Quote:
Originally Posted by AlittleSalt
Next year, I'm going to plant potatoes 6 inches deep as usual, but instead of waiting until the plants come up - I will have already put the soil for hilling a foot away from the rows. It would be much easier this way. All I will have to do is rake the soil over to where it needs to be.
|
For many years I grew a 250 ft row of potatoes, sometimes I wonder why I did that especially in late Fall when the wind was from the north and it was more than just chilly out there.
But my mother loved home grown potatoes, she had her lady friends who would come in summer, they'd sit on the front porch and gossip, but the main reason they were there is b'c mom insisted that I had plenty of fresh veggies for them to take home, and yes, also lots of tomatoes.
When I'd dig the potatoes in the Fall she'd call them to come and get potatoes.
All to say that I would move down that long row with a large hoe and stepping sideways, hoe down about 6 inches and pull the soil to the edge. When the cut pieces spouted I'd let them grow up to maybe a few inches above level, then pull some soil over them, let them grow a bit more, pull more soil over them, repeat until no free soil was left.
And I always got excellent production, but that also depended on the specific varieties that I was growing.
So essentially I was doing what you are doing although I allowed the plants to get a bit higher before starting to add soil.
Of course where I am now and considering my physical limitations and knowing that Freda does all my gardening for me all I've ever grown is different varieties of fingerlings in pots.
Yes, I still love fresh potatoes. For a few years a woman whose parents owned THE largest potato farm here, actually many acres in different areas would bring me the small new potatoes, which I loved. Her name is Sandy and she's married to one of the sons whose parents built my wonderful home here.
I just decided to see if his obit was online since I just read it in the AM paper and will link to it so you can see how much he was recognized for his potato knowledge.His daughter Sandy was also mentioned as being the wife of Jon McClellan, and it was the elder McClellans who had my home built.
The Funeral Home mentioned has McClellan as part of the name but that was Jon's brother Greg, who died two years ago from complications due to Chrons disease.
This part of upstate NY has many large potato farms and some of the varieties they developed are hard to get or are now extinct.
http://poststar.com/lifestyles/annou...f897be2e8.html
Carolyn