I don't know. I've never grown the damn things before! How are you meant to know? Anyway. They looked bloody awful so I thought, well, if they do have a bug, better to dig them out now in the hopes of salvaging some wee spuddies!
Here's the result:
Look how proud and happy I am with my wee pile o' tatties! It was all very exciting. That's just one wee bag too - there's still another diseased looking bag there plus the two bags of late cropping ones and the entire garden full of Red Duke of Yorks.
Post-Script: my excited face was a bit less excited half an hour or so later when I cooked them and discovered that the variety is pretty damn bland and not at all waxy (so decidedly inappropriate for the potato salad I was concocting. Sigh...). But still, bland and floury though they were, they were all mine and it was such fun diving through the dirt hunting for them. Here's hoping there are no more diseases and the rest of my crops are just as fruitful!
Nice work! You do look decidedly - and deservedly - pleased with yourself. Shame they weren't so tasty. Am feeling a little inspired to give a spud crop a go myself on account of your success. Do they require a lot of sun? Did you buy them in the bags or set those up yourself?
ReplyDeleteI just used the supermarket bags that you're meant to bring with you each time you shop, but I believe you can use almost anything. The bags that compost comes in are good, I think. They're easy - you should definitely try! If you're using a bag, you just put them in about 6 inches of dirt and then as they start sprouting, you pile up the dirt as they grow so that the bag fills up and the tubers are protected from light. Easy and gratifying results! :-P
ReplyDeleteHere - I used this lovely Scottish man's video as my starting point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3zoVolI-Sw