I was just out in the garden moving a small pile of dirt from a corner we had it in and encountered a Kennebec potato that I somehow missed last year. Sadly, my shovel did not miss it today.
However, I was shocked as that decent sized potato was in PERFECT condition after having gone through the winter buried in the garden. There was no rot, it was not soft, and it had not yet started to sprout. No eyes at all.
Which gives me an idea for this fall. Since I do the bucket potatoes, I will harvest some of the crop and then make sure the rest of it is well covered with wood chips for insulation and see about harvesting them throughout the winter or in early spring next year, when fresh veggies are at a premium.
My garlic is a few inches high already. I have 19 rows of six plants each with a few duds. Can’t find them but still, that gives me a sizable garlic crop for next year and for Christmas gifts.
I’m actually organizing my garden. I have the tomato cages all set up in a nice grid with enough space between them for good air circulation. I’m tired of crowding them and having the blight take them.
Mr. mm and I have been doing some tree thinning, mostly clearing out dead wood, literally. We’re going to put the chipper on the tractor and chip up a ton of branches we have laying around the property and those wood chips will on the walkways between the rows of plants. I’ll lay down cardboard first, then put down the wood chips. They also help keep ticks at bay.
I found a few perfect potatoes one Spring that I had missed the prior summer as well. Our frost line is only a few inches at most. Who needs a root cellar? Dig them up and bring them in the house and they’ll sprout. Leave them in the ground and they remain perfect.
“How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method” by J. I. Rodale mentions a few methods of storing veggies outdoors. Buried barrel at a tilt, trenches, pile in pyramid in the garden. All methods get a fluffy cover with a little soil on top to hold that in place. Only applies to winter/storage type crops of course.
One thing about containers is that they might be apt to freeze sooner than something buried.
Got my 5lbs of Yukons in 55 gal drum sections with open bottom. Loosened up a couple of inches of soil, put the drum section on which sets in the soil a little, smoothed the soil, added leaf mold and nestled taters into it and added some more leaf mold. Leaf mold has some of that very aged goat manure and a touch of bone meal. Those are maybe 3% of the mix. I didn’t bury the taters all the way because everything’s sopping wet and we’re getting more rain tomorrow. Just barely left the tops peaking out and will add more leaf mold in 2-3 days. Then I’ll just go with shredded leaves.
I did two barrel sections out of three for the 9 seed potatoes. The one with five is a little crowded but I wanted to save the 3rd barrel slice to protect one of my comfrey plants that I just put in the ground a few weeks ago and that the rabbit got to. Already have a barrel slice around the other and had a milk crate over this other one temporarily. Both are putting out new leaves so they should be safe now.
Got a few seedlings sitting outside to harden off. One pepper out there as those are a bit yellow so I want to see if the sun greens it up. Might need fertilizing. Might be too much or not enough water according the a web search. Web search also said not enough light so I’m trying that first. It’s 60 degrees, sunny and for a change, no 30mph wind gusts. Those will be back in a couple of days. Spring and Fall we get a lot of wind. Some in Winter too. Zilch when it’s 90 something of course.