Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Itsy-Bitsy Potato Harvest

    This is the sum and total of our potato harvest. Pretty funny, huh?


     Actually these Lilliputian spuds are the result of an experiment in gardening. Early in the summer, we had a short length of wire fencing in the garage and some hay left over from lawn seeding - just the necessary accouterments for a potato tower (that seemed to be a popular topic among Pinterest gardeners.)  So we fashioned a tube out of the fencing and anchored it against the side fence, next to the herb garden. Then, against good gardening wisdom, we cut up a couple of Idaho potatoes from the grocery store and layered them in the tower with some good potting soil.
     Several strong stems emerged and grew vigorously, for a while. As summer progressed and a drought ensued, we watered the tower religiously but the plants became leggy and spindly. The problems were obvious - hot, dry weather and not enough direct sunlight. 
     Next year we may try this again, but earlier in the growing season and in another location and thankfully, we won't have to live off our harvest this winter!



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