A few weeks ago I undertook the process of digging potatoes. It's a fun activity, well at least I (and probably my fellow gardeners) think it is. It's like hunting for buried treasure. Some years the find is excellent, others not so much.
Last year I had a bumper crop of about 250 lbs, which will be hard to beat. That was an all time record. This year I planted fewer hills, plus the exceedingly wet June and first half of July seemed to affect the overall yield.
I tried a new variety of potato this year, along with some tired and true ones. The new variety turned out to be quite the surprise,
The seed potatoes I purchased were supposed to be Rose Finn Apple fingerlings, as can bee seen in my post on May 21, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/05/planting-potatoes.html). However based upon the appearance and some research I did, the variety turned out to be Red Thumb fingerlings. Both have rose colored skin, however Rose Finn apple has a yellow flesh, while Red thumb has a rose and white colored flesh.
At the time of harvest, I didn't take a photo of the flesh of these tubers, however below I have added one. Compare to the photo of Rose Finn Apple fingerlings. Clearly, they were mislabeled, They turned out to have delicious flavor, so I was pleasantly surprised.
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| Red Thumb Fingerlings |
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| Red Thumb |
Potatoes should be dug when the vines start to die off. This usually happens in August or September, depending on the variety. If the vines are still thriving, the tubers are still growing. Of course, if you get anxious for some early potatoes, they can be dug as "new potatoes" before they reach maturity.
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| Russet Burbank Potatoes |
Once dug, potatoes need to be allowed to dry for at least a day before storing. However, if exposed to light, they will turn green, I typically lay them out on my garage floor on newspaper and cover them with a sheet or blanket. The newspaper helps to absorb moisture from the soil still on the potatoes.
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| Russet Burbank Potatoes Drying |
Once dry, they need to be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. If you have an older home, the cellar may be an excellent place. In my home, we have an old stone foundation. The basement acts as a root cellar, since the temperature usually stays in the forties during the winter. It never freezes since the furnace is down there, but stays cool which is great for potato storage. It is pretty dark also, however I always cover them with an old blanket to ensure they are not exposed to light.
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| Yukon Gold |
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| Red Thumb and Yukon Gold |
In summary, the potato yield was fair this year. Although I ended up with approximately 75 to 100 pounds, there was a higher percentage of small potatoes this year. Nonetheless, the yield was plenty for our needs.
Finally, during the last several weeks, we have seen the bird below, but I'm not sure of the species. It is migration time here in central New York State, so it very well could be a migratory bird. It looks like a juvenile, which may be throwing me off track. It almost looks like a gray flycatcher, but they are not found in the East as far as I know. Any guesses? Let me know.
As always, thanks for reading my blog.
