http://durgan.org/2016/April%202016/19%20April%202016%20Planting%20Potatoes/HTML/ 19 April 2016 Planting Potatoes Two types of potatoes were planted Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold. A few Red Pontiac were started in the greenhouse in containers as an experiment. The container must not be too wet or the potato will rot. The potato bed is 8 feet by 16 feet and 42 potatoes were planted. Rows are 2 feet apart and spacing in the row is about 15 inches. There are 24 Red Pontiac and 18 Yukon Gold, which is a yellow orange fleshed potato. My typical harvest is average four pounds plus per plant.
Yes I hill them, and heavily mulch with wood chips. The method. Potatoes http://www.durgan.org/URL/?CONZQ 26 May 2012 Potatoes. Mulching with wood chips. The potatoes were mulched with wood chips, primarily to conserve moisture. All bare ground was covered. Each plant was then watered with a pail of water about two gallons. We have only had one reasonable rainfall in about two months. http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LHYIM 23 May 2012 Hilling Potatoes Potatoes were hilled today. Hilling serves one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to supply sufficient cover for the emerging new tubers, which grow slightly above the seed potato usually within a foot diameter. Any potato exposed to light produces solanine, indicated by green color and should not be ingested. Procedure: I crawled along the rows on my knee pads and inspected each plants leaves underneath and removed any Colorado Potato Beetle eggs and squashed any adults found. The space between the rows was rototilled with my small Honda FG110G with the outer tines removed. The loosened soil was then raked up around the potato plants. The valley formed was then filled with quality compost and the area raked level. After the next heavy rainfall the area will be mulched to about four inches with wood chips.
http://durgan.org/2016/April%202016/20%20April%202016%20Marking%20Seed%20Potato/HTML/ 20 April 2016 Marking Seed Potato Each seed potato is marked. The vegetation is all gone when digging and this identifies the center of the clustered new potatoes. If watering is necessary it indicates were to put the water so it goes to the roots.
Interesting. You say about filling between the rows with "quality compost". What do you mean by "quality compost", how do you make your compost? Lots of wood chips. Yes, I appreciate wood chips as mulching material more and more, too. But why do you wait with harvesting until all leaves are entirely gone? Doesn't it give time to scabs and other possible diseases to get a firm hold on the tubers?
I don't get scab, since the growing area is not overly wet in this bit of Canada that hangs down into the Great Lakes. I even leave the potatoes in the ground after the vegetation disappears, and pick a dry spell to harvest. Ontario produces probably the best potatoes in Canada IMO. All my discarded vegetation is cut fine in the Yard Machine and made into compost, which is very little only about three yards per year. So I use the city stuff. (10 to 15 yards per year) The soil you see in my garden is much modified clay due to having over 100 cubic yards of compost and about 40 cubic yards of wood chips worked in over about a 12 year period. Soil conditioning is an ongoing project. http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ERHXL 8 May 2015 City Compost The city supplies vegetative compost free of charge during the month of may. Pick up two garbage cans once a day. I use a box in the van about half a cubic yard and go every morning for a load.This is added to the garden and worked in using the small rototiller. It seems to be sufficient fertilizer for good growth.
Under cultivation is about 2000 square feet or less. The main garden is 1000 square feet, plus some separate beds 200 square feet, 48 square feet and various bush berries and fruit trees. I grow most vegetables and preserve for off season use, enough for two people. Many things I don't grow sufficient of are available from various locations within driving distance. (Apples, pears, grapes, corn, sweet potatoes, currants, blueberries ,cranberries ,peaches). Most produce is pressure canned as a slurry, juice if you like, and consumed daily as a juice. This is for safety and convenience. I need about 500 liter jars to last about 8 months. I keep a journal and record most of my efforts with pictures. durgan.org | Garden Journal Started 2011. Garden Journal, Brantford Ontatrio Zone 5. Property 0.4 Acre with large vegetable garden and fruit trees. Produce is pressure canned, dehydrated, and cold room stored. Objective is to avoid commercial processed food.
