Quote:
|
What is the Isle of Man way of growing potatoes?
|
Bob,
It took me a few days to recall much that I have forgotten about my grandfather Kaighin's potato growing habits.
The soils on the Isle of Man are not very arable, perhaps 10%. The thin soil around the village of Bride, in the north of the island, had to be augmented. Tom Kaighin (born 1797), my grandfather's grandfather, taught my great Uncle John Tom (born 1863), and he in turn taught my grandfather.
1. Trenching: Plowing up the soil from both sides to form a rather wide bed of rows. This made the soil deeper and allowed for drainage if the season was rainy. The shollow prairie soil on the home farms in Kansas needed a deeper profile too.
2. Wood ashes: Brush, tree limbs, household wood ashes, old thatch from roof tops
3. Manure: Had to put on in the fall before plowing for the winter.
4. Rotation: The family farm called Ballagarrett was about 80 acres, much of it in narrow strips. Rotation with oats, cabbage, sheep and cattle grasslands.
5. New seed stock when possible: Hence the growing of the new variety "Up to Date" which was bought off the ship docks in Ramsey, IOM. Never planting but one variety. The more the better. I really inherited that trait.
6. Curing: Sacking up the potatoes and leaving them in the field to "cure” covered lightly with dry potato vines. I still do this! Keeps the potatoes dry from misty rains and prevents greening.
7. Storage in the potato cellars: Sorting by size and quality. Cut or blemished potatoes in one pile for early use. Wooden slats with slits for air ventilation.
8. Preparing seed stock: Greening up the tubers before planting. Using a shallow layer of potatoes in boxes placed in a shed with lots of light but protected from the rain. Usually done with small single drop small tubers. This produces sturdy short sprouts. Careful attention not to break the sprouts when planting. If the sprouts don't look healthy, don't plant 'em.
9. Planting: Done on St. Patrick’s Day if at all possible. Spacing the tubers in the row with a "Hands Length", mine is 10 inches (end of thumb to little finger) method.
10. Tilling: Using a little Manx pony to hill up the soil.
11. Harvesting: Using a single mold board plow, throwing the soil the opposite of the ground preparation direction. One round at a time until all the spuds are harvested.
12. If crossing a bridge to get to the potato field, throw a pinch of salt or food over your back without looking for the "Wee People" for good luck in the harvest.
13. Always have a big kettle of water boiling in the hearth: If the potatoes are done, raise the wire basket of potatoes out the water but leave them just above the water to keep them hot. Never know when a needy beggerman or a neighbor will be by and you can offer them a hot potato, some butter milk, and a hard boiled egg!
14. Always remember that there is a "time to sow and a time to reap" and "time waits for no man".
Tom Wagner
One quarter Manx and proud of it
[/quote]