The Conservative Cave
Interests => Living Off of the Grid & Survivalism => Topic started by: BlueStateSaint on June 17, 2013, 09:56:46 AM
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I decided to dig a trench for the potatoes this year. As it turned out, I had to dig two trenches--about 15" deep, 20 feet long, 7" or so wide. (I had a lot more seed potatoes than I thought.) I've been burying the greenery that sprouts up as I go . . . actually, it got socked pretty good two weeks ago by the first wave of the big thunderstorms that made it our way. But, I've been continuing to bury the green leaves that have been emerging from the ground. When should one stop? When the level of the trench meets the level of the ground around it? Or should I continue to bury the stuff, mounding the dirt up?
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I'm no expert on the technique you're using, but it just seems to me at a gut level that if the calendar says "July" and you are still burying the shoots, you're probably 'doin' it rwong.'
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I've never tried them, but would like to. Some people plant them in a deep tub or tires stacked on top of each other. I've heard that the deeper they are, the more potatoes you get??????
I do know the potatoes have to be under the soil. If they are exposed to sunlight, they turn green and the green color is toxic. Some form of cyanide.
I don't throw away potatoes if they are greenish. I just peel them with a knife, and make sure all green parts have been cut off.
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I'm no expert on the technique you're using, but it just seems to me at a gut level that if the calendar says "July" and you are still burying the shoots, you're probably 'doin' it rwong.'
Yeah--I gave up on it. The damned things will die off at the end of August anyway, so I'll wait the two weeks after that happens to harvest them.
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I plant potatoes every year. I don't dig that far down cause you have to go find the little buggers after they grow. What I do is till the soil, pile the lose dirt next to the plot, till again and repeat. I go about a foot or so down. Place a seed potato that has been quartered with at least two eyes, and then dusted and dried with wood ash for a few days. The ash helps harden the cut areas and have been told that it helps keep the bugs away. It seems to work cause I have been doing that for years and I have great luck with taters. After you place the seed potato cover it with about 6" of soil. After they sprout keep piling soil up to about an inch from the top of the sprout, for several weeks or until you mound about a foot or so. The reason for the mound is easy extraction. All I have to do is take the garden fork dig under the base of the mound and lift....potatoes everywhere. I wait till the sprouts die off and wait an additional week or so before I harvest. You can dig in the mounds to get new potatoes if you like but i don't do that. Next year I will be planting in 30 gal barrels that have holes and a few inches of rocks in the bottom for drainage. Same technique but I wont be using anywhere near the garden space...plus they can be moved if necessary. Harvest will be as easy as dumping the barrel over ::)
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Has anybody ever planted them like this?
http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=237
That's the only way I ever remember my parents planting them. We always had really good results.
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WOW never heard of that method...thx BattleHymn for the link. Looks even easier than the soft dirt mound. Might have to experiment with that. :-)
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All I can ever remember doing was planting the seed potatoes 6-8 inches deep, and then waiting until the plant died to dig up the potatoes. These other methods seem to be just as much work and time consuming to me.
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WOW never heard of that method...thx BattleHymn for the link. Looks even easier than the soft dirt mound. Might have to experiment with that. :-)
Next year, for sure.
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Next year, for sure.
When I was growing up, I didn't know there was any other way to plant them. Let me know how it works out for you.