Purple Potato Harvest!!!

Spent Purple Potato Plants

My Purple Potato plants started dying back about a month ago, but I just left them be… until today when I saw this video on YouTube of a man in Sparks, NV harvesting his Potatoes… and I was inspired to harvest mine.

Purple Potato Harvest

My Mom and I dug up the plants and were really pleased to see the amount of Potatoes we got. I really wasn’t expecting so much.

Purple Potatoes Moved to the Front Yard…

Purple Potato Diptych (June 4, 2011)

Our Purple Potatoes has really taken off in the back yard and started blocking the path it was next to. I brought them to the front yard near our fence where they will also get more light. They kind of act as a plant filler and I bet most people would not even think they were Potato plants.

Purple Potatoes Progress (May 18, 2011)…

Purple Potatoes Progress (May 18, 2011)

The Purple Potatoes have grown so big and healthy. I’ve been adding more soil to the pot and hoping that there will be more space for Potato tubers to grow.

Purple Potatoes Progress (April 25, 2011)…

Purple Potatoes Progress (April 25, 2011)

I found some photos of the Purple Potatoes that my Mom took while I was on vacationing in the Philippines.

Purple Potatoes Planted…

Purple Potatoes planted

I planted most of the Purple Potatoes that I found sprouting into two 7-gallon Geopots. I saved the unplanted Potatoes to give to my sister-in-law.

Purple Potatoes planted

Lotsa Gardening Done…

I had a day off today and it was a nice day… so I was motivated to get a lot of gardening done before it starts to rain again.

I started the day off by taking the Horseradish and some seedlings ( Cerinthe Folia, Butter Daisy, Tweedia, Alyssum, Tidy Tips, Bells of Ireland and Larkspur ) from the grow lights in my bedroom outside to harden off. This made more room for the Tomato and Pepper seedlings, which I raise up higher and placed directly under the growlights.

I divided the seven Cerinthe Folia and potted them into four pots. I looked around the garden to find a future home for the Cerinthe and I noticed that there where about 5 volunteers Folia where they grew last year… so I think I may plant these seedlings in the front yard once they get bigger.

I also took out Pepino Dulce Folia cutting because they were way overdue to be potted up. I placed them into three 5″ pots before I figure out where to plant them.

Many of the winter veggies seedlings (Bok Choy, Dwarf Blue Curled Kale and Dinosaur Kale) are getting too big for the cell-packs so I divided them and placed them into drinking cup pots.

In the front garden, I planted a few of the Agrostemma and Early Gigantea Sweet Peas seedlings into the two big clay pots. I think I’ll also plant the Cerinth and Bright Lights Swiss Chard here to really fill these pots.

In the SFG Veggie Beds, I planted a square with the Daikon. They were really tiny and I was afraid slugs may eat them, so I overed them with clear plastic drinking cups (with holes for ventilation). I also planted one and half squares of the Broad Leaf Mustard. They looked like they were getting ready to bolt… Hopefully, they won’t. I also planted two Green Lucullus Swiss Chard into half a square.

I planted the Cilantro into it’s own pot and hope it would fill out. To help this out, I also planted some more Cilantro seeds between the plants and mulched it with cocoa mulch.

I also sowed a succession planting of the Super Snappy Pea seeds between the existing Super Snappy Peas which are already flowering and fruiting even though they are only about a foot tall. Hmm? I wonder if they will get taller like our usual 5+ foot tall Snap Peas.

Not much has happened in the Wintersowing bins, but I did see a few sprouts from the Subaru Wildflower Mix.

Purple Potatoes

It was getting dark and as I putting thing away, I found the Purple Potatoes that I harvested from last year and noticed they were sprouting. I got to get them into the soil soon.

Harvested Green Onions

My Mom also harvested a few Green Onion stalks for tonights dinner. It’s great to be able to harvest veggies straight from the garden when you need it.

Beans, Potatoes, Tomatoes and Peppers planted…

The Tricolor Pole Beans are getting bigger and starting to climb. I planted them into 4 squares in the east side of SFG Veggie Bed #1. (4 plants per square foot)

I planted several vegetables in Veggie Bed #2:

– 2 Purple Potato – 1 square each
– 2 Tomato ‘Rutger’s Select’ – 1 square each
– 2 Tomato ‘Beefsteak’ – 1 square each
– 4 Pepper (Mini Sweet Orange) – 4 plants in one square
– 1 Pepper ‘Golden Marconi’ – 1 square

[photo to come]

Here’s a tip from @PAllenSmith: Protect corn from critters by placing a paper bag over each ear. Secure bag w/ rubber band. Remove bag once the corn is ripe.