Potatoes and More

kale seedlings under lights

The past few days I've been cleaning up my grow light set up. I have some heavy metal shelves that will take 3 shop lights on each shelf. I picked up some more light fixtures and now have 2 shelves with 3 lights each (before I was just running 2 fixtures per shelf but that isn't enough to keep seedlings from getting leggy). I like to start a lot of seedlings, even those you might direct seed outdoors, inside under the lights. I have more control of temperature and humidity and often get much better germination. This also give me time for crops outdoors to mature and the beds readied for the next crop all while the next crop is already growing.

For example I seeded 2 flats of Red Russian Kale into soil blocks about the first of December. When they filled the blocks with roots I potted them into 4" pots and set them out in a plastic tunnel. A couple of days ago I finished pulling all the carrots out of a bed. Today I cleaned up the bed and got it ready for the kale. In a couple of weeks the kale will be ready to start picking off the outside leaves. But if I had waited and direct seeded the kale today, it would be about 8 weeks before it would be ready to pick.

Red Russian Kale ready to transplant

Also this week I've been getting out all the seed potatoes that I ordered for spring planting! The best size to plant are small potatoes or pieces of potato with one or more eyes that weigh about 2 ounces. (that's the size of a large hen's egg). So there were a few to cut up, but most were about the right size already. I put the cut sides up for a couple of days to get air circulation and dry off, then I will turn them over. Pre-sprout (called "chitting") potatoes in a cool area with some light. If it's too dark and warm the sprouts will grow long and spindly and won't make good plants. I set each kind in a box with it's label so I won't mix them up at planting time! These will go into the ground in early February.

Royal Purple

All Red

All Blue

Belinda is  yellow inside

setting up drip lines on a new bed

In other news I have the first bed in the new garden space ready to plant and got the drip lines installed on it. I am waiting for my supplier to get in some more 1/2" EMT conduit so I can finish the hoop set up. That way I can put frost cloth on as soon as I plant. Not only will it help keep it warmer on cold nights, it will help keep the birds out too.

Harvest Monday

Mountain Rose Potatoes

I dug the Mt. Rose potatoes up this week. The vines were getting really wilted in the heat. I can see where if we had had a bit cooler and damper weather I probably would have gotten quite a few more large potatoes. But I got about 15 pounds from about 25 -30 sq feet.

Mt. Rose inside

They have pale pink swirls inside.

Mt. Rose and yellow potatoes

I cooked some up with the yellow potatoes I harvested from the pots on the patio.

Sunflower

A couple of sunflower seedlings escaped the birds and are blooming.

Black from Tula

Another first this week was a Black from Tula tomato. This variety is from Russia and I got the seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange.

Black from Tula

The bottom side did have a couple of holes, I don't know what caused them they were dry inside so not fresh bird pecks. This tomato weighed in at about 6 ounces.

Tula sliced

Having never had this variety before I ended up eating the whole thing. It was not sharply acid like some tomatoes but not actually sweet either. Very nice and juicy.








You can check out my post from yesterday, to see my poultry, melons, squash and more. Linking up for Harvest Monday, a great blog hop sponsored by Daphne's Dandelions. Hop over and check out what gardeners around the world are harvesting.

Harvest Monday

Tokyo Long White onions

Welcome to Harvest Monday, a blog hop brought to you by Daphne's Dandelions. Hop on over and visit with other gardeners from around the world.

This was a great week in the garden. Besides loads of greens, which I didn't photograph, since you've all seen them before, there were these nice green onions.

Rainbow Carrots

More Rainbow Carrots

First Eggplant

The first eggplant, small but yummy in a stir fry with the onions and carrots.

salad tomatoes

Over four pounds of tomatoes, most of which I sold Sat. morning at the farmer's market. In the very center you can see a few Red Currant, the yellow/cream ones are Snow White and the red ones are Princepe Borghese.

new potatoes

These yellow potatoes are probably Yukon Gold, but I'm not sure. They were sprouting in the kitchen and I planted them in 2 gallon pots. This batch weighed a half a pound.

peaches with squirrel marks and complete with ants

I opened the door Sun. afternoon to catch a squirrel in the act of running off with one of my peaches, that one in the lower left. I thought the tree looked a bit funny this morning. So I picked these that were left on it. Some had ant damage but not much needed to be cut out. I peeled and cut them up for my yogurt, some went in the freezer and some in the fridge.

Plums

After the squirrel thing I went and shook down the plum tree, some bird pecks and some wrinkles, but no ants. I might make some plum butter and then again I might just eat them all up.

More Rainbow Carrots

 On Sunday evening I went ahead and cleared up the rest of the Rainbow Carrots and the potatoes from a bed out front. I have about 6 artichoke plants that will go in that bed now, with perhaps some bush beans between them since they are small.

Russet potatoes

 These potatoes were from some grocery store spuds that sprouted in the kitchen.


 You can check out yesterdays post for a garden tour and preview of  some up coming harvests.