Potatoes

As I get older, and am loving it by the way, I look for ways to streamline our business and make the manual work manageable. Any of you that garden realize the labor involved no matter how automated you can get.

So we have a potato planter system which you can view on our YouTube channel @ladyoutthere7995 and it makes planting and harvesting easier but someone still has to pick them all up and haul them into the cold storage for the winter.

Sadly many people are blaming carbs for their weight issues and so not eating as many potatoes as they used to. I find that unfortunate, as potatoes are loaded with vitamins and minerals and as with squash are natures’ perfect keeping winter foods.

Now, some people are allergic to oxalates and so potatoes and spinach and strawberries are not good for them. I get it, but for the rest of us, a potato by itself is a complete meal.

Anyways, we will be again cutting down on the varieties we grow, mostly the ones that can be found in the store or as seed from the big growers in spring time. Yes they spray the fields and yes, there may be traces of disease in there, but that is what you get. Anyone can save their own potato tubers in the fall by storing what you will need for planting in a paper bag inside a plastic bag in the bottom of the fridge or in your cold storage. Check regularly for spoilage. They might look very dried out come spring with long alien looking sprouted things growing everywhere but they will produce potatoes for you again and again. Save the biggest for seed and cut them so each piece has at least 3 sprouts or eyes where sprouts will grow from. Anyone can do it. It’s about being self sufficient. Good for you! And if you have a sunburned potato, use it for seed rather than trashing it.

So that being said we will carry the kinds you can’t find anywhere else, ones that have superior taste and good keeping qualities. See our catalogue for those listings, and if you’d like fall potatoes, call us in September and come out the day we harvest, and take them home.

Speaking of storage, potatoes do not like to be stored warm. So have fridge or cold storage space for them where they are at about 5 degrees Celsius. Just above freezing is best. Limit the light exposure as that triggers sprouting and give them adequate air flow with a moderate amount of moisture in the air naturally to prevent dehydration. But not too moist or spoilage will occur.

We enjoy growing many things but have to balance our available time with all the varieties we like to grow. After all, there are only 20 hours of daylight in the summer!

😉