When I was a kid, my dad would begin prepping the lower third of our one-acre garden in early February. He would drive the tractor back and forth pulling the big single-share breaking plow, followed by the tilling plow with what seemed like too many little plows to count. One day soon after that, he would hand me a big bucket of potato slices and put me to work. He would push the wheel plow, making neat furrows and I would follow along placing potato pieces every six inches with the eyes up. It was usually drizzling and cold and my fingers would get numb and we'd end up working in the dark by the headlights of the old Ford tractor. There seemed to be some sense of urgency to get it done--right then. I never knew why.
My grandmother always talked about planting by the phases of the moon, but Dad always scoffed. Then again, he did always have a copy of the Old Farmer's Almanac handy.
We would soon begin the process again with onion sets.
I haven't had enough space for a crop like potatoes in a long time, so I was anxious to start planting, even it was only as a novelty crop. Atwood's had their seed potatoes before anyone else, but they didn't have Red Pontiacs, only Russets and Yukon Golds. My wife and our son, who moved in with us in January, don't like potatoes, except for the reds. I really wanted to get some potatoes planted, since they are the earliest crop to sow, and I had gardening fever, so I sprang for Yukon Gold. The weather was so warm, planting was nothing like I remembered it.
About two weeks later Country Boy, our local grocery store, got in their seed potatoes and they did have Red Pontiacs, so I bought a few pounds and planted them.
I prepped my soil, which had already been tilled deep, by raking in two inches of good compost. Some eyes sprouted quickly and some more slowly, but overall, nearly all produced plants. The growth rate was amazing and in only a few weeks my garden really looked like a garden.
The Yukon Gold vines began to die down first, so I began digging them first. As fate would have it, the family absolutely loved the gold potatoes. Kathy said "I don't even like potatoes, but I really like these." Normally we eat a lot of rice, but we went through our entire ten pounds of Yukon Golds in a couple of weeks.
Next I dug the reds. They were impressive, large and firm. I got about fifty pounds of those. I did lose a few potatoes to the gopher, but that was it. We've gone through the reds in record time as well.
Next year I will plant nothing but Yukons and I plan to plant twice as many. We don't have a root cellar, so there's no point planting a surplus. I do feel kind of anxious to start planting.
My grandmother always talked about planting by the phases of the moon, but Dad always scoffed. Then again, he did always have a copy of the Old Farmer's Almanac handy.
We would soon begin the process again with onion sets.
I haven't had enough space for a crop like potatoes in a long time, so I was anxious to start planting, even it was only as a novelty crop. Atwood's had their seed potatoes before anyone else, but they didn't have Red Pontiacs, only Russets and Yukon Golds. My wife and our son, who moved in with us in January, don't like potatoes, except for the reds. I really wanted to get some potatoes planted, since they are the earliest crop to sow, and I had gardening fever, so I sprang for Yukon Gold. The weather was so warm, planting was nothing like I remembered it.
About two weeks later Country Boy, our local grocery store, got in their seed potatoes and they did have Red Pontiacs, so I bought a few pounds and planted them.
I prepped my soil, which had already been tilled deep, by raking in two inches of good compost. Some eyes sprouted quickly and some more slowly, but overall, nearly all produced plants. The growth rate was amazing and in only a few weeks my garden really looked like a garden.
The Yukon Gold vines began to die down first, so I began digging them first. As fate would have it, the family absolutely loved the gold potatoes. Kathy said "I don't even like potatoes, but I really like these." Normally we eat a lot of rice, but we went through our entire ten pounds of Yukon Golds in a couple of weeks.
Next I dug the reds. They were impressive, large and firm. I got about fifty pounds of those. I did lose a few potatoes to the gopher, but that was it. We've gone through the reds in record time as well.
Next year I will plant nothing but Yukons and I plan to plant twice as many. We don't have a root cellar, so there's no point planting a surplus. I do feel kind of anxious to start planting.
A bowl of mostly Yukon Gold potatoes.
We bought fifty pounds of onions last fall. I saved the net bag and used it for our Red Pontiac potatoes. Now that most of the homegrown potatoes are gone, I'll save it again for next year.
Stephen
All photos are copyright 2017, Stephen P. Scott
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