Potatoes grown organically

The third bed is garlic. Wow, when I first looked I thought for sure they were onions they were so big. Sorry, but I don’t waste space on kale, lol. I just can’t seem to develop a taste for it. I like cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, broccoli and kohlrabi, though.
I don’t have great luck with onions, they grow ok, but the leaves tend to fall over. The best sets I’ve used are Stuttgarter, a flattened bulb of pretty good size. I think I need to move them into the sunniest spot I have.

2000 sq ft and a greenhouse, darn, that’s pretty darn good. I wish I had a greenhouse. I have a small extension on my shop that I have plastic on, but it really doesn’t get enough sun, so it’s become a storage spot, arggh! One of these days, lol.

I grow butternut squash (great keeper) and zucchini. The zucchini seems to get powdery mildew towards late summer so I have to spray it with a milk and baking soda mix every 3-4 days. I remove the leaves and burn them, never put them in your compost pile.
Pigweed seed is very small but easy to harvest and very nutritious. The flavour is greatly improved by roasting the seed before grinding it. Pigweed seed can be ground into a powder and used as a cereal substitute, it can also be sprouted and added to salads. The seed is very small but easy to harvest and very nutritious.

Butternut squash doesn’t seem to grow well here I think my season is just a little too short for it or something. Butter cup was my grandfather’s favorite they do well and keep ok. I like butternut but if I am lucky I just get one or 2 squash out of the plant. Boston Marrow are great squash as well but really hard to grow here.
As to Kale get Russian Red or Blue Dwarf curly. They are the only two kinds I have found that are worth eating. And you need almost no space.

It’s a plastic covered hoophouse.

kind of a must in my climate. We are late getting started this year. The picture was from last fall.

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Potatoes generally grow in the top 8 10" of soil. I wouldn’t worry about any soil amendments more than plow deep, unless it was serious soil engineering, say to improve drainage, hard pan, or other soil structure.

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Potatoes are actually more vigorous in cool conditions. The limiting factor is frost free days, which could be a bit dicey in western Alberta, higher elevation and close to the Rockies.

Researchers have found that genetically identical seed potatoes yield higher coming from cold climates than those grown in warmer climates. The higher yields express into the 3rd generation.

Regarding scab, you may be right about organic material. Some varieties are resistant, Russet Burbank is completely immune to scab, perhaps due to the rough skin.

For my hard work I grow fingerings and Germany Butterballs those are soo yummy.

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I vote for the Yukon Gold, or Kennebec, or Russet Burbank. :slight_smile:

I vote for Atlantic. :slight_smile:

It’s going to be a big Potatoe patch…

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I have good luck with LaSoda.

I grow green mountain (Vermont) potatoes, the best I’ve tasted, bar none. I also grow Kennebeck and Red Norlands, also great tasting. Be careful with ashes on potatoes, in fact don’t use them. Potatoes prefer an acidic soil in the 5.2 to 6.0 PH range, which helps keep scab from forming on the tubers.
To lower your soil PH add 1 1/2 lbs sulfur per 100 sq ft dug in 6" deep. I do this in fall. Mulching your potatoes keeps the soil cooler and promotes larger potatoes. I also run a soaker hose along the top of my rows under the mulch as my soil is quite loose and tends to dry out if I’m not careful.
Pepe

Potatoes don’t like fluctuating moisture, always best to have some kind of watering system, otherwise yield suffers, but after a big rain they may crack (mostly the red varieties, it seems), or worse, they will form internal voids. Or if too wet internal black spots.

I wondered what caused the voids in some potatoes, thanks.

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I have been told many different things cause hollow hearts in potatoes. My grandfather always claimed it was when they grew too fast and that you found them in big potatoes. I have read it is a result of a change in water plenty of water a dry spell then too much water. The theory being that when they start growing again they get hollow hearts. And lastly which I tend to believe is that it is a bacteria that gets into the soil. I say that because I had them in one spot of my garden and not anywhere else and my soil gets about the same water. The person who told me bacteria said move them and don’t plant potatoes back there for 3 years. He actually said not tomatoes either the are subject to alot of the same soil issues.

Moved some potato posts from Craig’s project thread. Let’s at least keep the off topic posts on their own threads.

Hey Guys, here’s an interesting video discussing determinate and indeterminate potatoes. Shows the growth pattern of each and shows clearly which ones can grow potatoes up the vine as you hill it or container grow them.

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Not seeing a video but a product list and description Pepe. Good stuff here keep it coming.

One of the biggest and nicest potatoes were grown on a pile of burnt old hay with goat manure being washed slowly over it. Actualy it was a compost pile, and some peelyngs sprouted in to some realy nice potatoes.

Since then l always add ash to my potatoes. And lots of aged manure. A combination many say is the worst for potatoes, but works for me.

Ha, a nother trick l tryed last year. Dug out the first early potatoes, but just put the plants back in the soil. Water a bit, and it produced a second, smaller thugh, yeald of young potatoes later.

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