I am going to try potatoes again this year but am going to use a raised bed filled with saw dust (the bed will be 24" deep 24" wide and 40' long), problem is what kind of potatoes to plant. I am leaning toward the red "new potatoes" any one have any input? Which would last the longest white potatoes or the red skin "new potatoes" ?

rustee

AFAIK, new potatoes are just potatoes that have not fully matured.

I can't taste much difference from one type to another. Are you going to try the method where you keep adding sawdust aroudn the plants as they grow? You will get a lot of pottatoes that way in that size garden.

Good luck.

Leetle bitty new taters are the best. Cook them whole with green beans and a ham hock. Yukon Gold and standard Reds grow good around here but you have to get them in the ground or box or tire by 3/15 in Zone 7. You might get get them in now depending on how far south in SC you are.

You may also want to consider adding 1/3 soil to 2/3 dust. How old is the saw dust?

As was said above, call your local Ag Ext agency and get the straight poop from them.

Don't know how old the dust is but some of it was almost black from decomp starting some looked like it was pretty new but the saw mill hasn't sawed any lumber for about 6 mo or so and I dug down into the pile (over 10' tall) I have hauled 10 pickup loads and haven't made a dent in the pile. Taters do pretty good here especially the red skinned ones so I think I will plant them. We like them with green beans and they are good with a roast.
I will be planting them next week. Only going to use the dust this year and see how they do. Nothing ventured nothing gained..I will do an AAR on these.


ETA: I am going to do the slow cover method, plant when 3" tall cover with more till bed is full.

Rustee,  (the standard Arfcom answer) Do both.
Last year, (and planning it again this year) I planted 3 varieties.
Yukon Gold, Kenebek, and Reds.
The Yukon Gold do have a more "buttery taste, and look when you cook them. Last season they produced fewer but larger tubers.
The Kenebeks, produced smaller but more abundant potatoes per plant and
The Reds kind of split the difference. Had some bigger potatoes and had a fairly good number  per plant.
I planted only 5#s of each and got about 75#s total return.
I did short rows about 15 feet long, 3 feet or so apart. when the plants got about 8 or 10 inches tall, I till down the middle and rake the dirt over the plants leaving just a few leaves above ground. That makes for more roots and therfore more taters.  I fill in the middles then with leaves which keeps the weeds down and helps to keep the ground at a more constant temp and moisture level.
Hope this helps.
FWIW
MIKE

I found lots of useful information here:
http://www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/potatoes/INFO.htm

What "source" are people using for their seed potatoes ?

Seed potatoes?

Just let a bag get old. Starts growing green buds. Chop it into 1/4 pieces and bang! Seeds.

I'm not arguing, because I don't know. However I read another potato thread here in the survival forum that said you should start with certified seed potatoes.  

/Just asking. because I have a bag of potatoes that are budding right now.

That's my understanding as well ...

That while using old potatoes that you picked up at the grocery store is a method that *can* be used, it's actually preferable to use something along the lines of "certified seed potatoes" for the best results.

That said, I'm still interested in knowing what methods and "sources" most of the folks here  are using vs. what I read in a book.

I get my seed potatoes from the local feed and seed.

My red taters started poking up today

Good deal mine has a couple days ago. Looks like the sawdust thing is going to work...

There are two basically types of potatoes to plant-

Russets, which you bake

Other which you boil, mash, fry,or whatever


Best all around tasting potato is 'Yukon Gold'

A good russet is 'Burbank'

Don't forget the 'fingerling' potatoes. They are pretty tasty boiled and covered in butter,salt and pepper

The old standby varieties of 'Red Pontiac' and 'Kennebec' are the most common to find in stores and for sale.