Harvesting Potatoes

The potato harvest is underway and the backyard crop is bountiful. I still have five beds left to do (two in my neighbor's yard). Pacing is key.

The secret to growing potatoes lies in soil quality and planting depth. Get them in the ground early in the season and "hill up" the vines with loose soil as they grow.

You can also dig a trench to plant seed potatoes in, and add soil intermittently as the vines grow, bringing the soil up to ground level. 

Mother Earth News mentions a third method. It's Ruth Stout's labor-saving mulch and planting technique. Toss seed potatoes on top of the ground and mulch. Very cool. This method works because potato tubers grow on the stems. Great for the lazy gardener. Whatever gets you growing your own healthy, pesticide-free food is good.  Stout's mulch system reminds me of Masanobu Fukuoka's One-Straw Revolution.

Since my clay soil was difficult to dig into, I trenched as deep as I could go, amending the earth with sand and compost, and hilled up the vines throughout the season. 

The results have been tremendous. Here's a brief video of my harvest in progress. 

(Note: I say "Blue Caribe potato" in this video, when I should have said "Purple Caribe." Purple Caribe's are not to be confused with the "Russian Blues" I harvested earlier in the day. This is what comes from shooting video with your right hand, while harvesting potatoes with your left and trying to narrate at the same time.) 

Purple Caribe vs Russian Blue

The Caribe is on the left. Russian Blue on the right. 

Around The Garden

So much has been happening around the garden and I've been too busy to post, so I snapped a few quickie pics for an update. There was a lot of drama on the veggie front until I realized that the soil amendment I added in all the beds was about 100% nutrient free. My tomatoes were starving. The peppers were gasping for breath, zucchini dropping like flies and everything looked just plain sad. I lost a lot of good food to cheap dirt. Lesson learned. Once rectified, things instantly perked up.

Zucchini

There was a terrible spate of blossom end rot on the zucchini and my research uncovered numerous opinions on the cause. Pollination issues, the vine bore and calcium deficiency were the prime suspects. I found no bores. Started pollinating by hand, then simply went into the vitamin cupboard, grabbed some calcium, pulverized it in a mortar and pestle, added it to the soil and I literally had a zucchini the next morning. Literally. The next morning. So I buried some pills in the soil and there have been zucchini ever since. I continue to hand pollinate, even though there are bumble bees a plenty all around the garden.

This is about the eighth purple beauty pepper on the vine and the first to survive the ravenous, rampaging opossum, raccoon and skunk that have made my yard their buffet.

Purple beauty pepper

I find the remains of veggies strewn hither and yon daily. I'm very happy this one pepper has survived... so far. Why won't they eat the lettuce?

Lettuce

There are numerous varieties of delicious lettuce growing in every bed. Please eat the lettuce critters, we have so much to spare.

I've finally started harvesting brussel sprouts now.

I pick a single serving each meal (since I'm the only one who likes them) and leave the rest on the stalk until needed. I'll be sad when the stalk is empty. They are so cheerful looking.

Brussel sprouts on the vine

Little gems of goodness that they are. They may be my favorite vegetable.

Cucumbers, in both pickle size and table size are steady producers now. 

Front of cucumber bush climbing trellis

I have several bushes around the garden. Two in pots, the rest in the ground.

Back of cucumber bush on trellis

Sweet onions are plumping up and will soon be ready for harvest.

Sweet onions

And I dig up a few potatoes every day, leaving the rest in the ground to keep fresh.

Purple Caribe, Yukon Gold, Pontiac Red and All Red Potatoes

There's a lot more going on, but this is just a snapshot of what a suburban garden can provide to the table. How much fun is that?