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| Not my potatoes, someone else's |
I went out and looked around, puzzled, and after giving up the first time, yesterday I saw Carter out in the garden and asked him to show me where the potatoes lived, so I could help harvest them. I forgot to take a picture, so I found this one on line that looks a lot like what we pulled out of the ground.
The above-ground part of the potato plants were withered, and he just stuck his hand in the dirt and wiggled it around and voila! out came a potato, then another and another. I carried them onto the picnic table and kept coming back for more as he continued to pull them out of the ground. I was surprised to learn that potatoes don't have "handles" connected to the tops, they just seemed to keep coming out of the ground, like magic.
I took a fair portion of Yukon Golds and blue potatoes and put them in a paper bag to cure for a couple of weeks. (I learned about this from a website.) The potatoes look so pretty and adorable, nothing like I imagined before I became a potato farmer!
:-)
I didn't know about the paper bag thing for potatoes. I did know that peaches will ripen better in a brown paper bag. Enjoy your home-grown potatoes!
ReplyDeleteI rejoice at your gardening discoveries.
ReplyDeleteYum.
ReplyDeleteAnd homegrown potatoes, like home grown anything taste sooooooo much better.
How is SmartGuy? And you? Sending hugs.
There is nothing like harvesting vegetables when you know how they were grown. So delicious too.
ReplyDeleteHow funny that you mentioned this - The Husband randomly threw some potatoes with eyes into a pot and they are going crazy; he is over the moon about this. We have no idea when and how to harvest - so thank you for your tips.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! I wonder if they will grow in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear the comments from a person who's never grown potatoes. On the farm we had the pleasure of planting, weeding and harvesting potatoes. We didn't like it but we really like eating potatoes.
ReplyDeleteWe used to put new red potatoes in a bucket and then fill the bucket with water and swirl a broom handle in the bucket...the soft outer shells would come right off and they were boiled up...best served with butter or in a white sauce with fresh peas! We set them out to dry on newspapers in the garage and after a few days they went to the coolest part of the basement in buckets...or they were canned:)
ReplyDeleteMy dad, the great white farmer that he was, alway had a small potato patch. Altho, we never cured them. As he pulled them from the ground, I'd snitch one and wipe off the dirt & eat one raw. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteI was a teen the only time I picked potatoes. I didn't know what I was doing, and kept slicing under my fingernails which hurt for days afterward.
ReplyDeleteWow, that Carter is a jewel. You are no longer a potato harvesting virgin:)
ReplyDeleteI haven't grown potatoes but did grow sweet potatoes. When you see them all on the ground like that it is pretty exciting.
Interesting and fun. I love potatoes.
ReplyDeleteBravo for you, new potato farmer! There's a reason why many countries have had to survive on potatoes. They are prolific and easy to store over long periods of time. I love all the varieties of preparation too, although I'm not a fan of mashed or French fries.
ReplyDeleteWell done. Growing your own potatoes. You will be totally self sufficient before long.
ReplyDeleteMy parents had friends whose farm was potatoes exclusively.
ReplyDeleteI once harvested potatoes in Canada's Prince Edward Island ... well, I only picked a few. We were staying as tourists in a B&B. Had blue potatoes for the first time last week. Strange color, but they tasted good.
ReplyDeleteYour garden experience is never fair to astound me. How smart you are to research how to keep potatoes in good condition. I bet they will taste really delicious once you cook them and put them on a plate.Do you Enjoy panfried homemade potatoes?
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