Conclusion to Potato Experiment: Bin vs. Ground Method of Planting

We pulled out our potatoes on Friday and would like to share the results. I had discussed in an earlier post that we planted potatoes the conventional way and also in bins to see which method does better in terms of: 

1. Ease of harvest

2. Yield per area planted 

3. Size of the spuds

Ground Method: These potatoes shown above are from the control group which was planted in the ground. We planted 6 linear feet of bed space, containing 3 rows of potatoes. This yielded two 5gallon buckets full of large potatoes. 

1. Ease of harvest- They took a while to dig up since I didn't want to damage the potatoes. It took me an hour to dig this very small section and even though I was slow and careful, I still stabbed many potatoes.

2. Yield per area planted- The plants yielded so much more than we expected. 10gallons for 6ft of bed space was really good yield for us.

3. Size of the spuds- the spuds were very large, most were large or extra large in size.

This method was a great success. Great results in all three categories that we are judging by.

That's a lot of potato soup!

Bin Method: In the photo above, in the left lower tray. You can see a small amount of little potatoes. This is all that we found between the 3 bins that we planted. When pulling out the straw in the first bin, I found a fat field mouse who had clearly eaten his share of our potato crop. The next two bins were the same. Very few potatoes that could be kept. Most had been chewed on, or were eaten all the way. 

So for us, in our location, the bin method is not a good place to grow potatoes. The vermin ate most of the crop and probably started early since the plant growth was minimal as well. 

I wish I could have been able to compare the two methods without the interference from the mice. So, as a conclusion: We don't know which method is better for growing spuds because the test method was destroyed by field mice. Fat little jerks!

Thanks for reading!

Itty Bitty Little Tomatoes.

We are loaded with cherry sized tomatoes right now. Every 3-4 days we pick another large bowl full.

We had more than we can eat and we don't want them to go bad. Tomatoes this small are a pain to can because they have to be peeled, so that's not a fun option. What we are left with is fresh salsa or dehydrating. We have already made some salsa, so we started drying them.

5 dehydrator trays produced 4 cups of dried tomatoes.

I picked another large bowl yesterday.

Today the dehydrator is loaded again today and will give us 4 more cups of dried goodness. 

These tomatoes are a great thing to have in the cupboard. You can add them to pastas or pizza and they will plump up a bit. Or drop them in the food processor with a little water and you can make your own tomato paste for spaghetti night.

Thanks for reading!

Garden photos.

It has been a busy end of the summer or start to the fall, however you look at it. Nearly every day the of the last two weeks Kelsi and/or  I have been preserving foods for the winter. Whether that is Kelsi's homemade breads, canning, or freezing veggies. We are busy.

We plan to post pictures of the canning we have done at the end of the season. It is more impressive that way.

This pile of tomatoes represents 2.5 gallons of freshly picked deliciousness. A gallon went to fresh salsa that we made yesterday, and the other gallon and a half we dehydrated today.

The beans have finally made it to the top of the trellis which is an 8foot climb.

The trellis sure makes for some easy picking. They just dangle down from between the holes of the trellis.

This is a volunteer squash that grew next to the bean trellis. It trailed up the trellis about 4ft and here grows a nice looking squash. It appears to be a spaghetti squash crossed with a zucchini.

This is the 1.5gallons of cherry/yellow pear tomatoes that are dehydrating right now

Hope your garden is doing well also!

Thanks for reading!

Garden Bounty

Our harvest today.

10 pounds of tomatoes, we have an additional 20 pounds sitting on our counter.

35 onions

20 garlic

We have some canning to do!

Harvests

It has been a busy summer. We snap photos of our harvests when we can. I have a couple below.

Kelsi is holding our first ever cabbage!

It was massive! 

The sunflowers are doing really well this year!

First bean of the year.

Garlic and onions drying on the garden shed roof.

Thanks for reading!

Preserving Food: Peas

We picked 2gallons of peas the other day.

The peas with good shells were frozen whole.

The peas with bad looking shells were shelled and frozen.

Not a lot of food for all that work! But it'll be delicious!

Garden Photos

Over head view.

Peas grew up the trellis nicely this year.

Sunflower wall

Bring in the bees!

The Halpern Homestead Forest

Kelsi has a lot of nice flowers mixed in with the veggies. Makes for a very pretty garden.

The squash are taking to the little trellis we made for them.

Giant sunflower.

The cucumbers are climbing the trellis we made for them as well. Hope they make it to the top!

Beans are finally starting to come along.

Beans

Gypsy

Sweet Pickle

Mirasol

Thanks for reading!

Bok Choy

We are growing bok choy for the first time this season and are having mixed results. We had a huge harvest from the greenhouse with large stalks and leaves.

The plants out side are a different story.

They have all become leggy and went to seed before the produced anything that is really edible.

Do you grow Bok Choy? What varieties have you had luck with? Especially in warmer temperatures?

Thanks for reading