Potato Gamble

Excuse me for the delay on posting again. The heat here in NC has been stupid. We have had 15 days straight of high 90s weather. Did I mention it is only June? So, my time in the garden has been basically to do drive by waterings and weedings. I think some of the squash plants are suffering from the heat but the tomatoes are lovvvvvving it.

What I really wanted to share today was my sudo surprise crop of potatoes. In early Spring I had a organic produce delivery coming that was bringing us potatoes every two weeks. I couldn't keep up with that many potatoes in such a short period of time. A few of the potatoes began to sprout and I just kind of ignored the science experiment for a while. Eventually I knew I had to either chuck them or plant them.

I haven't tried planting organic potatoes from my purchased produce. I have only used slips that I purchased. The same goes for sweet potatoes (until this year :). Everything I have read said that planting ones from stores or farmers market are a gamble. Well, I guess I should go to Vegas!

Today I pulled a couple of the plants that were beginning to wilt. I found a small happy crop of potatoes screaming to get out of the boiling soil. I love harvesting potatoes. It is so fun to drive the pitch fork into the soil, turn it over and see potatoes rolling out everywhere. It feels like a archaeological excavation. Now I have more room for sweet potatoes.

By the way, those sweet potatoes that I was using to grow my own slips...I'm still harvesting slips off those. I think I have more than 20 from each potato. I had to start giving them away because I didn't have enough room in my garden. So, save those organic spuds that didn't make it to your plate. Plant them and see what happens. You never know.