Didi I go crazy????

[warmfuzzies]

OK, I planted ten lbs of potatoes. After I cut them in peices, I ended up planting 153 peices or so. And then I read that each plant will grow between 4 and 6 lbs. WHAT???? I could grow over 700 lbs of potatoes?????

And then I planted 50 strawberry plants, and read that 25 would be PLENTY for a family of four strawberry lovers.

And I have 12 sweet potato plants coming, (It said four per person, and there is only me and my 2yr old DS that like them... ) and I planted 4 lbs of jerusalem artichokes.

And I have at least 50 different kinds of seeds I want to try..... I think I need to hire a farm helper!

 

[theOEGBman]

Of course not! You sound like a gardener, we're already crazy!

Sounds a lot like me. I have over 70 packets of seeds I bought this year, not including the hundred from previous years, and I have no idea where Im planting most of it!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some food bank or church free food giveaway will love you.

 

[GardeNerd]

Wow, that must be some veggie garden. I planted 4, not 4 lbs. 4 potatoes. That's all I had room for.

I am Irish. I wish I could plant that many potatoes! We eat them almost daily.

 

[Purple Strawberry]

Don't worry just stop eating now so by time everything is mature you will have room to eat it all. Or you could contact a local food bank and see if they are interested.

 

[pinkflower]

That's a whole lot of french fries!!!!!!!!!! :tools

 

[vfem]

That's a whole lot of french fries!!!!!!!!!! :tools

You may be able to send me some... I only planted 4 potato seeds as well. Just enough for a few BBQ's with family. IF they even produce any for me. I'm afraid my black thumb is on its way back this year.

 

[simple life]

Potatoes can stay in storage for a long time, you can use them for months.
I go through alot just at the holidays, all the stuffing and mashed potatoes.
We eat them alot here though too and I like to try different kinds.
I planted at least 12 varieties this year and had around 30 lbs, but I did not plant all of them.
I traded them with someone and then I gave some to a friend of mine today so she could try the different varieties.
I like to share potatoes because it gives people a chance to try something new without buying a pound of them.
I read that you can get better yields if you leave them a decent size and I had some whole ones that were seemed to be fine without being cut so I didn't bother cutting them all.
I just had to add another potato bed today because I found a whole bag I hadn't even opened and I thought I had everything planted.
I think the amount you planted will be fine, its always good to plant extra in case some don't do well.
Then you can always store the rest for the long cold winter when a nice baked potato hits the spot.
If you are really hit hard with them and don't want to store them all give them away like others have suggested.
People appreciate fresh garden veggies.

 

[Rosalind]

I wouldn't count on actually getting that many potatoes unless you planted some commercial Russets or some such thing, and plan on watering and hilling and pesticiding them all perfectly. And if you don't have a mouse/rat/shrew problem. The rule of thumb for potatoes is more like 10 lbs. for every pound you plant, if everything goes exactly right, which it never does. So, you're probably going to get more like 70 lbs., not 700.

I think you may have under-planted for strawberries. See how it goes next year (this year it'll be a thin crop, and ideally you'd want to pinch the berries off before they get big), but I tried 25 plants/person once and ended up with just enough strawberries for cereal and snacks for two people. If you also wanted berries for shortcakes, jam, ice cream, frozen, liqueur, fruit salad, dried etc. then you'll want to plant a LOT more. I usually plant 100-150 plants for two adults who like strawberries. Sometimes that's not enough if we have a rabbit attack or extra slugs, as we did last year.

 

[warmfuzzies]

I know I may not end up with nearly what they said, I was just skeered there for a minute! We are hoping to have enough to store for the winter. And as far as the strawberries go, I would be fine with them if there was only enough for fresh use. I will be PLENTY busy with everything else I will have extra. I just bought 130 onion sets.... I cant grow onions from seed.

I am having fun though, even if DH thinks I am a little loony....