(AF) Tub of Potatoes - A Tutorial

As I said in my last post, I am really getting the itch to plant stuff. It is cool today (actually, it's downright cold), but it has been exceptionally warm most of the winter, especially of late. The beautifully warm weather, the tantalizing fragrance of the damp earth as rains finally come, and the mouthwatering sight of all the yummy wild edibles springing up everywhere (nearly 2 months early) has all been too much. So on the 1st of this month, I got out and planted a tub of potatoes (yes, I know, it 's just February).

A tub of potatoes? . . . . . . . Yes, a tub . . . . . . .  There are a large number of ways to plant potatoes, and I haven't even begun to try them all. Dave and I are going to make this the year that we try several new methods and let you know how they work and which ones we think work best. I am sure that different methods will work better than others under different weather and growing conditions. I think Dave has two plantings in now (visit here and here to read about his plantings), this will be our third. Okay, so back to the tub of taters. Planted in a large bucket - plastic trash can - tub - etc - with a few holes in the bottom for drainage - potatoes are suppose to produce even more than when planted in the ground (per square foot), so we will see. Even better, harvesting them is suppose to be a breeze. Just tip the bucket over on its side, jiggle the dirt/mass of potatoes around a little, and pick up your crop.... no digging required! I like that idea!!!!

This container-type growing of potatoes also allows anyone to grow potatoes, even people with just a small patio/balcony space and no yard. So, here we go, here is how I planted my potatoes this time:

 

I started out with 3 red potatoes I had that had begun to sprout. No sense in tossing them out.

 

 First, the potatoes need to be cut into chunks, leaving about 2 to 3 eyes per chunk. I tried to make sure each piece had at least one really good, actively growing sprout, but some of them simply had eyes with sprouts that were just trying to form, and that is okay, too. Just make sure the eyes look like they are alive. This is much easier with purchased "seed" potatoes, but if your leftover store bought potatoes are sprouting, they will usually grow. 

Note: Most store bought potatoes are sprayed with an anti-sprouting chemical which makes them a bad choice for planting. But this is done in bulk and often times, one side of the potato, or even entire potatoes, are missed with the spray and they will go ahead and sprout, consequently, they will also grow. I purchased these (for table use) from our local produce market. Purchasing your root veggies from a local produce market that purchases most of their stock from locals, greatly reduces the probability that they had been chemically coated (though it is no guarantee).

Now let your chunks of potatoes 'cure' for a few days. (let the cuts dry and heal over) Mine dried for about 5 days before I got back to planting them, which was almost too long. I had them in the room with the wood stove, about 15 feet from it, and 3 days of 'curing' would have been just right. This curing process helps to keep your 'seeds' from rotting before they get the chance to start growing. That little chunk of potato is what feeds your sprouts until they establish roots and can begin to grow on their own. 

This is one of Dave's tubs. I ended up with it from our pear picking escapade (you can read about that story here and here). I kept intending to get it back to him, but I looked at it the other day and thought, "Yes, that would work great for planting some potatoes in." so ..... he isn't getting it back for awhile, lol. Sorry, Dave. *grins, bats eyes, and gives Dave a hug* You can't see it from this pic, but this tub has a couple of drainage holes in the bottom. Make sure whatever tub you use has some drainage holes or your potatoes will rot.

In the bottom of the tub I put in some really nutrient rich, good quality soil and spread it out level... about 2 inches deep. The soil is slightly loose, but not too loose. It should hold moisture well but not stay soggy. I placed the potatoes into the soil, cut sides down, pressing them into the soil just a little. The potatoes are spaced evenly apart, and, since this time of year we still have a good chance of cold weather to come, I kept the potatoes away from the sides of the tub to lessen the chances of them freezing. I probably have too many planted in this tub (half this many would probably have been sufficient), but since they weren't regular seed potatoes, and some of the sprouts looked iffey, I planted double what I thought I might need. 

 To cover the potatoes, I used rich, very loose, compost. I have a pile of composted old hay, leaves, kitchen veggie trimmings, and goat manure. It is ultra rich, very loose, and holds only a small amount of moisture. I am thinking it will work very well for this step. I am hoping I am right. I carefully spread about a 2-inch depth of this beautiful, black compost over the top of the potatoes and watered it all in well. 

And that is it for the moment. Now we wait for the sprouts to emerge through the soil. The next step? - as the sprouts begin to peek and grow through the soil, I will add a layer of old hay that is just beginning to compost. As the potatoes plants grow, I will alternate layers of my old hay with the loose compost until the tub is completely full of 'soil'. Then the hard part.... being patient as I wait for the potatoes underneath all that soil to grow and mature. I will post updates as my Tub of Potatoes progresses.

And now, all this talk of potatoes has me hungry! I am going to head into the kitchen and make me a skillet full of Fried Potatoes & Onions. Mmmmm..... my tummy is growling at the thought.

Wow! Honey Bees!

I have lived here for 14+ years and have rarely ever seen any honey bees. The past few years I haven't seen any at all. The lack of them even causes problems with pollination of my veggies. I had to hand pollinate my tiny little bit of Fall garden to get anything to produce this year due to lack of the right kind of insects.

But I think I accidentally found what will bring them rolling in here. I have rarely ever planted Pansies here, maybe a few at my front gate, once. I had planted quite a few of them around my shop when I had it located downtown and even the hummingbirds seemed to love them. Then this year I thought I would plant one pot full here to have a good splash of color amongst the dreariness of winter. I never planted them here because the soil was so rocky, but I grew so many things in containers this year that I thought I would try Pansies, too. After that, they went on sale and I got more. I have one basket hanging out in the middle of my front yard where I can enjoy every time I step outside or look out the window.

Today I stepped outside to an unseasonably bright and warm December day. As I walked over to my hanging pot of Pansies to admire them more closely (I love that they are a bouquet that changes daily), I was totally surprised to see them dancing with honey bees! Now, some people may view that as a bad thing, but it is really a wonderful thing! Honey and honey bees are of an enormous value to our overall good health. And in the end, keeping them naturally fed and happy keeps us healthy.

I did a search and learned that Pansies are way up there on the list of flowers that honey bees love. And, because they are single petaled flowers, they are able to get more pollen from them per trip. (Single petaled flowers produce more pollen than multiple petaled flowers) Now, I knew that Pansies were edible flowers (taste is with a hint if wintergreen) and great for adding to salads, sugaring, and sinking into ice cubes for drinks, but today I learned that they are a great natural source of pollen for us, too.

So I will be keeping a close eye on my pansies this season, and if they continue to attract the bees on these beautiful days, I will continue to plant mounds of them every Fall! And as I type this and my mind wanders, I am wondering where those bees came from .... if they are from a close-by neighbor or from one of my many hollow trees. I am allergic to bees, so I probably won't follow them, but I am curious. I did get a little gutsy today and got right up to these. They flew all around me, thoroughly enjoying their Pansy feast, without any indication of trying to harm me. Guess they were really hungry.

 

click on pic to enlarge

(AF) I Picked the Squash!

  Hey, Dave, I finally picked our squash!

This past spring when it was time to plant zucchini, we had such heavy rains that I decided to wait a bit. Then, when I finally went to plant them, record breaking heat and drought set in. So I decided to plant my zucchini in a giant flower pot I have, up close to my garden hose where it would be easy to water, and partially shaded in the heat of the day.

I planted 3 or 4 kinds of zucchini in that big ole pot, but it was so hot none of the seeds would germinate. Some seeds were new, and some were old, but I do believe the heat was the biggest problem. Determined to get some fresh zucchini, I planted several times. Finally, after over a month of trying, ONE lonely zucchini plant came up. But I wasn't sure which one, so I had to patiently wait for it to grow, bloom, and produce.

And bloom it did! It bloomed heavily. It was so pretty. The plant got enormously huge, bloomed abundantly, and began to put on many little squashes. But much to my dismay, the heat caused them to all wither and fall off, no matter how much I watered it. As the heat dropped down into the lower 90s, I pushed the pot out into more sunshine and kept on pampering my squash plant, determined to get at least a few meals off of it.

Finally, one lonely zucchini began to grow, and grow, and grow. It turned out to be the Cocozelle Zucchini I had planted, the oldest zucchini seeds I had. And I had pretty much used them all up trying to get one to grow. So as much as Dave and I wanted to eat that delicious looking zucchini, we decided to let the first one just grow so that we could save the seeds from it to plant for next year, then we would eat any that came on after that, as it was still blooming heavily.

But no such luck, no more zucchinis set on the plant. Oh, how we wanted to eat this one! But if we did, there wouldn't be any for next year, unless we searched around and hunted down more seeds, as the garden center I purchased these from is no longer in business. I covered the plant over with netting to keep the critters away from it, and babied and pampered that squash like I have never babied a plant before! It wasn't quite ready to pick, yet, when the first few freezes/frosts came, so we even covered it up with blankets and tucked it in each time the temps even looked like they might dip.

And today, the Cocozelle Zucchini looked like it was finally completely ripe and the sturdy plant that it grew from is obviously turning itself off. So I picked it this evening and it is now settled in amongst my pile of winter squashes in my back room. I will admire its beauty for a couple of days, then I will cut it open and see how many seeds we get. I do hope it is a lot. It sure looks yummy and I hope to grow LOTS of them next season!

Cocozelle Zucchini are an heirloom summer squash that came here from Italy. I have read that, even today, they are still the best flavored zucchini on the market. I can't wait to find out!

(AF) Rainy Day Ramblings

Seems overnight the trees began to turn their brilliant Fall colors. Only, this year, they aren't near so brilliant. The extreme summer's drought put a major damper on our usual spectacular explosion of color. Still, the Hickory trees are truly breathtaking! Dave and I took time yesterday evening to stand back a moment and enjoy and savor their amazing beauty. It doesn't last long and you certainly don't want to miss it. No sooner than the leaves turn their fiery colors, they are then gone in a blink! So I told Dave that I must take some pics in the morning before their beauty disappears.

But this morning I woke to rain . . . . . a moderate soaking rain that just won't seem to stop. So the colorful leaves are kind of wilted and soggy looking. We need this kind of a rain, we need it very badly, and I am truly thankful for it, but it kind of caught me off guard. It shouldn't have because all my body's natural 'weather predictors' were going off yesterday, but the weather man had said it would rain yesterday, not today. It did rain yesterday, only a very slight sprinkle, and I figured that must have been it. Then last night they changed the forecast and said it would rain today, instead. And now, when I had BIG plans for outside work, I find myself sitting here looking out the window at the cold rain while I mentally reorganize my day. Somehow I will learn to make my plans around my body's weather predictions, NOT the local weather stations!

My little Fall garden is loving all this rain! I have a few things in the ground, but most of it this year I planted in a Fall Container Garden, using a variety of containers. And right now all my veggies are looking bright and perky. It will be a close call tonight as to whether or not to cover everything up. The predicted low for here tonight is 35°F, but obviously, I don't trust the weatherman right now. That temp doesn't leave much allowance for a possible freeze. Just an hour away at Dave's, he is under a freeze watch for tonight. Amazing the difference a few miles makes! And West of me, in the Texas panhandle, there is ice and snow on the radar!!!! Brrrr...... I am sooo not ready for that kind of weather! And there is still so much to be done around this little farm before Old Man Winter moves in and settles down.

So now, I am off to stir my batch of Pear Butter and then figure out what to do with all this laundry I have ready to hang out because it looks like another round of rain will be moving in in a few minutes. Course, rain soaked laundry smells absolutely wonderful after it dries, so maybe I should take advantage of this brief break in the showers and run out there and hang it all out. Mmmm... yes, those are the best sheets in the world to sleep on!