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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 12:00
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Potatoes did well at the cabin. They are my maintenance free crop. Here is sampling of the Yukon Gold. I’ve dug up 10-5gallon buckets full, so far.
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 14:26
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Can you tell me more about your method? I was looking for a low maintenance crop to grow at my cabin property. I was thinking about garlic but potatoes would be good too. I know they need to be hilled. How often to you get to tend them?
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 14:52
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Nope, they do not have to be hilled. Plant them 10-12 inches deep, eye up and forget about it. If you don’t plant deep enough you would have to go back and pull dirt back up over them. If you don’t keep them under dirt, they turn green and are unfit to eat. Actually, the green ones are poisonous. I have an advantage, since I have a tractor to cut the furrow with. Cut the sead potato into pieces where each has at least two eyes. Lay the cut pieces out to dry for a couple days before planting. The cut surfaces will cure. When the plants turn brown it’s time to dig them up. Or, you can leave them quite awhile in the ground. Unwashed, they last until February in basement-like dark storage. They like a humid, cool and dark environment.
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 14:53
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Oh, also you want to plant them with the eyes up.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 15:22
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Yum. We like sweet potatoes too, same process?
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 15:58
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Sweet potatoes are a little different. They have to be started by plant. An organic sweet potato is hung by toothpicks in water so that slips will start growing out of it. Cut the slips off, dip them in root starter then plant them in potting soil. Store bought potatoes or sweet potatoes have been chemically treated to stunt growth of the eyes or surface. That’s why it’s necessary to use seed potatoes or organic of either.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 17:43
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Do ground squirrels and deer eat the potato tops? Everything we plant here has to be covered with 1/4" hardware cloth or the animals... especially the ground squirrels eat it down to nubs.
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 18:58
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I’ve been told the deer don’t bother potatoes. I don’t know about the squirrels. I have a simple 5 ft fence around the area using t-posts. Most animals could get into it, but I haven’t had any problems. I guess, if hungry enough any of them might eat the tops. So far not a problem here in southern Ohio.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 19:08
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Tim, Thanks for this post. Nice details!! I want to try this also.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2022 19:26
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Thanks, I might try them. Next year. We are still fighting soil issues. The original soil we got was EXTREMELY high in nitrogen, they mixed fresh chicken dung in with the soil. We have been putting humus and mushroom compost as well as composted sheep and steer manure trying to bring it down. Three years later, we think, levels are still too high and everything goes to tops... or dies. I have a soils testing kit on the way. Hoping we can narrow down our problems and get the soil amended as needed.
If anyone wants Swiss Chard or beet tops... we are the place!
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 3 Sep 2022 20:24
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Years back I had trouble with our tomato plants going all to tops. Neighbor gave me some lime, worked great, got bigger tomatoes and less tops.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2022 15:12
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Every day this week it's been something..
This morning my wife opens the food cupboard and says "It stinks in here!". So I go over and man, does it ever. Start digging, it's a deep cupboard, re-purposed entertainment center. Some moldy tortillas, not it. And finally there it is on the bottom shelf, a big, unvented zip lock bag full of rotting potatoes, swollen up like a balloon and half liquid inside. Man what a smell, worse than anything that emanates from the bathroom.
I have more potatoes on hand, stored outside in the shade, 40-60F temps, in vented bags, in a spare aluminum truck tool box. Hope they last..
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2022 15:31
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Oh, I know that smell. If you don't catch the bad ones before you put them in storage, it's awful. I put mine in a cardboard box with the lid closed, unwashed. I noticed that they last longer and the eyes don't sprout if they are left with the dirt on them.
So far, they have served us well as potato soup, part of beef stew, baked potatoes (weekly with fish night), shepherds pie, herb potatoes and hash browns or home fries. It's amazing what you make with them once you make a list.
Tim
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Aklogcabin
Member
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# Posted: 5 Nov 2022 08:58
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Potatoes probably my favorite food. I like to put rhubarb plants at the cabin. Moose don't eat them. I believe potato greens are not edible to most animals
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Daaaaaaaan
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2023 14:10
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What kind of yield did you get? In Southern Ontario, we've done some 5gal buckets and get around 3lbs per bucket. Not bad. Usually a mix of 1/3 compost/manure, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 soil.
5gal buckets definitely have the best $/gal when it comes to containers: can get them free or for $1. Ask your wine-making friends.
We just used store-bought potatoes and planted the parts that developed ears. The treatments/sprays aren't 100%.
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Jackson
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2023 21:30
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My Potatoes all vanished. I'm not sure if something got them, or I didn't plant them deep enough and they simply rotted away.
I'm in Southern Ohio too, soo next season I will try your method and see how it goes.
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Daaaaaaaan
Member
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# Posted: 3 Jan 2023 22:42
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if you're doing construction buckets, you *MUST* drill some holes in the bottom of your bucket.
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