spud time

SPUD TIME
back in the fall i prepared my potato bed
by adding 3 inches of compost
sprinkled it with organic fertilizer
i used ladybug brand 824
medina makes a good one also
i added a dusting of cottonseed meal
i added a good watering of humates
thats basically the brown liquid if you
put compost in water
i added a good watering of molasses
both of these stimulate bacteria and fungi growth
in the soil
then
i covered it with a thick layer of leaves
and
just let it sort of ferment for a few months
like a good beer or a good wine or good cheese

then i went to the nursery two weeks ago
and bought these red lasota seed potatoes
they do good at the country n
compared to the white potatoes
and the colored ones
and
they seem to store well

nurseries and feed stores usually have these
seed potatoes
now i dont cut mine and cover with sulfur
that just seems like a hastle
so i pick out the smaller ones at the nursery
and just plant the whole tater

i let them sit around and grow those eye things out
when they all had eye things growing
and
that also allowed my soil to dry well
i then planted them

i dug a trench that was about 8 inches or more deep
a furrow is the right word i guess

now the instruction sheet i had
read
plant them two inches deep then pull soil up
over the plant as it grows
the new potatoes grow along the stem
so the more soil the more taters you get

however
never known to follow directions well
i plant my 8 inches deep in the furrow
about 18 inches apart
cover it with about 4 inches or so of soil
nothing exact here

i wrote plant
but all i did was just chunk it in the hole
where it landed
was where it got planted

so you have the tater in the hole
covered with dirt
with about 4 inches or so of furrow left
the left side above is all planted and covered
the right side has only been chunked in the hole

as the tater plant grows up
i keep it covered
even as it gets above the furrow soil line
eventually the tater will outgrow your ability
to cover it up

planting the tater deep like that also helps to keep
it warmer under that soil
the furrow also acts as a funnel to catch water
which has been sparse around here lately

if we get a freeze i lay row cover over it
i also will eventually cover the soil with
a layer of mulch of leaves or pine straw

i know its time to harvest when the tops of the
plants start to die
plus
i harvest small new potatoes as soon as i can
so i usually know when its time to dig em up
usually late may or early june
the weather decides the date

but i know from experience not to leave them
in too long
especially if we have a real wet spring
did that once
lost them all

i might fertilize the plants again later in the
spring with the organic fertilizer
if i think of it
but
there is enough stuff in the soil at the start
to get a good crop

you can also grow taters in a 5 gallon bucket
or similar container
here is a link on how to do that

heck you can probably just dig a hole in your flower garden
in a sunny location
drop in some compost
then chunk your seed potato down the hole
cover it up
etc etc

we usually get about 2-3 5 gallon buckets full of taters
from our 15 ft x 4 ft bed

enjoy

the organicgreen doctor

it wasnt me, taters, abbie

IT WASNT ME
i told my wife she that wasnt me
i know i had cooked some potent pinto beans
but that wasnt me

recently homeowners in the austin area awoke
because of vibrations in their homes
ok one home with vibrations would be one thing
thats why my wife she accused me
but multiple homes
it must be something else

the fire departmeent was called
the sheriff department was called
no it wasnt from a block party bbq
where potent beans were served to all

it as it turns out was from methane being released
from a landfill
methane is the by product of the landfill
apparently a release valve was damaged by recent storms
(thats always my excuse a damaged release valve)

those guys that live in that subdivision sure are lucky
now when their house 'vibrates'
all they have to say
its that landfill again

tried that one on my wife she and she didnt
accept that explanation
we do live close to ft hood and ive blamed 'vibrations'
on them when they are shooting their big weapons

TATERS
last saturday before we went on our chicken tour we had to
go to the farmers market to pick up the map of the tour
while there we picked up some veggies that werent quite ripe
yet at our place

we saw this amount of organic red potatoes for sale for $4

these are from my garden
i couldnt help it i had to come home and dig some of mine
these are from one of my plants
and i have over 30 plants
i cant wait to dig them all up later this month
now if my green beans were ready i could make green beans
and new potatoes for mothers day

ABBIE
tomorrow i will be doing a blog on a special little girl named abbie
it is an inspirational story
read it  tomorrow

the organicgreen doctor

potato experiment, mitts taxes

POTATO EXPERIMENT

this little girl did a simple experiment for some school project
its simple but shows what is going on in our food chain

if you wonder why people want to go totally organic then
this simple experiment shows why

i grow all my vegetables organically using compost most of which
i make myself
no chemicals in my compost

if this stuff does this to a potato what does it do to a growing
child

she went out and bought 3 potatoes
one from the grocery store
one from an organic store
one form an organic farmers market

her results speak for themselves

thanks ph facebook friend for this

MITTS TAXES
mitt romney paid $6.25 million in taxes on $42.5 million
over 2010 and 2011
his tax rates were 13.9 and 15.4 %

my tax rate over those 2 years was 28 %
eg on $100,00 thats $28,000 in taxes

if i was mitt that would be $13,900 and $15,400
i could find good use of that extra $15,000 couldnt you

if he paid my tax rate he would have paid $11.9 million in taxes

no wonder THEY dont want to change the tax code but want
it to be cut more

theres those 1% again
winning while we lose

the organicgreen doctor