No Small Potatoes

To Frites or Not to Frites?

peterluyckx — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:37:54 +0000

To plant potatoes, you need to dig a trench. To harvest them, you need to do likewise, except this time around it’s more like an archeological dig, scraping away layer by layer so as not to split the potatoes in half as you dig them up. Finding potatoes is not as easy as it seems. In fact, they look a lot like brown stones. Luckily, the bugs seem equally confused by this mimicry, as not one of the potatoes I dug up has been nibbled on.

Today’s harvest yielded close to a full bucket:

Some of them are pretty humongous and look like prime candidates for being turned into Belgian frites, prepared with a steaming pot of mussels.

First new potatoes!

peterluyckx — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:13:26 +0000

It will take a few more weeks of nurturing before I can start harvesting my potato plants, but today we got a sneak preview with the three first tiny little potatoes.

A handful of potatoes from the garden

Aren't they a thing of beauty?

Slice 'em real thin...

...fry 'em up with shallots and butter...

...and serve with caramelized walnuts, garlic-flavored dandelion greens, a few fresh berries, and a piece of White Rose goat cheese.

Flower potato power

peterluyckx — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:56:02 +0000

The first potato plants are starting to bloom!

Watching Potatoes Grow

peterluyckx — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:41:18 +0000

You plant them, you water them, and then you see them grow.

Chiaroscuro

Enjoying the shade in 80 degree weather

Potatoes, bucketized

Planted a few weeks later than the other potatoes, these new shoots don't want to miss out on all the fun.

Potatoes Spring Eternal

peterluyckx — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:42:58 +0000

Is there anything more poetic than the first potato leaves coming up? Where’s Walt Whitman when you need him?

These potatoes were planted on April 29, photos taken on May 23.

Still life with potato leaves

Leaves of potatoes

Diggin’ a Ditch

peterluyckx — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:39:38 +0000

pH meter

“You can raise good potatoes with a pH ranging from 6.0 to 6.5, the slightly acid condition that is still suitable for many vegetable crops. However, lower pH is better if you want greater yields and less disease.”–National Gardening Association

So first job when planting potatoes: Measure the pH. Yeah, right on target.

Take a potato...

...place in bucket half filled with soil...

...then cover with more soil.

Potatoes should be planted 6-8 inches deep. You can plant them in containers of at least 2 gallons, preferably more.

Of course, a real potato enthusiast digs up his whole garden:

Digging a ditch...

...and another one...

...keep digging.

...then line up potatoes...

...12 inches apart...

...then cover them up with soil.

Potatoes were planted starting April 29 (8 days after cutting up the potatoes) through the middle of May.

First, take some seed potatoes

peterluyckx — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:54:42 +0000

“Small seed potatoes can be planted whole, but larger ones should first be cut into pieces with at least one eye or recessed dormant bud.”–National Gardening Association

I got some seed potatoes from Sunflower Farm in Waterbury, CT, and some more from a neighbor in Wedgwood. So many in fact, it’s been challenging to find spots to plant them.

And then…wait.

“You may have more success if you cure the seeds after cutting them, giving them time to develop a protective covering over their exposed surfaces–National Gardening Association

Here’s the seed potato cutting in action:

April 21

Take some whole seed potatoes...

...some fancy cutting action...

...and--tada!--a trayful of cut potatoes...