Potatoes, Potahtoes

After a month of neglect and apathy, I finally got around to cleaning up the Fox St. garden. The dessicated pea plants came out, the grass was pulled out by its roots, the dead potato plants unceremoniously ripped out and tossed away. Then, after another month, I finally returned to the garden to finish the job we had started ages ago: potato harvest! Raking the garden to a depth of about 15 inches and collecting fist-sized purple potatoes was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. I think we need to go through it one more time, as I'm sure I missed many, but the yield was pretty good. Definitely we will need to do potatoes again next year, although they should be spaced a little more closely -- maybe twice the density we planted this year.

The lovely Lulu joined me in the garden, although given her penchant for garden hoses and an abrupt attempt at decapitation of the leash-holder, Lu may stay at home next time.

The haul! I was going to weigh them, but didn't, and now we've used a good number (delicious! gorgeous creamy white inside and fantastic cooked in a pan or in stew) so it's probably not worth bothering. I'm going to guess 20lbs. E will certainly have a better guess.

Not a bad harvest. I've read estimates of 10lbs per lb of seed potatoes, so if my estimate is correct, we're right at that ratio. These were fun, but unfortunately you aren't supposed to save your own potatoes to use for seed next year, and at $5/lb of seed potatoes, we might have to explore other options... So long caribe and purple viking! Hello boring ol' brown potato.

Next in that bed, I'm thinking garlic. Lots and lots of garlic.

Reminders for next year:
- Plant a bit more densely
- Try harvesting with a screen instead of just by rake
- Three-year rotation -- hit up Mavid for potato space
- Look for an alternate source for seed potatoes -- possibly here: http://www.potatogarden.com/prices.html, or here: https://www.mainepotatolady.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=28