Garden Bed.  5.21.16

Sweet  Corn.  5.21.16

Graft Union for "Better Boy" Tomato.  5.21.16

Kitchen Garden Progress Report. 3.6.16

Germinating Fava.  3.6.16

New Strawberry bed.  3.6.16

 Late winter kitchen garden.

The first favas have emerged.  These are the variety "Windsor".   I think this is about 3 weeks.  They are not pre-soaked.   I did not worry about placing them with hilum down.  The white pellets are Sluggo slug bait.  I read favas are tasty plants, the slug bait is prophylactic.

The strawberries all grew, every plant.  Starks did a nice job with them.

Garlic is growing fast. 

Many of the potatoes that I planted from salvaged, very sprouted saved potatoes, are showing thick green leaves. 

There are also seedlings of spinach, kohlrabi, radishes, and turnips growing at the old place, in wine barrel containers, and the second crop of favas along with snow peas to germinate in the next 2 weeks.

Overwintered Garlic.  3.6.16

Salvaged Potato Sprouts Growing.   3.6.16

Potatoes and review of book, The Complete Book of Potatoes. 3.1.16

It might seem strange to write an entire book about potatoes, but there are several out there, and websites such as "Potato History", "History of the potato", "How the potato changed world history", and many more.  In past  books, I read about the massive, transformative effect that transporting potatoes from the Andes where they originated, to Europe and China, had on human nutrition and populations.  This book is more about growing potatoes, which also deserves a book

The Complete Book of Potatoes.   by de Jong, Sieczka, de Jong.  2011.  Timber Press, Portland OR.

I got the book at my local library, Fort Vancouver Library in Vancouver, WA..

In other books - I forget which - I've read that per acre, potatoes give more calories and nutrition than any other plant, including rice, corn, and wheat.  That difference is what allowed population explosions among the peasantry in China and Europe.  And monoculture, of just one potato variety in Ireland, was what lead to total dependence on an agricultural house of cards, leading to  disease susceptibility and famine.

Reading the book "The Complete Book of Potatoes" resulted  learning in a  number of things about growing potatoes, I did not know, such as - in no particular order

Each cultivar has its own tuber dormancy period, which has a major effect on how long they can be stored.  Dormancy can be 4 weeks, to more than 3 months.  Growing types with long dormancy period would be good for keeping potatoes.  Growing types with shorter dormancy period would be better for fresh use where storage isn't important.

Yukon Gold and Burbank Russet have long dormancy and good storability.

Day length has a big effect on what variety grows and produces, where.

Potatoes remove a lot of nitrogen and potassium from the soil, so need fertile conditions.   However, too much nitrogen, or late nitrogen, can lead to poor quality potatoes.  Note that Pacific Northwest soils, west of the Cascade Mountains, are often verynhigh in potassium.

Emerging potato sprouts can tolerate chill, 28F ro 32F.  Soil at planting temperature should be at least 45F.

For early harvest, plant early green sprouted potatoes, and use plastic tunnels to keep them warm.

Soil pH under 5.5 pretty much prevents scab.  My soil is acidic, in the 5.03 to 5.5 range.

More nutrients are available at pH 6 to 7, but that promotes scab.

Scab should not be a problem at pH above 7.

French Fries were probably developed in Belgium, not France.  Potato Chips, however, are an American Invention.

Potato species originate in a wide area of South and Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and Paraguay, and south Brazil.  It is thought the wild tuber bearing species actually originated in Mexico - I thought it was Peru.  The most primitive variety is epiphytic - grows in trees.

I think this book was very useful and will have an effect on my gardening.  I am better prepared as to cultivar selection, growing, harvesting, and storing this useful and delicious garden crop.  The book also discusses many potato cultuvars, organic and conventional methods, hilling, mulch, and other aspects of growing potatoes.

Based on the information from this book, my planting of sprouted potatoes might not turn out.  It's OK, there was no other purpose for them, and maybe they will do better than expected.

Image Attribution:
(1)  By Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection.; Peter Henderson & Co. [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.  Date 1872
(2)  By Wiley, Harvey Washington, 1844-1930; United States. Division of Chemistry; United States. Department of Agriculture [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons Date:  1900
(3)  By W.W. Barnard & Co; Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons  Date:  1914

Potato Starts. 2.21.16

Sprouted, Mixed Potatoes.  2.21.16

I found this bag of potatoes in the garage yesterday.  It's a few weeks early to plant potatoes, but these may be past their survivable stage anyway.  I can either throw them away, or plant them.  If they grow, that's good.  If they don't, nothing lost.

I planted fairly deep, with the long stems underground and on their sides underground, just the tip showing.

Last year this garden bed contained sweet corn.  This bed is situated South of the house.  May be a bit warmer compared to other locations.

I think these are Red Pontiac and White Gourmet varieties. 

I've read that mid to late March, to early April, are the recommended times to plant potatoes in SouthWest Washington.

Planting Sprouted Fingerling Potatoes. 2.13.16

Sprouted Fingerling Potatoes in Furrows.  2.13.16

I have been noting the fingerling potatoes in the garage are sprouted.  I grew them last year in raised containers - stacked concrete tree rings.

It's too early to plant, but they are already sprouted vigorously.  So I planted them.

These are in furrows, with the sprout barely covered with soil.

If they rot in the soil, that's OK.  If they grow, even better.

This is 1/2 of a 4x8 foot raised bed.  For 2 years, this bed grew garlic.  Last summer and fall I grew buckwheat to rebuild the soil.

The other half of this bed may also get potatoes.  I saw starts of Yukon Gold and some red potatoes at Fred Meyer, yesterday.

Kitchen Garden. 7.26.15

Germinating Buckwheat.  5 days.  7.26.15

Trinity Sweet Corn.  Planted Seeds 5.12.15.  Photo 7.26.15

From / In the kitchen garden -

Today I dug up the garlic from the garlic raised bed.  Not pictured, needs to be cleaned up.  Not as productive and big as last year.  I was not up to taking good care of them through the winter, planted later, didn't weed as well.  Still there will be some.

Ning dug up his potatoes.  He estimates 50 pounds of red potatoes.

Buckwheat has germinated in the first bed.  I include buckwheat in kitchen garden, because it might be usable either as grain for us, or for the chickens.  We had a brief rainy spell which helped.  This week, 90s to 100 expected for several days.

Over the past week, I cleaned up 3 raised beds that were all weeds, plus the garlic raised bed.  I topped off the soil where it had sunk, with yard soil.  The sinking does not appear to be compaction.  The soil mix was about 30% or more compost, which is probably biodegraded now to the humic particles that maintain tilth.  It was easiest to pull the weeds by hand.  I managed to salvage some handfuls of shallots, that will get their own location. 

Early Sunglow Sweetcorn.  5.26.15

Trinity Sweet Corn.  7.26.15

Trinity Sweet Corn.  7.26.15

Summer Squashes.  7.26.15

I over-planted three of the raised vegetable beds with buckwheat seeds, watered thoroughly.  If it grows in the heat, that will give the four benefits of (1) organic matter for soil building (2) beaucoup flowers for nectar and pollen for bees, and (3) potential source of grain.   And (4) eliminate weeds by overgrowing them.   Never grew buckwheat before, interested in what happens. 

Had the first of the Trinity Sweet Corn today.  Might have benefit from another few days to fill in and expand the kernels but it was excellent flavor.  I estimated it would be ready in September.   This was a month sooner.  Early Sunglow sweet corn looks stunted in comparison- about 2 to 3 foot tall.  We will see what happens.  The second batch of Trinity, planted about one month later, is tasseling now too.

Lots of squashes.  No wonder they were an important crop for Native American communities.   Very productive and low maintenance.

Second Potato Harvest. 8.31.14

Potato Harvest, Wishing Well #1.  8.31.14

Potato Harvest.  Wishing Well #2.  8.31.14

Planting potatoes.  Wishing Well #1.  3.7.14

 Here is today's potato harvest, from wishing well #1 and #2.  I already harvested wishing well #3 maybe a month ago, and one more remains.

Pretty good yield.  I wondered if I could do better.  One is a mix of red and white, the other is all red.

I'm happy with the yield, and quality.  A few small ones might be good for next year's seed potatoes, or I could buy  new ones.

The wishing wells tended to dry out on hot days.  They might do better if I paint the outside white, or add reflective material, or have deeper soil.  I think the deeper soil will be a good start.

Potato Wishing Well #1.  4.27.14

Potato Wishing Well #1.  6.21.14

These are Pontiac Red and White Superior.

Potato and Garlic Harvest. 7.4.14

Potato Harvest.  7.4.14

Garlic bed, ready to harvest.  7.4.14

 A couple of the potato plants browned, so I dug them out.  This harvest is from 2 plants.  Not bad.  These are in the potato "wells".  Very easy to remove the sides and harvest.

The garlic is brown as well.  I dug out half of the garlic- this half was Inchelium Red.  The husks may have suffered a bit from recent rains but look very good overall.  Plump, firm cloves.

The raised bed method works well for both.

First Inchelium Red garlic.  7.4.14

Grass Clipping Mulch. 6.21.14

Creative Grass Mowing.  6.21.14

 Yesterday I mowed around the raised beds, and other areas of the second acre.  Most people in this area have tightly trimmed, golf course - like yards.  Some are more like pastures.  This area is on a 30 foot wide  easement that we anticipate will be paved soon, by a neighbor with attitude.  We don't know how much of the 30 feet will be paved, or when.  Meanwhile it's grass, organic, no chemicals added.  As a result, used for mulch, the clippings are coarse and dry to a nice straw-like consistency. dont mat down too much or turn sour.  The golf course-like lawns in the neighborhood get fertilizer, water, chemicals, the grass is green and lush, then they collect clippings and burn them.  The smoke is nasty.  Seems insane.

I cut "crop circles" in an attempt to be whimsical.  There is a lot of clover in the grass, now, for nitrogen and bees.

Peppers in raised bed with grass clipping mulch.  6.21.14

I had newspaper and food package cardboard mulch for the squashes, just compost for the peppers.  Now that is covered with an approx 4 inch thick layer of grass clipping mulch.  Will keep them weed free and not as dry for summer.  Like any organic mulch, they will break down to add orgsnic content and life to the soil.

Potato "well" with grass clipping mulch.  6.21.14

The potato planters also got a thick layer of grass clipping.  About 6 inckes thick.  That is on top of a few inches of aged maple leaf mulch.

Mulch also went into some flower borders and around shrubs.  I view cutting the grass more as a harvest of quality organic mulch, than as grooming.

Sunchokes.  6.21.14

 The sunchokes already had a generous mulch of weeds, pulled from raised beds.  I topped that with grass clipping for a cleaner appearance and better weed control.

We recovered these sunchokes from Ning's meadow.  He planted them there last year when I was in surgery.  They didn't do so well there.  I found 3 of the plants.  We ate chokes from one, and I moved the others to this location.  With some added organic nitrogen, and lots of mulch, they are flourishing.  The shorter plant is shorter due to local herbivores.  The taller had a screen.  The herbivores seem to ignore them now.  Although they like to surprise me.