POTATOES UNDER STRAW/LEAVES #4

Ran out between the raindrops yesterday evening to check under the straw (not hay, I mistyped above) - no teeny baby potatoes, just mud and some very pale stringy weeds. Looked just like alfalfa sprouts, but I was not tempted to try them in my salad! I have plenty of lettuce and spinach, plus a little chard that the rabbit left to eat right now.

Thanks for the warning Linda, but no snakes around my house that I've ever seen or heard anyone talk about, although I suppose it could be possible since in in the forest preserves and further out from Chicago I know there are. My area's an older neighborhood that's really built up and the houses are close together, so no coyotes either, just the occasional fox. Well, and possums, skunks, racoons, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks....

Sorry for jumping in, but after reading this thread earlier this spring, I decided to do my potatoes under straw. Still no blooms, but I am at the top of my tomatoes cage. Thought you would like to see the pictures. The potato plants look great. Thanks for all the suggestions... will be interesting to see what I harvest.

This message was edited Jun 9, 2010 12:45 PM

Great looking potatoes nini!!

Great looking potatoes, Nini!

So, how many other potato growers do we have lurking out there? At least post pics of what you're doing, so we can get ideas on growing systems.

Nini, that's a fantastic use of a waybigo wooden tub! Way to go!

Those look so great, Nini!

My crop will be at the 90-day mark around June 15th and I'm just dieing to find out what I've got! Maybe I'll take a peek tonight.

Great looking potato plant! is that concrete reinforcing wire that you are using for support of the strawbales?

Hornstrider and JohnC,
What's going on with your harvests? Any pics you can post for us?

I'm predicting that you two will have the largest yields of all, based on the running space your spuds had to grow in. I'm curious to see what you get.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!

Linda, did you harvest your snake yet?

nini, I have been wanting to get concrete reinforcing wire for a while to support my maters, right now I have only wooden sticks and the tomatoes are just going all over the place and not beign supported very good. That is a good idea using it to support your potato vines as well, I guess it just has many uses. I have also seen people spray paint the cages with rustoleum so they can last longer and not rust.

Carminaor1... I would not worry about spraying the cages with rustoleum... that concrete reinforcing wire is some that I have had for over 20 years sitting in a shed that we used in our concrete sidewalk. They maybe rusting, but I would think the paint will be long gone before the cages are... They never seem to rot out.... They worked well for my tomatoes, but I was growing determinate tomatoes and now have indeterminate ones that are over 6 ft tall allready...

DH refuses to use concrete reinforcing wire because of the rust issue. He will only use galvanized steel wire panels.

Stephanie could you post a pic so I could see what galvanized wire pannels look like, I also don't like the rust on the wire cages but at this point I am open to better support for my tomatoes.

nini I think they should have some 8 ft reinforce wire as well, at least I see a lot of people using it. THe only problem that I have is that they usually sell them in big rolls that are about more than $100 and so if I only want 8 tomato cages max then I have a lot of wasted wire and have to spend more money for it.

Sorry I know this is the potato forum.

Hey, Guys!
Been outta pocket, so to speak, and outta the garden as well. It rained the last couple days, so I didn't wanna go dumping containers of wet leaves and potting mix. If it doesn't rain anymore today I might try emptying tomorrow evening or, for sure, EARLY Saturday morning, before the mosquitoes wake up.

Spending every spare minute packing myself up to move....

I had a thought about my eBuckets. Would it be safe to just drain the water from the reservoir and let the potting mix dry out in the eBuckets I need to put in storage? Should I cover them with sealed lids, vented lids, or leave them uncovered? It occurred to me I have an entire storage shed available to put all my excess eBuckets into until I need them again.

My other thought was to start a whole new ministry with the seniors in my community who want to grow something -- anything...I could start a "loaner" container garden. Why put 'em in storage when I can drop them off at several homes, planted and all, and just let a senior handle the watering, feeding, and bug picking. Actually, this would be a labor of love. I'll keep a log of who gets how many eBuckets, and put a label or tag on each one with my name and phone number, and an alert to call me to pick up the units when they are no longer being used -- or I get situated again and want my eBuckets back -- or I decide, "what the hey, go build some new ones!"

Ya'll help me so much with these little fireside chats!

Thanks a million!

Linda

C,
From the looks of it, this is OUR forum....ya'll noticed there's not a lot of conversation going on in this garden?

Glad we're still talking, and to each other!

Yup, what she said!!

Linda - I really like the idea of your "loaner garden"!

I hope you get moved and settled soon my friend so you can get back to gardening!!

♥Kelly

BIG HEART right back 'atcha Kel!

Linda I think that would be awsome, maybe that way more people can get into gardening again, or if you have friends that do not garden but would like to start you could loan them the e-buckets as well and even teach them how to build their own, anyways regardles, it really is a good idea.

I have to admit I am addicted to Daves that is why my many posts, sometimes I just forget about things like laundry or housework, I know I am bad.

C,
You're not alone!

Went poking around the potato bed last evening and found a few new potatoes! Forgot my camera, though. Nothing grew in the 1 1/2' of leaves that I had piled on top so that was a bummer.

Linda- let me know your situation. If you are in a bind w/ your ebuckets I will see what I can do as far as housing them. *disclaimer- I will not be liable for anything that does not live during subject timeperios, LOL!

HUGS!

If the DH is wrapped up in the game, and doesn't notice I'm not packing up, I might go empty another washing machine tub!

Linda, I think that would be an awesome idea! So many older folks used to garden, but can't anymore due to mobility issues, arthritis, problems with the heat, and other health issues. Using the ebuckets would be ideal for them and wouldn't require too much stooping, bending, digging and the like. Brilliant idea!!

Carminator~The panels are known as cattle panels, hog panels, or feedlot panels. We got ours at Tractor Supply and they were $20 each. They're 16' long and 4'wide. I think this is the one that DH got, but not completely sure. I just know that thing was LONG! LOL http://www.tractorsupply.com/fencing/feedlot-panels/feedlot-panel-cattle-16-ft--3502077

Just wanted to share my flowered potatoes with you guys ;-) Will be adding straw in the next day or two.

Today I ripped two washing machine tubs. Here's tub #1. I think these are the Kennebecs. Their skin is just a bit darker and thicker than the Yukon Golds.

I believe these are the Yukon Golds. Their skin is lighter, thinner, and more opaque than the others.

Great job, Linda! Will you be serving those with snake on the side? LOL

I think I'm going to order some Rio Grande russets, more Purple Vikings, and maybe some Red Lasodas. Maybe a couple of pounds of each to start in July. I better get with it!

Congrats Linda!

Ok. I know ya'll are waiting for the report on the snake. Well, here goes.

Remember Sally Field as "The Flying Nun?" Well, let's talk about Sam, "The Flying Snake..."

Originally, I met Sam one Sunday morning after church when I was tooling around the garden and noticed the plastic poultry cage around the washing machine tubs had fallen over. Several of the potato vines had grown very tall, and just leaned right over, taking the cage down with them. So, I'm in my Sunday church clothes and high heels trying not to get stuck in Saturday's mud or get crud all over my clothes.

I wrestled the vines back into place and uprighted the cage to find a snake tangled up in a ball on the cage. He was against my lap the whole time I was lifting the cage! Well, I got the hose and hit his 'lil butt 'til he unwrapped himself and jumped off into the bin, under the leaves and outta sight. So, then I was left to wonder how big he'd be by the time I harvested my potatoes. And, while I was fairly certain Sam could've crawled out anytime and been long gone by now, I decided to be cautiously optimistic that he could still be there, too!


Well, today was potato harvesting day....

I spread a huge tarp in front of the three washing machine bins and begin to empty bin #2 (bin #1 was emptied two weeks ago). And, since my mama didn't raise no roody-poo children, I'm thinking the whole while that Sam has probably run a "shell game" on me. Originally he was clinging to cage #3. So, being the smart child I was/am, I decided yeah, "He probably jumped off into bin #2, just to confuse me." So, I'm being careful, and doing a wonderful job of keeping my lovely leaf mold and potting mix ON the tarp and not all over the yard. And, then I saw him...

Yep. He had tried to run a "shell game" on me, but I was ready for him. My first thought was to whack him to death with the shovel, or, at least cut him in half. But the space was tight, the shovel was small, and the fear was rising. So, I'm swallowing down my panic, cause I'm scooping and he's jumping off. Finally, I scooped him up and went stark still.....and so did Sam.....Just long enough for me to lift the shovel carefully, steadily, no sudden moves on either end of the shovel. I pivoted slowly to my right thinking I'd just toss him off and away into the grass. But, wait...he'd still be in my yard!

And, since my brain does work quickly on occasion, I did the next best thing. I took a shot putter's stance, planted my right foot, stepped forward with my left foot while pivoting my torso to the right, bringing the shovel (and Sam) swinging round, airborne, dirt, leaves and all, and sent the whole shebang sailing right over the brand new 6 foot privacy fence my DH so lovingly put up all by himself.....

And, as I turned to resume my activity, I was truly praying that, at that moment, my next door neighbors weren't standing in their yard, enjoying morning coffee....

Here's what Sam was guarding in bin #2...

This message was edited Jun 14, 2010 12:00 PM

Ok.
I made an observation from my harvesting. I noticed the potatoes all seemed to originate at the base of each vine, clinging to the set of "roots." Looks like the spuds start out on the root end of the vine, then travel through the soil via some stem still attached to the "mother vine", to end up in a spot where we find them. The nestle there, and spend time growing like a baby at the end of an umbilical cord. Only, in this case, there are very many umbilical cords!

So, I'm feeling now that the horizontal width of the washing machine tubs wasn't the issue for not getting a higher yield. I'm thinking next time I could actually put MORE potato seeds in to each tub, but AT DIFFERENT LEVELS.

How's this sound?

We started off with 8-10" of soilbed to lay the seed potatoes on. They harvested potatoes stayed at this relative level, while the vines just grew on up. No more potatoes off'a any offshoots of those vines. So, how about starting the same way, but, once that first layer of vines start climbing upward, create a second (and even third) soilbed layer, and lay some more seed potatoes. It would be staggering the seed potatoes VERTICALLY. The roots of each successive layer will go downward only a short distance, and make spuds at that level.

By harvest time, the bin should have potatoes located at each level of planting.

I'M GONNA TRY THIS IN THE FALL (if I'm able to plant spuds), and provide a full report.....

Linda

Very nice harvest Linda and I think planting in layers would work wonderfully. I had been told that people had seen that done and there were a lot of potatoes at harvest time. Too bad we couldn't take a field trip to the potato companies and see how they do it. But I bet they wouldn't want to give their secrets up. I bet they grow theirs in large tubs in layers to get the yield to make it worth while.

Thanks, MechelleT!

Nice harvest Linda- yeah! And most definitely loved the Sam story. Hope your neighbors like snakes - lol...

if you plant in layers --and a few starter spuds at a time -the deepest layers would be ready first --so it might be hard to pull them up without disturbing the upper layers--
just looked at mine and they are still growing tall green plants--guess one of these days i will be checking mine but think it is still too soon--they have been in there maybe 7 weeks

Linda you gave the snake to your neighbors, LOL! That is too funny!

I misself have a buffer zone between my neighbors back fence and my backyard's back fence, it is suppose to be for rain to drain and it is a jungle let me tell you, all the bad stuff I find in my garden I just toss it in there.

Nice potatoes by the way, I think your idea might work, I might try the same and see. I think we really are limited in the amount of potatoes we get because of the fact that we are planting in containers and not the dirt, so even if more potatoes could form they are limited by the space that they are growing in, but it really is cool that we can at least plant potatoes in containers and don't need to take space in our garden.

Also, growing potatoes in my wine barrel and having the barrel sitting off the ground, on the corner of my concrete-block compost bin, I have seen not ONE Colorado potato beetle on those plants. Years ago when I tried potatoes the plants were loaded with them and then they spread to become a scourge in my entire garden.

Great tater harvest Linda!! And quick thinking on the the "snake shot"!

Ok,
I've had a stroke of an idea (I hesitate to say "genius...")

The concern about the vertical staggering plan would be reaching the potatoes on the bottom which would get planted first and consequently would ripen first, without disturbing the unripe potatoes in subsequent layers.

But, how about if I planted three different day-lengths in the same tub instead?

Plant the long-seasons first, followed by the mid-seasons, and the early-seasons last? That way, in the harvest, the "first shall be first, and the last shall be last!"

GREAT IDEA! Why didn't I think of that???

Guys!

I'm editing my experiment:

Plant seed potatoes at three different growing levels in the same container, however, plant only one variety per container. That way they'll all be ready for harvest at the same time. No need to disturb bottom layers!

Yep. That's how I'm gonna do it next time.

Linda