Chitted potatoes ready for planting
Photo: Chronica Domus
In another life, I might have been a very contented gentlewoman farmer, or gentleman farmer's wife, as would have more likely been the case. I'd be living in an elegant country house adjoining my land, tending to the vegetables, fruits, and flowers that I've grown in abundance for my family. Always working with nature, not against. This is the only scenario I have conjured to help explain my dilettante approach to all things agrarian.
Back in the real world, I content myself with my pocket-sized garden, growing whatever takes my fancy, often on a whim. It is this approach, and a comment made by Spud, an occasional commenter on this blog, that led me to grow potatoes for the very first time this year. Spud, as you might have guessed, is a fan of the humble potato, which got me thinking why it was that I had not yet attempted to grow them myself. Like most people, I adore potatoes so as I was in the mood for a gardening adventure earlier in the spring, I decided to plant some.
Now, if I were a proper gentlewoman farmer, and my living depended on a bumper harvest, I would have sought out disease-free seed potatoes to plant. Being the practical gal that I am, however, I looked no further than my potato basket buried in my kitchen cupboard. There I found six little rosy hued potatoes and eight brown ones, all past their prime and already sprouting eyes. Knowing these were organic potatoes, I took my chances and used them for my growing experiment. The first thing I did was to place the potatoes in an old cardboard egg box, atop the kitchen table, where they remained for the next two weeks. The light and cool temperature of the room allowed the potatoes to develop their green sprouts, a process known as "chitting".
I dug a twenty-eight foot long trench and amended the soil with my secret weapon, chicken manure. It works wonders if one desires vigorous plants. On May 7, I placed the chitted potatoes two feet apart and covered them with a few inches of the rich loamy soil. Then, I waited.
This brown-skinned (russet?) potato should produce a healthy plant, and future potatoes, fingers crossed!
Photo: Chronica Domus
The little pink potato, now turned purple, is off to a good start with its cluster of sprouts
Photo: Chronica Domus
To my utter astonishment, I soon learned how rapidly these tuberous crops grow. Within a few weeks, the first leaves emerged above ground. I was more than a little chuffed with the progress and felt rather like an expectant mother does, not knowing exactly when her baby will make an appearance in the world.
Six weeks after planting
Photo: Chronica Domus
Nature is a clever lady because she enjoys color games. Upon seeing the vegetable patch, my friend Connie asked what color bloom a potato plant bears. Not having grown them before I was stumped. For those of you who are interested, here is what I found only a week or so after the photograph above was taken.
A white potato bloom resembling Mother Goose
Photo: Chronica Domus
Then, a week later, the following appeared.
Photo: Chronica Domus
Ah, I thought, there lies the answer; white blooms for brown-skinned potatoes and purple for the rosy hued variety.
The potato plants now in full bloom
Photo: Chronica Domus
As the plants grew, I was careful to pile more and more soil around their stalks so that eventually the trench I had dug was filled and hilled. Then, another surprise. What was this little green tomato-like orb?
Photo: Chronica Domus
It turned out this little fellow actually contains the seeds for next year's potatoes. I highly recommend you remove these seed pods unless, that is, you wish to have hundreds of little potato plants spring up all over your vegetable garden next season.
On July 27, almost twelve weeks since planting the chitted potatoes, it was time to dig. I could not wait to discover what lay beneath the soil. The anticipation was almost too much to bear. Would I find anything at all? If I did, would the potatoes be diseased or half eaten by earth-bound creatures?
I employed my trusty husband's strength to dig up the almost three foot tall plants, and thank goodness I did. It takes quite a bit of upper body strength to pry those little devils out of the soil. Obviously, I'm not quite ready to fulfill my gentlewoman farmer fantasy. Working down the row, my husband started with the brown potatoes, gingerly working the fork into the hilled earth so as to avoid piercing any tubers that may be lurking beneath.
Success! The first potatoes unearthed
Photo: Chronica Domus
I was jumping up and down with glee at the sight of plant after plant, full of spuds! There were large ones and small, both brown and rosy.
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four ...
Photo: Chronica Domus
The mother lode
Photo: Chronica Domus
We managed to fill three bushel baskets with our harvest, an amount beyond my wildest dreams. All this from fourteen shriveled up potatoes that lay in my kitchen cupboard destined for the compost bin.
Hooray, the harvest is in!
Photo: Chronica Domus
I felt immense satisfaction and gratitude knowing my adventures in potato growing had turned out to be a smash hit. We had dug up so many potatoes that we were able to share our bounty with our friends. Arriving at their house for dinner a few weekends ago, I felt extremely proud to present dear Connie and Steven with a basket of our homegrown spuds. Oh, and I finally got to answer her question about bloom color.
To date, all of the potatoes we have sampled have been flawless - not a soft spot or diseased area to be found between them. Their flavor has surpassed all of our expectations, possessing a pronounced earthy goodness. Was it the soil conditions that played a part in our spuds' deliciousness I wonder. Mashed, boiled, or roasted, it has all been very, very good!
Our roasted potatoes formed part of last week's Sunday lunch
Photo: Chronica Domus
Photo: Chronica Domus
If you too are thinking about planting some old potatoes that are laying about in your kitchen, this is an ideal time to do so for those with gardens in the southern hemisphere. Everyone else may want to try popping a few tubers into the soil come spring.
Tell me, do you enjoy eating (or growing) potatoes and if so, what are your favorite ways of preparing them?
Oh my gosh, so many potatoes! Nature's bounty indeed! I like them all kinds of ways, maybe best just baked with fresh chives, sour cream, and lots and lots of pepper. Have never grown them myself, but it looks like so much fun.
ReplyDeleteWe are big fans of baked potatoes, but I only ever think of them in the cooler months as they taste so delicious steaming hot out of the oven and slathered with all manner of fun toppings. In England, I remember a chain of stores that sold nothing but baked potatoes and I've often wondered why it is that this type of "fast food" has not caught on in California.
DeleteHello CD, The combination of your green thumb and California's famed bounty has produced incredible results. Their freshness and perfection especially impresses me because most potatoes in Taiwan are poor quality and green hued.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim,
DeleteYes, all of this tuber experimentation has indeed led to an incredible result, beyond my wildest dreams to be certain. It has given me confidence to try it all again in the spring. I wish I could share a few with you, especially as I've just learned of your dismal green-hued spuds (by the way, do not ever eat green potatoes - they are poisonous!).
Well done on your harvest! Looks amazing. Funny because here in town a lot of people tinker with potato bags but I don't think they get flowers. But I absolutely adore chips!!
ReplyDeleteWhy, thank you, Naomi. Oh, I've never thought to grow potatoes in bags before - how funny is that! I suppose for space-challenged townies, this method is ideal.
DeleteI'm with you on chips. My guilty pleasure whenever I'm back home in England is to go down to the chippie, order a portion, proceed to douse in malt vinegar and salt and scoff away. Then, I feel quite queasy and remember why I don't eat chips from the chippie. You'd think I would have learned by now!
Hello Lady Domus. As the little hobbit says, "boil 'em, mash 'em, put 'em in a stew !" Bravo for your exploit and lovely pictures! I knew nothing about those seed pockets. I rely on my parents-in-law who grow them in Brittany - and they are heaven. Otherwise, we love the pomme de terre nouvelles. They are eaten young & small so their sugar hasn't become starch yet. I just boil them and serve them - so good they need nothing - but sea salt butter from Brittany is also good with fresh thyme or rosemary! In the winter, my family has the treat of potatoes the 'American way' every so often - hash browns !
ReplyDeleteMy dearest gésbi,
DeleteI've been wondering and wondering where you've been lurking for these past months. So glad you are back with us.
Oh yes, new potatoes, divine! As you say smothered in butter and salt and the humble spud suddenly becomes food for the gods!
Whenever the mood strikes I too use rosemary or thyme on my roasted potatoes. I know, not very British (they do so love to roast their potatoes with no additions), but I enjoy tinkering a bit. A little yellow chopped onion sweetens things up a bit too.
Hmm... hash browns ... not a big fan as they are more often than not overly greasy.
Not very dietetic, I know but it's a bit of my American childhood I pass on to my children...along with a slab of paté and and good green salad! I even let them eat donuts when we are over that way. But these are occasional things - treats! (True, I don't partake of those with them.) I
Delete(I hope I'll be able to blog more regularly, CD. People like you make me want to.)
Oh, everything in moderation my dear gésbi, including treats like fried potatoes and delicious donuts. To be quite frank, I've never tried homemade hash browns, and I'm sure yours are far superior to the overly greasy ones I've tried at diner restaurants.
DeleteHow very kind of you to write that I may have had a hand in prodding you along a little in terms of more frequent posts from your lovely blog. I look forward to reading more of what you have to say.
Awwww! It's like finding wonderful, unexpected Easter Eggs. Isn't it a treat to unearth all that colour and heft, and for a quick rinsing to give it such a shine in the Autumn air? We had a neighbor back in Mississippi who raised a great crop one year---acres and acres, on contract for one of the big companies for hash browns or some such, and when the gatherers came, they could make but one sweep of the field.
ReplyDeleteNext day, several of us were invited to come and help ourselves to all we could carry, and WOW, what an afternoon---it was like the biggest egg hunt of our lives, with so much goodness hidden in that dark Delta soil. Children were muddy to the elbows---most of us were---and yelling little eurekas at each find.
As to favorite prep, easiest is to pop a panful of half-cut little scrubbed ones atop a pot of long-simmered snap beans, to steam for the last twenty minutes or so, then be stirred gently in to anoint them with that savory ham-and-onion pot likker. They're like meaty little marshmallows.
But the one recipe I've been sharing most is a try-til-you-find-it quest for the best baked potato---a bit of a shortcut added to the tried-and-true, for perfection every time:
http://lawntea.blogspot.com/2010/10/beans-and-ribs.html
Potatoes going into the ground are kinda like dry beans going into a pot---I read a quote once that said something like "you have to admire a thing which goes in as two cups, does its thing for a while, then comes out a gallon and a half."
You certainly earned your Miz GreenJeans card with these, Ma'am.
rachel
Hello racheld,
DeleteI do so adore your description of the potatoes being much like unexpected Easter eggs. Yes, that is exactly how it was while digging them out of the ground, not knowing exactly how many (if any) are hiding in the soil.
I think I would have had a rollicking good afternoon were I to have been let loose in that field with you. Those children will have formed cherished memories of their potato hunt for many years to come.
Now, off to check out the link you included in your comment, thank you.
I admire your green thumb. Meanwhile, I just bought a bag of hyacinth bulbs in anticipation of forcing them come early January. All this per instructions in your blog post! Thanks for the inspiration
ReplyDeleteHello slf,
DeleteThank you for your kind compliment about my green thumb. I don't actually believe I have one, per se. I just experiment and see what works best, sometimes with surprisingly good results, as in this year's potato bonanza. I'm certainly going to try this again just to see what happens - such fun!
Thank you for letting me know you've made your hyacinth purchase, a reminder to us all that now is the time for bulb shopping. I just love this time of year! Do come back again and let me know how the bulbs turned out.
CD,
ReplyDeleteIt's such a coincidence that I too planted a couple of potatoes that were destined for the greens can. The plants grew very fast but alas the caterpillars got into the plants and because they were leaning so I yanked them after about 6 weeks. I will give it a better try next year. You've inspired me. I can remember my mom planting potatoes and we got so many different sizes.
Fun post.
xo,
Karen
Oh, Karen! I wonder if you should have kept the plants going - despite the caterpillars - as the prize is subterranean. I imagine the leaves may not have looked pretty but potatoes would be forthcoming anyway. I'm glad I've inspired you to give things another shot. It really is quite fun to make something out of nothing, or in this case some shriveled up sprouting spuds.
DeleteHello CD
ReplyDeleteWhat a thrill! * So very pleased to read this latest installment of your spud experiment. Such a bounty too!
You’ve inspired me to try and emulate your success. Though, to be fair, my efforts will largely involve encouraging (directing?) the ‘farm hand’ (my husband) to have a go.
One of my favourite ways of preparing spuds is to boil (skin on), peel, season with salt, black pepper and dried oregano and finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Or else baked into a crusty galette.
The farm hand’s next gardening challenge involves a shitake mushroom farm – I’ll let you know it goes. Today’s garden harvest comprises bitter chicory, silverbeet (chard), asparagus and gorgeous young fennel. (Some suggestions for future experimentation in your vegie patch perhaps?)
Spud.
*I’m doubly thrilled and honoured to have received a mention in your post.
Hello Spud,
DeleteOf course you would have received a mention - it was my pleasure and as I wrote, you inspired my tuber escapades.
Those "farm hands" sure are handy aren't they! Yes, my little fantasy of becoming a gentlewoman farmer would obviously have to involve more than a few of these useful "farm hands" otherwise I'd never get my bounty out of the ground.
I've tried a similar approach to preparing potatoes to your favorite method, but instead of oregano, I have used parsley, some lemon juice, and olive oil - a good way of using all those lemons from my tree. I love the idea of a galette. I've made scalloped potatoes in the past, decadent to be sure but heavenly!
I've yet to try my hand at mushrooms, but now you have me thinking.
Dear CD,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on those splendid spuds! My husband planted sprouted CSA potatoes this year and was equally thrilled when they produced a modest but tasty batch of potatoes.however, the website he consulted instructed us to cut them into sprouted sections before planting. Some of the potatoes we dug up were the size of marbles and inedible. Planting the whole potato clearly yielded a more robust harvest for you. We will try your method next year.
Best,
KL Gaylin
Hello KL Gaylin,
DeleteThank you for your hearty congrats. I blame it all on that chicken manure, and beginners luck.
It is funny but I almost followed the instructions your husband followed - by cutting the potatoes in readiness for planting - but decided they looked so small and shriveled up that it may be pointless. Turns out that I may be onto something seeing as I got quite a decent amount out of the ground.
Do come back and let me know how your next spud harvest progresses as I'm now curious to see if planting whole potatoes does make a difference, thank you.
Love this post CD and you are quite the gentle lady farmer. That was quite a haul for a maiden voyage.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had my IRS troubles last year, potatoes carried me during those lean times. Now get out your paper & pencil for the GSL potato treatment. Poke with fork all around and place in microwave on high for 6 minutes; take out poke more forkholes and nuke for another 1-3 minutes depending on size and then garnish with butter or ketchup, and pepper. A 10 lb sack could be had for $3 on sale which I lied in wait for. A raised glass of $3.99/bottle merlot was directed towards Idaho with my earnest thanks.
Hello GSL,
DeleteEnjoyed reading your favorite way of preparing spuds when times are tight. Unfortunately for me, I have no microwave (or dishwasher for that matter), but I always have a bottle or two of Merlot down in the wine cellar. I shall raise my glass in your honor the next time we pop a cork. Cheers! Oh, and by the way, my husband loves ketchup on his potatoes. I, on the other hand, do not. He loves nothing better than to tease me by bringing out a bottle of the stuff whenever I roast potatoes, a cardinal sin if you were to do that during Sunday lunch in England.
Ah, that's so sweet! Though, honestly, you don't even need to sprout them so specifically - just throw in soil in spring (and you can even cut those spouted potatoes in half or quarters, as long as each piece has a few "eyes" it will grow), cover with soil a little (you do more "covering" at a later stage) and then leave them at peace. In a month or so, move the soil over the baby plants to create a kind of "hill"... And then repeat the process again a month or so later... This will give you more potatoes from each plant - clever, right! ;) I could carry on talking, but then it would get dull... :D I've been growing potatoes (and other veg) since I was a kid since Russians used to grow all their produce in tiny "gardens" outside our towns - at first it was my grandma's, then my parents got their own... And the "potato thing" was truly a family affair, with hours of digging, planting, caring, bug picking half way through (NOT nice at all, not the fun part...), then digging, drying and storing... Everyone always said it would be the very last year only to start all over again as the new season approached. And I thought I wasn't into this either until I got my own tiny garden where I now try to grow potatoes in soil or pots - nothing taste better than your own little harvest, doesn't it?! xxx
ReplyDeleteHello Natalia,
DeleteYes, you are right, there is nothing quite like the taste of home grown potatoes, which makes me want to continue growing them from year to year.
I followed the same method of growing my spuds that you describe, except for cutting the potato in half before planting it. I had read that it was important to continue to fill in the trench with soil until it hills around the stalks, which I did faithfully in hopes of a bumper crop. I suppose I did something right judging by the amount that we harvested. It was such a lot of fun and I'm definitely on-board for another go.
Enjoyed reading your story of how potato growing became a family affair. In England, gardeners can rent "allotments" which sound much like your little gardens at the edge of town. These are very popular with amateur gardening dabblers who wish to grow fruits, flowers, and veggies to feed their families.