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Daily news for Seattle's Ballard neighborhood |
malia
offlineMember
http://www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-veggies/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-towers-00418000068323/
Has anyone ever tried this? Looks great, and somehow is appealing to me. Am remembering the thread last year about this time about growing potatoes. Would enjoy experience shared.
oldguybc
offlineMember
Tried the topsy turvy tomatoes last year, the insects loved them...
biophile87
offlineMember
I might try this...turns out I have no project for this weekend so this may be it. Thanks, malia.
volvoguy
offlineMember
I did topsy turvy tomatoes last year - they were fine.
kellydeen
offlineMember
I am sold on the towers! Shall we start a potato growing contest . . .
eric
offlineMember
i'm doing potatoes in bins this year also. i just went with some advice from a work buddy who has grown them in the past (but in his yard...).
you can buy/order fancy varieties of "starts" but i just saved a few red potatoes that were getting older and let them develop "eyes", then simply cover them with an inch or two of soil. as the greens/tendrils begin to peek out from the soil, cover them with more soil, repeat. the end result ought to be a bin of dirt and potatoes!
i've heard of cutting the "start" potatoes, but i just went ahead and put them in whole; work buddy said thats how he's done it and with much success.
biophile87
offlineMember
...I had read that grocery store potatoes were not recommended as seeders, because they wouldn't be as good, or perhaps wouldn't grow. Let me know how that goes, eric. I'm interested to know your results.
eric
offlineMember
i had heard that also, biophile. i work in the restaurant world, and this co-worker used similar or the exact same type of potato that i am trying with plenty of success. i hope it works out, and i'll indeed let you know how i do..
pennygirl
offlineMember
http://www.territorialseed.com/prod_detail_list/seed_potatoes
(You can also find them at local nurseries)
Edog
offlineMember
Is this thread code for fenian?
pennygirl
offlineMember
Edog...
We'll have to see what Enlightened1 has to say on the subject matter. Potatoes are pretty controversial after all.
biophile87
offlineMember
Bah edog. Do not adulterate this thread with extranea. Shoo (in a loving way).
Anyone know of a straw source in Seattle? Auburn or Issaquah are kinda far for a weekend trip. However, it just so happens I'll be down there next week and *could* do a straw run...
eric
offlineMember
seriously, you guys aren't nearly as funny as you think. must every thread become so hilarious?:) :) :)
pennygirl
offlineMember
Kat
offlineMember
I tried potatoes in garbage bins two years in a row, one I watered, one I didn't (I talked to different vendors at the farmers market and some watered and some didn't!). I didn't get crap out of either method. They grew really well, I continued to mound, kept growing, I got flowers and real "potato seeds" and then they died. I maybe got 30 little "spud nuts" total (out of 3 bins).
I bought stater potatoes from a guy at the farmers market. Since they don't spray anything, he said would would work fine. The potatoes you get from the store have some chemical on them to prevent them from growing there "eyes" too quickly and in turn prevent them from being good seeds.
If you want a veggie that will grow, grow, GROW and YIELD, plant jerusalem artichokes. I got a sink full, but they aren't my favorite so I ended up tossing most of them (A friend game me a few seeds)
iPlod
offlineMember
Back in the 80s a friend gave me some purple potatoes and told me to do this:
Get 4 or 5 used tires
Get enough straw to fill the stack of tires
Quarter each potato
Place a tire on the ground, fill with straw & drop in a few potato pieces
Stack the next tire on top & repeat
Water only if it doesn't rain much.
In late September kick the tire stack over. Much purple potatoage will ensue.
It worked exactly like he said.
Tamarin Bean
offlineMember
I, too, was told that supermarket potatoes aren't good for planting. They're sprayed with something to prevent them from fully sprouting. You'll see small sprouts, and they give it a good try, but they shouldn't be successful.
Kat, I don't eat Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes very often, but last fall, I tried some that had been deep fried. I think they were served with aioli, and they were really, REALLY good. It wouldn't be good to eat an entire sinkful of deep fried sunchokes, but you could become quite popular with friends and neighbors, if you were so inclined to invite them over to help you eat them.
Alysse
offlineMember
I do this each year for 5 years now.
1. Super market potatoes work. I buy the "organic" ones which are not treated. Greenwood Market sells net bags of organic fingerling and baby potatoes which work very well.
2. Last year was the worst year with only 68 pounds of potatoes in two bins and one bucket with rope handles. Two years ago we got 140 pounds in just the two bins.
3. Here is how I made my bins: http://www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com/growers1.php
4. Irish Eyes potatoes are available from Swansons, Sky, Seattle Farm Coop
5. The advice above to cover the shoots just after they show works better than waiting for the shoots to be 12 inches tall.
6. Dig up all the potatoes at once.
Cookiesballard
offlineMember
@Biophile - let me know if you find straw locally. The farm co-op, while convenient, has very limited days/hours.
@Alysse - How did you store yours and do you let the greens die back for a couple weeks for a thicker skin like Sunset suggests?
Alysse
offlineMember
Cookiesballard, I keep them in my basement in paper shopping bags. The basement is not heated, but it does not freeze. I let everything die on top first and waited for a month or so. This last year the tops died very early which is may be why not so much harvest this year.
Also I think Walt's has straw some times
biophile87
offlineMember
yuppie potatoes from Swanson's: check
cages: check
fencing: check
compost & straw: tomorrow
cookiesballard, I heard back from the farm coop PG posted, and they're open tomorrow 10-12.
Also scored at the VV & GW: sheer curtains for ghetto "reemay" a crapload of $.69 vases as cloches, and a big bin for my new worm bin. WIN!
Alysse
offlineMember
biophile87:
"yuppie potatoes" what are these?
also "ghetto reemay"
biophile87
offlineMember
:-p
yuppie potatoes are store bought at the fancy gardening place (Swanson's), as opposed to bartering/trading/foraging/using grocery store "you're-not-supposed-to" potatoes'
reemay- fancy yuppie row covers to keep the gd cabbage moths offa my broccoli.
ghetto- anything that I mickey-mouse together
mickey-mouse = macgyver = improvise
on why I say yuppie: because I feel sheepish about doing it. when doing it, I feel like I'm contributing to consumerism by following some fad or whim. Not like potato towers.
In essence, I feel guilty about following a capricious idea that I didn't plan 6 months in advance, and I feel more guilty that I did not go green and improvise-reuse-repurpose *everything* in the project, thus I self lacerate and call myself a yuppie, which in my elitist anti-yuppie mind I don't want to be.
BUT I AM SO EXCITED TO HAVE POTATO TOWERS!!!!!
I will reconcile with being a yuppie for today. The sun is out. Going back outside!
Alysse
offlineMember
Thanks biophile87! I thought it might have been something funny or deprecating. Now I know. Learning a new language as an adult brings challenges and "aha" frequently. You must have a big garden.
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