Grow potatoes. They do well in cooler climates, produce food that a human can survive on alone, and the potatoes, if stored in a cool area, can last for months. I grow a good supply of potatoes every year and store them under ground. The smaller ones I then re-use as seed potato and plant them in the fall. Come spring when the soil warms the seed potato sprouts and produces more.
Grow potatoes. They do well in cooler climates, produce food that a human can survive on alone, and the potatoes, if stored in a cool area, can last for months. I grow a good supply of potatoes every year and store them under ground. The smaller ones I then re-use as seed potato and plant them in the fall. Come spring when the soil warms the seed potato sprouts and produces more.
That's not a bad idea, I'll look into it. It also kind of dovetails into a plan to plant rutabagas, which I quite like. I tend to plant a reasonably diverse garden plot-- about 13 kinds of stuff-- so I've still got options if some do less well than others.
Where are you located? What's your climate like or growing-zone?
I live in the Western United States in the Rocky Mountains. Our growing season is typically from mid May to late September. Warm dry summers and cold snowy winters. The potatoes do really well here. I will usually plant two dozen seed potatoes and harvest four 5 gallon buckets of softball sized potatoes. Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold do really well here. They taste fantastic when they are fresh.
Good to know... So, can I take any ol' potato, say from a grocery store, and bury it an inch or three in the soil? And can I plant a seed potato in the spring, seeing as I'm too late for the fall? I'll probably be looking the answers up and since I'm also looking at rutabagas, but any tips or tricks you might like to offer would of course be appreciated.
You can try a potato from the grocery store but it is my understanding that they spray them with anti-sprouting chemicals. They don't sprout as good as an "organic" spud, if you will. I usually buy a fresh crop of "certified seed" potato from IFA or Tractor Supply. They are cheap but you get better sprouting from them than from a super market spud. You only need one eye per hill so one seed potato may yield four plants. I would plant it at least 6 to 8 inches deep in the soil and hill the soil over the potato. The taller the potato has to grow the more potatoes you get as the plant shoots the tubers off to the side of the vine. And yes, it will grow if you plant it deep.
I plant in the fall, but you can also plant in the spring as soon as you can dig down into the soil. I like to do the fall to avoid digging in muddy soil :)
6 to 8 inches does not include the hill or mound. The hill or mound is in addition to. You will also increase the hill size once the plant has grown about a foot above the ground to keep the spuds covered and free from sun light. Sun burns the potatoes, turns them green and makes them acidic.
Grow potatoes. They do well in cooler climates, produce food that a human can survive on alone, and the potatoes, if stored in a cool area, can last for months. I grow a good supply of potatoes every year and store them under ground. The smaller ones I then re-use as seed potato and plant them in the fall. Come spring when the soil warms the seed potato sprouts and produces more.
That's not a bad idea, I'll look into it. It also kind of dovetails into a plan to plant rutabagas, which I quite like. I tend to plant a reasonably diverse garden plot-- about 13 kinds of stuff-- so I've still got options if some do less well than others.
Where are you located? What's your climate like or growing-zone?
I live in the Western United States in the Rocky Mountains. Our growing season is typically from mid May to late September. Warm dry summers and cold snowy winters. The potatoes do really well here. I will usually plant two dozen seed potatoes and harvest four 5 gallon buckets of softball sized potatoes. Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold do really well here. They taste fantastic when they are fresh.
Good to know... So, can I take any ol' potato, say from a grocery store, and bury it an inch or three in the soil? And can I plant a seed potato in the spring, seeing as I'm too late for the fall? I'll probably be looking the answers up and since I'm also looking at rutabagas, but any tips or tricks you might like to offer would of course be appreciated.
You can try a potato from the grocery store but it is my understanding that they spray them with anti-sprouting chemicals. They don't sprout as good as an "organic" spud, if you will. I usually buy a fresh crop of "certified seed" potato from IFA or Tractor Supply. They are cheap but you get better sprouting from them than from a super market spud. You only need one eye per hill so one seed potato may yield four plants. I would plant it at least 6 to 8 inches deep in the soil and hill the soil over the potato. The taller the potato has to grow the more potatoes you get as the plant shoots the tubers off to the side of the vine. And yes, it will grow if you plant it deep.
Never grown rutabagas before.
Thanks, Cankerpuss. Again, can I plant in the spring? (You said you planted in the fall.)
Also, does the 6 to 8 inches include the 'hill' (presumably that means mound?) over the potato?
Good point about the anti-sprouting thing. Hadn't thought of that and it kind of reminds me of those 'terminator' seeds.
I plant in the fall, but you can also plant in the spring as soon as you can dig down into the soil. I like to do the fall to avoid digging in muddy soil :)
6 to 8 inches does not include the hill or mound. The hill or mound is in addition to. You will also increase the hill size once the plant has grown about a foot above the ground to keep the spuds covered and free from sun light. Sun burns the potatoes, turns them green and makes them acidic.
I cover up my beets like that too.
" like to do the fall to avoid digging in muddy soil :) " ~ Cankerpuss
So you have the happy face and it looks like I'll get the sad one since I'll be planting my potatoes in the spring's muddy soil:
:(