Sunday, August 29, 2010

Produce that keeps on giving

A month or so ago I bought 50 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes and was not able to eat them all before some started to grow. All the potato's that were growing were planted in the garden with hopes of maybe getting more potatoes. The other day I was watering them and noticed that some potatoes were peeking out from the soil. They already flowered but were not dying back. So what I think happened is that I didn't plant them deep enough. I had to harvest these because I didn't want the bugs to get to them. Drats! They got 2 of them!  

I gathered the girls and we went out to dig this row up. I have another row of them but they are smaller and I don't see any peeking out from the soil.   My kids grumbled about how they didn't want to help me but because i'm there mother I have the last word. One perk of being a parent that I love. Once the plants were pulled and they saw that there were potatoes, they started to dig and help out. While we were digging them out our neighbors came in the garden and helped out as well. Kids love this kind of stuff. How cool are potatoes? They grow under the dirt!  My kids just love that fact. So here is what we unearthed.
Since I was dirty anyways I decided to pull the two only carrots that actually grew. One was normal and the other looked like Barbie legs. I planted the whole package of carrot seeds and I only get 2 plants? Stinking Oregon weather!
This is the reason I love potatoes and will spend the extra to get organic ones. If you cannot use them up fast enough, plant them. Its the gift that keeps on giving. It really is a good money stretcher vegetable.
What do you think I will make for dinner tonight? Mashed potatoes of course! Yukon Gold is the best because you don't have to peel them. Just cut them up and boil them. Gotta love that.

1 comment:

Betsy Escandon said...

What an awesome idea! I seriously need some gardening skills. We even have a plot in our rented backyard, but I just don't really even know where to start. Plus, I don't know what was used in/on that soil previously, which gives me pause (since I had to stop the gardeners -- paid by the owner -- from spraying week killer all over my yard).