What Did You Do In The Garden?

[ducks4you]

@digitS' , I have planted over 70 potatoes, and 41 are up, just counted today. I should have a good crop this year. How do you store yours?

 

[digitS']

@ducks4you , I don't have ideal potato storage conditions. Also, I set myself up for storage problems because I appreciate early maturing varieties. Those can be harvested and bok choy can be planted in that ground. That part of the equation works well.

Not needing to plant the greens all at once, my potato harvest begins in August and runs through a few weeks. The basement room isn't even especially cool in August. It was 55°f when I carried the seed potatoes out the other day. It's about 45° through the winter.

The dahlia roots are carried down in late September and stored in peat moss. I've wondered if peat moss would help since the dahlias show very little life to them even in April. On the other hand, it might encourage the potatoes to grow. I just don't know. Oh, and the onions just sit on a shelf in a basket and last much better than the literature suggests for each variety ...

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

worked on some fence today. plugged up the last gap towards the front and then went along and trimmed the honeysuckle trees along the fence to make sure they weren't going to grow through or overtop the fence and bring it down. then i took a long four prong rake and pulled dead branches that came down from a neighboring dead tree that were propped on top of the honeysuckle bushes since the middle of winter. pulled 'em all out of there and cut them apart with the loppers. someone was burning and i was tired so that was enough for this afternoon.

the killdeer out front had babies. Mom happened to notice they were hatching half way through so i was able to say hello to all talk to all the babies for a few minutes. i always try to do this so that the birdies have some imprinting on me so that they are more tame than the more wilder ones that don't stick around when it gets active outside. it does seem to make a difference as the birdies will not get too upset even when we're walking right by their nest. as long as we don't go directly at the nest they're ok. got a few pictures snapped of the hatching halfway through.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I have peas and cabbage planted today.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Pulled weeds. Planted zinnia, sunflowers and cosmo seeds. Our weather has been so crazy, my poor plants are confused. I decided to plant all my herbs in pots this year. I want to build raised beds for my perennial plants so I dont accidentally step on it. Also I am sprinkling radish seeds (saved seeds) along the fence line so they can suppress the weeds.

 

[ducks4you]

@digitS' , that is very helpful!
UNlike my DD's 1920's home, not too much younger than Mine, I do not have heat in the basement, so it can get downright cold, cold, cold in the winter. That is where my pantry is, NW corner of the basement, and I could store there. DH and I are 1/2 through a thorough cleaning and reorganizing of it. We use my 15 minute rule (for jobs you know you need to do, but don't Want to!) to only work 15 minutes at a time. If you FEEL like working longer, that's ok, but then you don't feel compelled to spend the day on it. We have spent about 2 1/2 hours there in the past few weeks and you can see the difference.
What type of storage do you use for the potatoes? I would think that a plastic bucket would be potato suicide.

 

[digitS']

A plastic bucket would probably be a very poor choice. I like to harvest them in a milk crate. The soil can be rinsed off the potatoes fairly easily with the crate about half full; they can then sit outdoors and dry.

NW corner of the basement is also the storage room in my 100+ year old house. It was the original cellar - behind a cabinet was the access and the soil is still at a slope where stairs once led to the floor of (what was once) the dining room. I became curious one day and pulled the cabinet open to check what was behind it .

. The other 2/3rds of the basement were added later and connected to that cellar as rooms were built onto the house. That part now holds the gas furnace and water heater. Not an improvement for potato storage.

If we have several winter days when outdoor temperatures remain below zero F, that room won't be in the mid-40's, it will fall to mid-30's. Meanwhile, Steve is checking it often and fretting about the expected need to open the door to the warmer basement. It probably would be better for the potatoes if it was always in the mid-30's (But, the dahlias!). A potato farmer I know has also suggested hosing down the walls regularly. I suppose I could ...

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks!! That's what I thought, stored in a wooded crate. Do you store not touching each other?

 

[ducks4you]

Is this article a good guide? In 2019 I harvested about 3 pounds of potatoes. We are them all with relish.
This year's harvest should be MUCH more than that! The ones that are up are multiplying leaves daily, And I left room to cover them with straw.

 

[digitS']

Is this article a good guide?

?

You may have forgotten the link.

And, here's something from UCDavis on storage. It's a short pdf file.Note that temperatures below 40°f are not recommended but humidity at 95 is!

Steve