This will for me, be a bad year for gardening...no tomatoes, peppers or other crops requiring much attention. Going to be too busy this year so only a few simple things. I started weighing things last year, such as my potatoes, every few I dug up in the fall I weighed the yield. My average per potato plant was something like 3.25 pounds (from memory I would have to check my notes to be sure, maybe 3.5). It was a bad year for potatoes last year, freak winds layed my potatoes flat twice.
So I am going to concentrate on increasing my yield per plant this year. As a experiment I started on april 1st my seed potatoes indoors, as the picture shows. I have started 50 plants this way I will plant them outside maybe the first week in May or so when I will then start off another 50 or so potato plants. Giving my first batch of potato plants roughly a months head start over the other batch should produce a measurable increase, or that's the hope. I hope by the earlier start, and better watering practices I can move my yield up to 4-5 pounds or greater per plant, my soil in my raised beds is also getting better after a few years conditioning. Has anyone else ever started potato plants in doors? I haven't heard of anyone doing this.
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I never thought of counting yield. That sounds like a smart thing to do to become efficient. No idea about planting potatoes beforehand. Curious to see how you make out.
Last year was a miserable year I think for most. That flash freeze in spring messed up a lot of things...so much precipitation didn't help either....
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Eager to get started so I have moved my starter plants outside. here is what three weeks or so of growing inside has done to my potatoes.
This is what the root ball looks like, pretty good for a few weeks.
I have glass panels to put over the top at night so they should not freeze. Thirty planted, 75 more to go.Still snow in places but I cant wait.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
Looking good peppercorn! Better green thumb then me
Garden is done, or close.Fewer potatoes this year..only 120 total planted. My green house is being shut down as a green house but will be repurposed for something else and another larger green house will be built. No spring this year, we went from winter straight to summer.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
I agree completely peppercorn- bad spring/summer start for Alberta and it did affect the garden long term. Interestingly my medical stuff did great. One of the pictures shows the camomile growing great guns. My peppers are just now starting to fruit even though they were planted way prior to spring. I'll add some pics here too but I put most of them on my 2018 rant-sorry didn't see peppercorn's 2018 garden topic till now.
I'm praying for more warm weather and sun so I can see my spaghetti squash mature completely. This then will be my first REAL success with these fella's. Last year they rotted in the ground before they could produce flowers and the year before fried in the ground. I'm almost afraid to say it too loud, in case they hear...(whisper) but they're looking pretty good!
Peppercorn,
I forgot to write back on your potatoe experiment in April. I have tried, but found, no better yields starting indoors for potatoes. I now just start them outdoors with all the others at the end of May (sometimes a week or two earlier as they're protected underground). In other words, for me...It wasn't worth the effort indoors!! I think it's great you're experimenting.
Last year our group, experimented with each family growing 3 different varieties of potato. We tracked who's were up quickest, who's thrived best, who's produced the most and finally who's stored in woodshavings the longest. Interestingly enough, it wasn't the plants that were up first that yielded the most or best potatoes.
Every year we mark down the yields of each garden box and what we did differently. Moving potatoes every year to a different row (as they are quite depleting to the soil) and growing peas and the like to add to soil. Another trial run was finding out that all my greens(lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard) do much better with pea vines grown up in front of them to block the sun abit! Less early bolting and just much better, longer lasting produce!!! So now, I always plant my greens hidden behind taller veggies.
I've been learning as I go! The group has also experimented with different types of gardening as well. Square foot gardening, strawbale gardening, barrel growing for potatoes...so much out there to try! I've found (and surprised myself) that the old fashion way is my Favorite and MY most successful. In my ten years of experimenting with the garden, I have also have found a wonderful receipe for poo soup! A blessed brew of chicken and goat shit (from the year before) sitting in water for a month in the heat as my fertilizer!!! Years ago, I would have never thought I would get excited about a load of shit!!!! 😆
Snow in the forecast this week and cool temps coming. I dug up 90% of my potatoes and the yield was bad,really bad, maybe 200 pounds total. Everything grew poorly this year for me. My evergreen trees are in trouble, the blue spruce, pine are losing there needles, large section going brown from the lack of rain. Going brown from the bottom right to the top.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
Peppercorn,
I forgot to write back on your potatoe experiment in April. I have tried, but found, no better yields starting indoors for potatoes. I now just start them outdoors with all the others at the end of May (sometimes a week or two earlier as they're protected underground). In other words, for me...It wasn't worth the effort indoors!! 😆
I am sure you are correct in that assessment but I have found starting early is really good for the gardener 😀
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
Curious about potatoes vs frost as a novice gardener. I assume that in an overnight low of -5, that the plants will die off, but are the potatoes proper safe if it’s just a single frost event? Or should I madly go digging this evening?
Curious about potatoes vs frost as a novice gardener. I assume that in an overnight low of -5, that the plants will die off, but are the potatoes proper safe if it’s just a single frost event? Or should I madly go digging this evening?
You should be fine, I still have a few potato plants outside myself that will ride out this coming frost, but above ground every thing will get niped.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
As long as you have hilled them, they are fine for the basic frost die off, (but not Sweet potato's they can and are effected by cooler temps ground) but regular spuds.. no worries.. just get them out before freeze up.. however, if you want to be able to cure them in the shade outside before moving them inside, it still needs to be warm enough to do so.
No mad digging required but put it on the list to get done. sooner then later
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Last week we hit 43c and this weekend on Sept 9th, we had our first hard frost! WT??? Regular hard frost date for my area is mid-oct.. but in open low area's on the farm on Saturday morning we had plants hard with frost.. that's killing frost.. thankfully because I also garden on the higher area's, the sheltered areas and because I tend to grow things up around the permaculture beds to help keep the frost back.. I still have lots going in other areas.. but ouch! to the pastures..
I will have to move the flock to hay even more so then they are already getting...
We got a very late spring frost and then skipped spring weather and went right into high summer heat and drought and now we have a hard early frost.. and below temps in the fall so far.. very hard gardening year for sure.
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Sorry late reply. The plants above may die down but your root veggies are fine until you have a sunny day to harvest and lay them on top of the ground to dry. In fact, your carrots become sweeter!! Wipe big chunks of dirt off but don't wash off-let sit to dry (both sides-so flip over) for the day and then they are good for putting away in what ever storage technique you do. We do wood shavings and add potatoes or carrots in rows with a layer for shavings/layer of veggie/layer of shavings. As long as there are not touching and have not been washed - keep them in your basement. They will last until next spring!!!
Met some good ppl and have been invited to start a garden at their BOL 7 hrs south of me. Pretty excited about all the yummy things that grow there.
Its far bit I'm excited that together well all have alot more to eat. The main thing will be setting up the raised beds and black sided bailing tarps for a no or little watering garden two years from now. Who knows. Maybe some nivmce fruit and nut trees i cant grow here