Posted: 2/8/2009 2:19:25 PM EDT
| Last year I grew potatoes in the garden. The bushes seemed to grow well, and I made sure to loosen the soil deep. The potatoes grew, but perhaps I harvested them to early as they were " just not right ". I think I read at on time you have to dig them and then let them lay on top of the soil to season? Also, if I store them in my cool basement out of the light say in a bushel basket, what kind of life span can I expect. Thanks. |
| when the taters start growing you need to take a hoe and cut the weeds down.my dad dug his potatoes 2nd. week of sept. before you dig cut the weeds off patch let them die and then dig. you dont have to let potatoes lay after digging. just get the dirt off them and put them in a cool dry place, try not to cut any while digging,the cut ones will decay. |
| If you let it lay after digging and the plant is still alive, the taters could turn green, and that means they are poisonous. Just dig em up, shake the dirt off of them, and store them in a cool, dry place. They don't really ripen like other fruits/veggies and pretty much all taste the same. |
| Here's a very interesting article on growing potatoes in a barrel. Sounds simple enough and very convenient for growers with limited space or crappy soil. Hope it helps. |
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Quoted:
Last year I grew potatoes in the garden. The bushes seemed to grow well, and I made sure to loosen the soil deep. The potatoes grew, but perhaps I harvested them to early as they were " just not right ". I think I read at on time you have to dig them and then let them lay on top of the soil to season? Also, if I store them in my cool basement out of the light say in a bushel basket, what kind of life span can I expect. Thanks. What do you mean they were "just not right"? There's really no such thing as harvesting too early, as you can harvest "new potatoes" when they're extremely small––you do this in the spring to get very tender potatoes which can be cooked with the skins still on––right in the pot with the peas and eaten with new peas. This is food so good you wanna just put your face in it. You don't get much yield this way, but a lot of folks who grow potatoes grow a few plants extra so they can have new potatoes and let the rest mature to a larger potato crop. You can "gravel" potatoes this way from the growing vines all season and have fresh potatoes to eat if you're careful and don't disturb the rest of the roots––and the potato plant you're harvesting from will continue to grow and produce large potatoes from the ones you don't take. So whatever "just not right" is, I don't think it was harvesting too early. Don't let your potatoes lie out in the light. The best tool for digging potatoes is a garden fork (this is NOT the same as a pitchfork). You will cut fewer potatoes as you dig if you use a fork to turn them over. Depending on where you are and what your soil is like, a problem with potatoes could be any number of things. "Just not right" is not enough information to say what happened with your potato crop, or to offer information as to how to make it turn out better next time. 
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Last year I grew potatoes in the garden. The bushes seemed to grow well, and I made sure to loosen the soil deep. The potatoes grew, but perhaps I harvested them to early as they were " just not right ". I think I read at on time you have to dig them and then let them lay on top of the soil to season? Also, if I store them in my cool basement out of the light say in a bushel basket, what kind of life span can I expect. Thanks. What do you mean they were "just not right"? There's really no such thing as harvesting too early, as you can harvest "new potatoes" when they're extremely small––you do this in the spring to get very tender potatoes which can be cooked with the skins still on––right in the pot with the peas and eaten with new peas. This is food so good you wanna just put your face in it. You don't get much yield this way, but a lot of folks who grow potatoes grow a few plants extra so they can have new potatoes and let the rest mature to a larger potato crop. You can "gravel" potatoes this way from the growing vines all season and have fresh potatoes to eat if you're careful and don't disturb the rest of the roots––and the potato plant you're harvesting from will continue to grow and produce large potatoes from the ones you don't take. So whatever "just not right" is, I don't think it was harvesting too early. Don't let your potatoes lie out in the light. The best tool for digging potatoes is a garden fork (this is NOT the same as a pitchfork). You will cut fewer potatoes as you dig if you use a fork to turn them over. Depending on where you are and what your soil is like, a problem with potatoes could be any number of things. "Just not right" is not enough information to say what happened with your potato crop, or to offer information as to how to make it turn out better next time.
I make a soup with new (shuck) peas and potaos and just butter and milk/cream. It is sooooo good. I have never heard of anyone else who makes that, it's my Gram's old recipe. We grew 70lbs of potatos this past summer, that was actually just our half, we split them with my neighbor. It was our first time doing a garden and it actually went well. We just planted them around the whole garden bed itself. I sometimes flet like our potatos weren't quite right either, like the taste was bland and they seemed dry if that makes sense. A couple of my usual dishes I used them in just didn't come out as good as normal. It was odd. We just stored ours in wooden slat barrels and kept them in a cool dark place and they have last up until now just fine. Some have sprouted roots and such but there's still a bunch to be used. Having a garden is so rewarding! |
| I'm no expert at growing potatoes though I did fairly well last year. The source for my plants was kind of unusual though. I was at a Flea Mkt and a fellow there was selling what was probably last years harvest, 50 Lb bags of which about half were still good for eating but as the rest started turning I planted them and got a very nice crop. This year I think I'll buy 2 or 3 50 Lb bags if I can find them. |