Friday, April 2, 2010

April Sunshine...and Potatoes

Spring Seedlings
It's strange how suddenly and dramatically the weather can turn here in New England this time of year. The near record-breaking rain we experienced earlier this week has been replaced by beautiful sunshine and high's in the 70's. I'll use this opportunity to harden off some of my plants. And as the weather warms up, I will be leaving more and more of my seedlings outside during the day. I hope they enjoy life away from the basement.

Seed Potatoes
In other news, my seed potatoes arrived in the mail from Moose Tubers a couple of days ago. Immediately upon opening the box, I thought, "Yikes!" Since this is my first time growing potatoes, I didn't really have an idea as to how much I should order. Who knew 9 lbs of seed potatoes would amount to so much?

All Blue Seed Potatoes
I'm growing 3 varieties this year, including this "All Blue". I love the look of this potato, which has a deep purplish-blue interior. Hopefully it will live up to its reputation taste-wise.

Rose Finn Seed Potatoes
I'm also really excited to try this "Rose Finn", which is a fingerling variety. The flesh is supposed to be a bright yellow and streaked with red. I'm sure these will make excellent roasted potatoes.

Red Thumb Seed Potatoes
Finally, I don't know much about this "Red Thumb" variety, but I'm hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised. Admittedly, we don't eat many potatoes in our household...maybe because we've never had freshly dug potatoes for dinner before. Some have described it simply as "a revelation". How can you not want to grow your own after hearing a testimonial like that?!

19 comments:

  1. Wow! You are going to have some spuds!!!! Glad spring has turned for you guys on the east coast!

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  2. It hit 79f here today and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. If it could only stay that warm!

    The spuds look good! Fresh are really good, especially when they are baby size. I like to grill them in some foil with butter or olive oil and herbs.

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  3. OMG, you're going to have enough potatoes to feed an army!! You know you can cut them into chunks, each containing at least two eyes. Some of those look large enough to make 2-3 seeds!

    Your seedlings look absolutely perfect. I think you should open up a greenhouse and sell your plants. At least a stand out on your front sidewalk ;-)

    I'm glad you finally got sunshine. After another call (an angry one) to our irrigation district, we finally got our water turned on late yesterday. Today it rained...wouldn't you know it! And our lovely weather turned bitterly cold.

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  4. Holy Moly! You'd better start building more garden beds quick...Man, that's alot of seed potatoes.

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  5. Holy cow! You're gonna harvest a heavy load soon! Well, for us, 'tatoes are never more :))! Good luck with them all thriving and flourishing well!

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  6. All of the varieties you chose sound so good! Um...and I'm thinking that the whole "don't eat many potatoes in our household" thing is gonna change! And hopefully they're good storage vatieties! I wonder...can you "can" potato soup? Your garden is going to be amazing!

    ps...you're the first person I've met to have GOOD memories of Catholic school...I'm glad to hear that...:)

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  7. You've got enough potatoes to feed a small country. How exciting to plant all of those varieties! I'm doing mine in pots since I don't have the room in the garden. Maybe you'll have a few neighbors that wouldn't mind a few potatoes in their yards!

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  8. Wow! That *seems* like a lot of potatoes, but you'll probably be eating them all winter, right? I look forward to seeing how you plant them.

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  9. I am soooo behind on my blogging, my Moose Tubers came as well, I hope you get great yields!

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  10. Never planted potatoes, but I'd like to throw a couple in this year.. How much space do I need? Looking for experiment this summer and more of a plan for next.

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  11. Those varieties sound fantastic! Can't wait to see how they plant up and then cook up.

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  12. While it may feel lika a lot of potatoes, honestly if you are going to have the equivalent amount of production for what most people buy as either potatoes from the produce section, frozen french fries, hash browns etc... this is a normal and even smallish amount. As a society we are so used to buying as we go that it seems "too much" when we see enough plants (or in this case tubers) to provide for a year's supply of a specific item. People always say "that is so much" when I post abput planting both tomatoes and potatoes on my blog - but the truth is we always use all of our production and often run out just a little before the next crop is coming in. How much to grow is really a function of how much actual harvest you are interested in getting and for what purpose.

    The seedlings look very vigorous and happy in the sunshine.

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  13. That is a lot of spuds. I think I planted two pounds last year. I'm really loving the weather this weekend. I like mid 70s. It is just perfect.

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  14. Glad your weather cleared up...only I think you sent it here lol....my philosophy in gardening is you can never have too many.... : ) especially potatoes!

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  15. Yay, potatoes!

    You're going to have your own farm stall soon :-)

    My actually grows them in pots, very successfully.

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  16. Whaooooooo~~~~~~~ that's a lot of potatoes.

    I'm planting some myself this spring for the first time, we are not potato eaters, our annual consumption is about 20lb, it's okay with me if I get a small crop.

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  17. WOW, that's alot of seed potatoes!!! I ordered 1 lb each of 3 types this year. You will love the Rose Finn! I grew them last year as my first attempt at potatoes and they were fabulous. Mine did not have any streaked flesh, but were delicious. They are great just steamed whole with a little fresh parsley and salt - they were buttery tasting without any butter, you'll love them. Your seedlings look fantastic on holiday outdoors, hopefully the weather will hold for us all and we can get them all out of the house for good!

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  18. Wow, I am in CT and spent the last week pumping out the basement, and the water keeps coming, but the better weather cheered me up.
    thanks for posting the potato's it was helpful for me to have a visual on the amount, I ordered 5 lbs and was beginning to worry, I hadn't ordered enough!
    I love pots when they are tiny and "new" in the UK us children "grubbed" the plants for the tiny ones, and I mean tiny, the most prized where only the size of a marble and they taste fantastic, you just leave the rest of the plant growing, just wash under the tap, boil in the skin, with a generous amount of fresh mint in the water, drain and cover in as much butter as your heart can stand!

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  19. Here the post is really very beneficial for the one who loves to grow vegetables and fruits.I love gardening to grow different plants.Potatoes like plenty of sun so we should avoid planting them in low sun raise falls,as these conditions can damage the developing foliage.
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