So if your are planting Taters

whatcha planting?

I am going to do small reds, yukons, binjte or german butterball (early, midseason, and late) and will probably order something fun like All Blue or purple majesty.

You?

I was not going to until someone posted the potato box on the other thread (was that you choco?) Now I'm thinking about it. Fingerlings, maybe pinks and peanut?

Deborah ....who wasn't sure how to keep them away from the tomatoes.

yeah, i found that box system last year and it really works well. I made most of my potato box out of an old pallet or two.

I also planted some taters in a high rise type system. They did "ok" also. But most of it is because I didn't do it right, but I am more prepared this year.

I saw some fingerling also that looked interesting, I have never had them before so i don't know how they are prepared best?

yukon gold, red gold & kennebec - never had much luck w potatoes before ... I know a little more now.

What were your biggest mistake Kimbies?

Mine were either mounding the dirt too early and basically killed em, or not burrying them soon enough and they got to tall. I also don't think i watered one area enough.

Doing some garbage can taters... have russett in one and yukon gold in the other.

chocolatepop wrote:snip .....I saw some fingerling also that looked interesting, I have never had them before so i don't know how they are prepared best?

The main reason I would grow them is the price at the market. They are yummy though. I think the skin is more bitter then bigger spuds but my husband does not.

When we first started getting them we just boiled them and put them whole on a veggie platter with dilly dip. Ate a lot of them that way.

I've roasted them in the oven with olive oil and with beef roast. There were none left-over.

Probably the best I've ever had was the worst for my arteries. I put them in a pan with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer (and it gets a little weird here, ya gotta stay with me). Next turn the potatoes to a very low flame, cover the pot with a plate (yep, plate) that has about 3 tablespoons of herb-shallot butter. Let the hot pan melt the butter.

Mean while, fry a thick (2") steak in a hot cast iron pan to the level of rare you like. Set it on the plate of herb butter. Move the plate to a heat proof board. Smear another 2 + tablespoons of herb butter on top of the steak, cover with foil and let it rest.

Drain the simmering potatoes, set them in the fry pan, roll the potatoes about in the steak fondt. Add any extra herb butter. Deglaze the pan with whatever you will be drinking with the steak. Keep shaking the potatoes to coat and crisp on all sides. Sprinkle with parmesan and parsley.

To serve..... really do you need this part?

Lavender Debs wrote:

Probably the best I've ever had was the worst for my arteries.

Just Reading that gave me chest pains...Whew! That sounds Devastatingly Delicious!... That on'es being cut-n-pasted into the Menu file right now!

@Debs - you've got me drooling for steak and potatoes now!

As for what I'm growing - I've got an American theme growing this year red, white, and blue potatoes. The feed store had a bin of seed potatoes marked "Red Potatoes" and another marked "White Potatoes" - no more information than that. So I grabbed a few of each. Then I saw some Adirondack Blue seed potatoes at Lowe's of all places and bought five of those. Not sure why they're called "blue" as the photo on the package makes them look as purple as eggplant. Guess I'll find out. All 3 varieties are in the ground and growing well. I hope all goes well. I've promised my kids we'll have purple mashed potatoes for Halloween!

I've planted "Eersteling" , a very early variety of potatoes here, and Vitelottes Noires, a dark purple variety to be harvested midseason. I think we have different varieties here in Europe than in the states, although Bintje is very very dutch.
I've planted them in separate baskets, because I was afraid that taking out the mix of the sfg-box would disturb the stuff in the squares next to it. So now I have pots and baskets all over my garden, will look nice when they start blooming later.
It's the first time I have potatoes, as they are really much cheaper at the store, I guess, and with my small garden I can never harvest much. The purple ones are hard to get in the store, only very few organic shops have them in season, so they will really be a treat.

Mirjam wrote:
It's the first time I have potatoes, as they are really much cheaper at the store

Very true, but home-grown are sooooo much better. Most folks don't realize they've never eaten a 'fresh' potato.

We're growing German Butterball, Carola Heirloom Yellows, Deseree-all new for us this year.

Also Yellow Finns. In a side-by-side test we did a couple years ago between Yellow Finns and Yukon Golds, we preferred the Finns. Just our preference.

Since space is at such a premimum for me and russets, reds, and yukon golds are readily available at the supermarket, I decided to go with varieties I either can't get or are too expensive. I'm going with all fingerlings - Banana, La Ratte, Purple Peruvian and Red thumb. This is also my first time with potoatoes so I'm learning as I go. Our county extension office says plant them on Good Friday but it may have to wait until Saturday

It seems the more I learn about potatoes the more I find I don't know. CP posted a good link last night. I learned that some spud varieties do well in garbage cans and some don't. Which may explain my intermittent successes with garbage can potatoes. Now, if I had been more conscientious about keeping a journal/log like some of you do, I could look back and see what worked and what didn't.........

@ Chocolatepop: Mistakes 1-97: thinking you just cut up a potato, put it in a hole, and walked away. Ignorance is bliss, not bliss potatoes. Not going to do that again, so as soon as I figure out mistake #98, I'll let you know.

We had already planted Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac in our row-style garden before we discovered SFG this year. Those were the only varieties we could find when we were ready to plant on the tenth of March. Something has been digging them up - we keep finding pieces of seed potatoes on top of the ground next to a hole. Not sure if it's squirrels, armadilloes, a groundhog, or something else. We have a fence of hog panels around the garden, but something is getting in at night and having a feast even though we planted the pieces six inches deep. Whatever it is, fortunately it is leaving our 12"-deep SFG box of veggies alone.

We had a nice harvest last year of Red Pontiac and White Cobbler potatoes. I really like the taste and texture of White Cobblers, but they are susceptible to scab and shouldn't be grown with manure. They lasted us until late fall when the summer crop usually starts to shrivel and sprout anyway. Maybe someday we'll have a root cellar for winter storage.