Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Bruce]

Get some Just One Bite rat and mouse poison. It comes in bars, you break it into chunks. That stuff works.

I tried that, still had rats. Got Ramik at TSC, it disappeared, put out more (where the chickens couldn't get to it). Disappeared and so did the rats. Found a fair bit of it the next year in the upper area of the bank barn in a small pipe. I guess they were storing it for the winter, didn't make it to winter. It is a different kind of rodent killer, they bleed out internally. Thus nothing for a predator to ingest.

I like Baymule's idea of making "introduction baskets" with a few of each variety. The baskets would also look really pretty and catch the eye with the different colors and shapes.

But be prepared to label the potatoes so when someone comes back and says "I REALLY liked the xxx" you know what to sell them. "I liked the purple ones" doesn't cut it when you have multiple varieties of purple.

 

[farmerjan]

There is one saving grace on the potato labeling... and I agree @Bruce with labels with names of the varieties; ... NO PURPLES this year.... I have one row of the standard Red Pontiac, red skin and white flesh; and then one section of the Adirondack Red that are red all the way through, and one red skin with yellow flesh called Desiree.... there are 3 neat (different) ones that have mottled skin; one that is Masquerade.. with purple and yellow skin ... distinct splotches of each color.... with yellow flesh... and the French Fingerling, that is red skin with yellow flesh and red lines throughout it, and the Pinto that is red and yellow skin... looks like almost polka dots...with yellow flesh.
It ought to be a fun year if we get some rain and they grow and produce....
Most potatoes in the stores, even some that carry some of the novelties.... are a buff/tan colored skin, or red skin, or some novelties like purple or something .... but there is one variety that I got, called Genesee... that is WHITE skin and white flesh... I mean the skin is really white... that will be interesting also. Most are yellow fleshed though... and I remember when you got red skinned white potatoes and the buff or tan skinned white potatoes... and that was pretty much it. Then there were those "weird ones that were Purple"..... then Yukon Gold came along and then the yellow fleshed ones got VERY popular... and now yellow fleshed potatoes out number the white fleshed ones .... especially in the early and mid season varieties....

Anyway.... I am looking forward to seeing what they do and taste testing the different ones...It's for fun and to see if there is a market for some different kinds/varieties. Maybe make a bit of a profit... and not that I am lazy but with the farm and all, potatoes do not require a whole lot of work once they get growing good and are hilled/mulched well... until harvest and that is a little more flexible than say green beans or tomatoes or other things. Gotta make it work with my schedule too....

If we don't get some of the forecast rain this weekend now... there may not be any potatoes or anything else. They have upped the forecast, now Sat night more likely, and Sunday all day, No hard storms just plain rain... and we are in the area that they are saying 1 inch to maybe 2 inches.... PRAYING for that. We are dry and it would really get the garden stuff growing and be a big boost to the hayfields that we have cut... and the sorghum/sudan seed... DS got the field across from me drilled this afternoon... Perfect for a good rain to come along...

My eyes are driving me nuts so a shower to get rid of all the pollen is in order right now...

 

[farmerjan]

Okay, I am feeling less "itchy" even though the eyes are still red and irritated.

Spent over 6 hours on the tractor.... Raked the 6 acre field across the little creek, and the bigger section of the crop field in the back... 14 acres in this section of wheat/rye mix. The orchard grass section is 10 acres, the other wheat/rye I raked Tuesday is about 7 acres and the little mixed grass on the top of the hill is about 3 acres... So did about 20 acres on Tuesday... the raked the 14 acres today and the 6 acres across the creek... then went to DS green barn where it is about 10 acres of orchard grass... and there were alot of green spots so wound up tedding that all out. It is pretty thick. This ought to dry it good with the low humidity... and tomorrow is supposed to be mostly sun.... so tomorrow afternoon I guess I will get it raked. DS plans to finish the baling at doug's fields tomorrow... and all according to what things look like, might do some on his 10 acres at the green barn.
It will all be baled before any weather comes in Sat... then all needs to get moved off the fields...

I am beat from testing and then all the hours on the tractor. Going to bed and get up to do it all over again....

 

[Baymule]

It’s that time of year.

 

[Bruce]

A friend that I used to work with and still sell eggs to gave me her "left over" blue potatoes and red potatoes. I don't know where I'm going put them all unless some end up in a pot. I assume she had no choice but to buy as much as she did given her garden consists of a few raised beds in her front yard.

 

[Ridgetop]

Hearing about your potato planting got me excited. I had some potatoes sprouting so cut them up and will plant them in the raised flowerbeds. If the ground squirrels get them too bad, didn't cost me anything. if not, I will have discovered something that they won't eat! And aren't potato vines and green potatoes poisonous? Nightshade family? Maybe the ground squirrels will poison themselves!

 

[farmerjan]

You can grow potatoes in containers... 1 plant per 5 gal bucket of soil... And you can crowd them in the garden....
Fedco catalog has a good page on planting potato tips... they suggest 8" apart in the row for the fingerlings and up to 12 inches apart in the row for later and hopefully bigger tubers. So they don't take as much room in the row as you think,,, And you do not have to cut them ... that is to get more plants per potato ... that is why I try to plant pieces with at least 2 eyes... and I have been known to plant many times with only one eye if it is vigorously sprouting... especially if it was something that I wanted more plants to produce.....I would try to plant what she gave you if you can fit them in somewhere...
Most places here sell seed potatoes in 5 # bags.... maybe that is what she had to buy.
One nice thing I like is to steal new potatoes as they grow for fresh boiled potatoes.....if you plant them close you will get more smaller ones and so plenty for boiling new potatoes.

 

[farmerjan]

I got going late today, felt really rough with the allergies early... Temps got down to 45 but the sun came out first thing.. and it has been a gorgeous sunny day... no humidity.... light breeze all day... THIS is PERFECT hay making weather....
Went out and carried a 2 gal bucket of water to the chickens and put in the automatic waterer... feed into the feeder and then came back in the house to get ready to go the field.
Went up to the field about noon, as I wanted the hay I tedded out last night, for it to have a couple of hours in the sun to dry more. I got on the tractor and it took about 2 1/2 hours and it is all raked. It is perfectly dry... couldn't have asked for better drying weather. Love these days of no humidity.... This is the kind of hay making weather I remember when I was younger and working on the farm in Conn.... rather wish we had cut more since it has dried so well... Never know, it might be nice like this again after the forecast rain this weekend.

I sure hope we get the rain and the predicted amount of at least an inch or more. I plan to spend time in the garden planting some of the seeds so they will get watered in good. and seeing about getting more of the mulch down. But I had to come in and take a break from the orchard grass allergy reactions.... I will be so glad when we finish the first cutting OG as then I will be fine for the rest of hay season.

Next will be the "window box" type containers I have, planted and put on the deck once the plants are hanging. I didn't move them into the greenhouse and they have adapted to the outside temps okay. They will do better once I hang them in the tree on the chain hanger. Want to try to get that accomplished this weekend.

Took some short ribs out of the freezer the other day and they are going in the slow cooker with sauce to make BBQ ribs later on. Wanting to start using more stuff out of the freezer....

Okay, break is over... I'm going outside to attempt to do something.... @canesisters accomplishments with the new tiller, the planting of all the gifted plants, and all are inspiring me to do better here....!!!!

 

[SageHill]

There is one saving grace on the potato labeling... and I agree @Bruce with labels with names of the varieties; ... NO PURPLES this year.... I have one row of the standard Red Pontiac, red skin and white flesh; and then one section of the Adirondack Red that are red all the way through, and one red skin with yellow flesh called Desiree.... there are 3 neat (different) ones that have mottled skin; one that is Masquerade.. with purple and yellow skin ... distinct splotches of each color.... with yellow flesh... and the French Fingerling, that is red skin with yellow flesh and red lines throughout it, and the Pinto that is red and yellow skin... looks like almost polka dots...with yellow flesh.

WOWZERS - I had no idea there were that many different kinds of interesting potatoes! Now you've got me thinking about growing some potatoes.

 

[farmerjan]

Fedco has about 30 different varieties... and there is another company... Irish Eyes... I haven't gotten anything from them lately but they used to have a huge number of different varieties... When I was younger living in CT, I was able to get about 4-5 varieties in the feed store... Always grew Kennebec, Kahtahdin, usually red Pontiac... and often got a fingerling called Russian Banana...
There are so many different varieties... also could find a "russet".... the kind that is mostly known for baked potatoes...
Kinda like the many varieties of green beans... someone likes this one , someone else likes a different one...