Month: September 2014

Garden work

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Presenting the Class of 2014 … 17 new hens and 1 rooster raised from chicks purchased at Northern Star Mills. Coming into egg production this month. 
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Harvesting grain corn

IMG_4395 IMG_4394 IMG_4396 IMG_4397 IMG_4399 Sun. Sept. 28th Harvested corn, pumpkins, other veggies. Will be curing in sun for a day or two.  Except corn which will dry for weeks. Weeded large area to be made into veggie beds. Good weeds to compost pile, bad weeds to burn pile.  Corn stalks and squash plants chop up with machete for better composting.

Tues. Sept 30th finished weeding and formed 7 planting bests 4′ x 42′ !! and planted PV premium soil builder.

Potatoes at the Canyon

Rotate the area potatoes are planted. Don’t go back to the same plot for 3 years.

Plant in early spring ( four weeks before the last frost – soil temp should be at least 40 degrees F.)  or late fall after the first frost may need mulch for frost protection.

Cut into chucks with 1 to 2 eyes per chuck. ( small potatoes plant whole) . Lay the potatoes out in a well ventilated space for one or two days to harden up /callus over the cut part.  (Should be seed potatoes not food potatoes that may have been treated to prevent sprouting. )

Potatoes wnat light soil with lots of compost and no weeds to compete with. Must have some way to cover the tubers forming on the stem to protect them from light etc.

8 inch deep trench, plant potatoes about 8-9 inches apart with rows about 3 ft apart. Cover potatoes with 4 inches of soil and then cover with 4 or 6 inches of mulch. In the spring when plants get to be 4 to 6 inches tall you can begin hilling.  Harvest any time after they flower, but only harvest what you can eat because they won’t keep.