***I posted two posts this evening so please check below***
This afternoon I hilled my potato bin & potato pot. The bin involved getting my saw out and cutting down some boards. All miter cuts except one due to my irregular shaped bin. I think I am going to start calling this bin my Potato Condo, how does that sound? For the boards that will be removable for harvest I am use number 8 screws with a hex head. With these screws I can use a socket on my cordless drill to install as well as remove the boards. These fasteners should last much longer then your average coated deck screw.
This is the soil I am using for my potato condo. It is the left over soil from the 5 large pots that I grew tomatoes in last year. In addition to the pot mix which is about 60% potting soil & 40% compost I am adding copious amounts of bagged compost as well.
To fill the potato condo I very gently hold the leaves up and lightly fill around the plants with my potting soil scope. I have been hilling the condo every time the plants grow about 4"-5" high and I make sure to leave a good inch of foliage above the soil. This and further instructions can be found on Sinfonian's Square Foot Garden.
Here it is all filled up. I think I will let them grow above the second board before filling again. They could probably use the added photosynthesis.
Here is the potato pot fully hilled. These were planted about 3" above the bottom of the pot and now have over 10" of soil on top of that. I will now just apply water & organic fertilizer until they are harvested.
To end this post here is today's harvest. We have a 14oz head of oak leaf lettuce, a 3oz head of red lettuce, a 4oz kohlrabi and 2oz of fresh garlic. The kohlrabi split from all the rain we had during last nights thunderstorm so it went into today's dinner salad. The garlic made it into crock pot brisket and it is the last of the thinning that is needed in the garlic section. I think I will plant my garlic close together again next year because it is really nice to have fresh garlic on hand when ever it is needed.
The kohlrabi was very tasty...We certainly have eaten a lot of salad.. :)
ReplyDeleteI learned this week that I can't put potaters in the compost pile. Despite being dead looking and leaking, they tend to chit.
ReplyDeleteI assume this aggressive potater would be awesome for a potato condo.
Thanks for the great writeup!
Red
Green garlic would be nice. I'm thinking next year to do a little of it close together for that. Right now I just can't bear to touch the garlic. I want all those bulbs.
ReplyDeleteWe harvested and ate kohlrabi for dinner tonight too. Same variety in fact!
ReplyDeleteThe potato condo is an apt name for it - as the attention to detail you have given to it's construction is worthy of a home!
Dan, I really like how you already installed the back sides of the potato condo. That's good thinking!
ReplyDeleteI bought some potato seeds and will be planting them this weekend in hopes of a fall harvest. I've never grown potatoes before so your post was very helpful. Thanks, Jackie
ReplyDeleteI've had to treat my plants for bacterial spotting today. We'll see if they'll rebound soon enough though. I did however spot an interesting whole in my fence and something inside that hole was making clicking sounds.
ReplyDeleteAny bets on whether it maybe that carpenter bee or an ant?
I agree with EG on the back boards. i'll have to do that next year. It's a pain to install them against the fence. I manage though.
ReplyDeleteYou are much gentler with your plants than I am. I just throw dirt in by the handful, which is better than dumping the bag over the entire thing and digging for plants like I did last year, hehe.
Keep up the great work! Well done.
That reminds me that it's almost time for my first hilling. So fun.
ReplyDeleteThe dark bees in your other post might be Russian honeybees. The Italians tend to be more golden. If it is an European honeybee, that is.
Thanks for the reading and commenting everyone.
ReplyDelete