Happy New Year 2017 - My Potatoes Are Planted & Sweet Potato Surprise!

Dear Folks,

I have my Irish potatoes planted in the garden's raised bed.

Watch For The eBundle Announcement Coming in Next Days

This was a fun couple of days because of the surprise I got.  I had delayed harvesting my Sweet Potatoes "Molokai" a purple variety.  I purchased the plants this last spring from Baker Creek.

Pictured is the vine, then the harvest and the bed cleaned up and ready for my Irish Potatoes.

I had a lot going on this past couple of months and then some real challenges this past month, but I finally decided I NEEDED to get the sweet potatoes harvested so I could get the Irish potatoes planted today, January 1st as is my tradition.

When I started to pull the vines back to figure out where to dig up the Molokai, I was amazed to see one sticking out like a huge rock.  WOW!  I'm sure I should have harvested a while back but then I would not have these giants.  All in all, they weighed in at about 17 pounds total.

I will be sharing with friends and also prepping some for the freezer. Meanwhile some of them are not cured (skin toughened) so I'm storing them in our laundry shed near the water heater so it is warm and humid.

We have gotten about .6 inches of rain since Friday night, so I was hoping for a break to plant the potatoes I have, and we got them in a 3 p.m. today.  I saved some organic red-skined ones from the grocery that I let sprout, cut them in to pieces and let the cuts dry this morning on the counter.  Then I got out my little "seed" potatoes I saved from last spring's harvest for replanting.  I store them in the crisper or a small frig in a cardboard box.

So I prefer the mulch-cover method of planting Irish potatoes to make it easier to harvest in the spring.  Loosen the soil, lay the spuds on the surface and cover with mulch, in this case our fig tree gifts us with a lot of leaves.

This mulch breaks down AND as the potato plants grow I add more dried leaves to always make sure the growing potatoes are never exposed to sunlight.  Usually by the end of March or so I have about 10-12 inches of leaves on top.

I am going to try tomatoes in the other half of the bed when my seedlings are ready to go in on February 1st.

Make your New Year great by trying a new-to-you edible.

Happy New Year to You All, may it peaceful, joyous and meaningful,

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe below by entering your email, to get all my posts!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Disclaimer: Clicking on links on this blog may earn me a small commission if you purchase something. Your price does not change.