Today’s Harvest Basket September 6, 2014
Potatoes, peppers
Potatoes and peppers
Clearly, the potatoes are not grown to help us through the winter. This is my third year attempt at growing potatoes. For one pound of seed potatoes, the return was 7 1/2 pounds.
It’s my best yield so far. Uncle Ebb came to the rescue and helped figure out what went wrong last year. I left the potatoes in the ground too long. The year before that produced only a hand full of potatoes.
So I am getting better. Who knows what yields I’ll get if I actually pay attention and regularly fertilize and water them?
Growing potatoes in a bag makes for an easy, back saving harvest.
I used this bag to grow potatoes. It was sitting on the ground and a few of the roots grew through the bag, down into the soil. The potato plants were drawing moisture from the ground.
If all the conditions are just right, I could expect to harvest 10 pounds of potatoes for every pound of seed potato planted. That is a guideline in row crops. Who knows what to expect using a grow bag fabric planter?
I like to grow varieties that are available to gardeners and not usually found in grocery stores. These, I think, are Yellow Finn potatoes. I’m hoping the yellow potatoes will fool me into using less butter.
Potatoes are the fourth-largest food crop in the world. (After rice, wheat, and maize.) This is an old European gourmet variety. They are said to have a buttery, sweet, yellow flesh.
The grow bag allows for excellent drainage and aeration. Plants respond much like they do in raised beds. You can start plants earlier than you can sow directly in the ground.
These fabric bags also last a long time. I’ve used it for three years with a variety to crops and It shows no signs of wear and tear. It will be in service next year.
Golden salsa, made with yellow tomatoes.
Oh, by the way, those lovely peppers are a variety of jalapeno that are supposed to be milder than the original. Still, half of one is enough for my canned salsa. Since I started making our own salsa, we use a lot more of it.
Jeff says that is because I make such good salsa. But it’s probably because of the roasted garlic, peppers and tomatoes. It’s an extra step, but it makes for a richer and sweeter salsa.
Patsy Bell Hobson is a garden writer and a travel writer. For her, it’s a great day when she can combine the two things she enjoys most: gardening and traveling. Visit her personal blog at 
4. 
