|
It is always a winner for the kids to dig up potatoes in the fall.
We use plain old potatoes from the supermarket. We repeatedly hear
how supermarket potatoes are treated to prevent them from sprouting but
that has not been my experience. I use potatoes from Kroger. Here
I am speaking of red or white, not sweet potatoes. If you would like
to plant potatoes in your gardens this spring to have them for next fall's
harvest parties plant them mid-late May. Lay them out in a lighted
area to encourage buds to start forming. Plant them mid May and they
will be ready for a fall harvest.
A few days before you plan to plant, cut the potatoes into pieces with
1-2 "eyes" on each piece. (The potato "eyes" are in the the little
indention's.) This is where the buds will emerge. Lay the pieces
on a tray in a single layer with cut sides facing up, and let them air
dry. This will not attract fruit flies and will help to prevent the
pieces from rotting. Plant the potato pieces 3-4" below the surface.
Do mark the area so summer helpers will know where they are planted.
When you harvest them in the fall, use a garden fork. Stick it
in the ground about a foot away from the plant and lift up. Repeat
all around the plant removing the potatoes as you go. Leave a few
potatoes deep in the ground and you will be rewarded early next spring
with a some volunteer plants.
|
| Try planting a trash can full of potatoes.
SOME GARDENERS SWEAR that they grow great
potatoes in old trash cans-either plastic or galvanized metal. Be sure
to punch some drainage holes in the bottom. (A barrel, a wooden box, or
any large container at least 18 inches deep with good drainage will work.)
Put a layer of soil about six inches deep into the bottom. Place the seed
potatoes inside, then cover with three inches of mulch or soil. When leaves
appear and plants are six to eight inches high, add another layer of soil
and continue hilling them up until they reach the top. To harvest, simply
turn the can onto its side and shake out the crop! Source: The
Old Farmer's Almanac |
 |
|
|
|
Irish Potato Famine
In 1845, the peasants of Ireland were almost totally dependent on the potato
as a source of food because this crop produced more food per acre than
wheat and could also be sold as a source of income. The type of potato
most favored was the "Aran Banner," a large variety. Unfortunately, this
particular strain was highly susceptive to the fungus, Phytophthora infestans,
commonly known as blight, which had spread from North America to Europe.
The blight destroyed the potato crop of 1845. This was not the first time
the potato crop had failed but in the past it would happen on one or another
part of the country. This was the first time the crop failed across
the county. The potato crop in Ireland had never failed for two consecutive
years. Everyone was counting on the next harvest to be blight-free. But
the blight was here to stay and three of the following four years would
be potato crop disasters, with catastrophic consequences for Ireland. More
than a million people died from starvation during the famine.
One lesson we can learn from the Irish potato famine is the importance
of diversity in the food crops we grow. If the Irish farmers had
been growing many different varieties of potatoes, the impact of the blight
would not have been so devastating. It would have been even better
if they had been growing a variety of food crops besides potatoes.
Did you know that historically, humans utilized more than 7,000 plant
species to meet their basic food needs. Today, due to the limitations of
modern large-scale, mechanized farming, only 150 plant species are under
cultivation, and the majority of humans live on only 12 plant species,
according to research by the Food and Agriculture Organization. |
Preparing the potatoes for
planting:
Any potato will do. Cut potatoes into pieces with at least one
"eye" on each piece. Spread the cut potatoes, cut side up in a single
layer on a tray and allow to air dry. Allowing the cut portions of
the potatoes to dry a bit before planting will help to prevent them from
rotting before roots and plants can develop. You can do this up to
a week ahead of planting. Potatoes should be planted about 6" deep
with the cut side down..
We are planting the potatoes outside, but right next to the boxes.
Except for the McDonald's gardens. The mulch in this area is way
too thick, so plant the potatoes inside the boxes, along the outside edges.
You can use the larger shovels to dig the holes to plant the potatoes
but if it turns out there are none available at the time you plant, the
smaller trowels will work fine.
I suggest leaving a couple of potatoes uncut on the windowsill in the
classroom so the kids can see the sprouts develop.
Let me know if you need my help.
I also suggest peeling and cutting up a few potatoes and offering them
to the kids to each raw. We did this when I was a kid and I also
did it with my children and grandchildren. Though we ate them with
salt when I was growing up, I did not pass that part on to my children
or grandchildren and they still ate them. |
|
