Grow your own!

[awakening2lite]

Grow 100 lbs. of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet (http://lifehacker.com/5202849/grow-100-lbs-of-potatoes-in-4-square-feet)


http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2009/04/2009-04-11_100741.png

Potatoes seem like the kind of plant you'd need a substantial garden for—the kind your grandparents had, right? Actually, tubers aren't all that picky, and you can harvest a whole lot from almost any yard. We're big fans of growing delicious food in little spaces. We've shown you how to grow tomatoes in a self watering planter (http://lifehacker.com/5190496/turn-storage-containers-into-self-watering-tomato-planters), turn your fence into a vegetable trellis (http://lifehacker.com/5194321/inexpensive-vegetable-trellis-grows-vegetables-in-small-spaces), and start a container garden (http://lifehacker.com/245049/weekend-project-start-a-container-garden). Now we've got a great tip to share, courtesy of The Seattle Times, on how to grow a lot of potatoes in a rather small space.



The Times' guide for building a potato growing box yields up to a 100 lbs. of potatoes in a mere 4 square feet. By planting your potatoes in layers within a tall box, as seen in the diagram here, you're essentially building a potato growing high rise. You can wait until the fall for a full harvest or if you're getting antsy for some garden fresh potatoes you can pop a board off the bottom and steal some of the mature potatoes. For more details and tips on getting a great yield, check out the full write up at the Seattle Times. If you have a trick up your sleeve for growing a lot of food in a little space, let's hear about it in the comments below!


It's Not Idaho, But You Can Still Grow Potatoes (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2002347126_potatoes25.html)

original reference from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2002347126_potatoes25.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/06/23/2002344752.jpg

"Potatoes grow between the seed piece and the above-ground plant." So in the trench method, the new potatoes develop in the soil that is shoveled back in.
Potato pointers
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/art/ui/dot_grey808080.gif
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/art/ui/dot_clear.gif
Here are some growing tips from Greg Lutovsky:



• Cut apart larger seed potatoes, making sure there are at least two eyes in each piece you plant.


• Dust the cut pieces with fir dust, which seals the open ends from bacteria.


• Fertilize with 10-20-20 fertilizer at planting and a couple of times during the season.


• Water so that the plants are kept at an even level of moisture.


• Don't plant in the same area in consecutive years or use the same soil to fill your potato box, as potatoes can attract various diseases.


• His recommended potato varieties for Western Washington include: Yellow Finn, Yukon Gold, Caribe, Red Pontiac and Red Lasoda.



To save space, Lutovsky recommends building a box and planting inside it, adding sides to the box as the plant grows and filling the new space with mulch or soil.


When the plant blossoms, it starts setting potatoes in this added soil. Soon after that, you can start removing the bottom boards from your box and "robbing" the plant, reaching in carefully and pulling out new potatoes.
Unless you steal all of them during the growing season, in the fall you should end up with a box of spuds — as much as 100 pounds, said Lutovsky.


Watering at an even rate is especially important when growing potatoes in a box, he said, since they will dry out faster in the container than in the ground.


"Don't drown and then let the potatoes dry out. Repeating that cycle throughout the year is a guarantee that you'll grow knobby, scabby potatoes," Lutovsky said.


Your full potato crop is ready to be harvested when frost kills the tops. Or, in the absence of frost, you can cut off the tops yourself, wait 10 days to two weeks for the skins to firm up and then take your box apart completely, sorting the potatoes from the soil.


Fall and winter temperatures and humidity in Western Washington are ideal for storing potatoes, and you can keep potatoes in a paper sack or basket in a garage.


Material for the box can be expensive, depending on the type of wood you choose. But the box can be used for several years if you buy wood that won't rot easily despite being out in weather.


You can also plant potatoes in solid containers, but you won't be able to rob the new potatoes as they are ready.

[Faith]

It's so strange you post this article. Me and hubbie were thinking of growing our own potatoes. I hadn't looked up the article yet on "how to".

Thank you sooo much!!

[TeeOne]

:0t31:lol, that made me laugh and you know what my thought was......:0t31:

[awakening2lite]

My last trip to the grocery the green bell peppers were $1.00 each.

I thought I would share this article with you and say that I have grown green bell peppers from seed. It was very simple and easy and kept picked fresh bell peppers on the table all summer and into the fall and I gave plenty of them away to neighbors. I only planted 12 plants. Delicious. I would rate them an A+ on the easy scale.





Botanical name: Capsicum annuum

Growing Bell Peppers Organic Gardening Fact Sheet

Seed




http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/images/green-bell-pepper.jpg

Planting time: SU Seeds per ounce: 4500 Ounces per square foot: 0.006 Minimum legal germination rate: 55% Germination type: Extra-long Germinating seeds (http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/extralong-germinating-seeds.html)


Notes
Growing Bell Peppers is best in hot wether, full sun, and moist well drained soil. Bell Peppers are native to semi-tropical regions and and in frost free and low frost areas it can be grown as a small perennial shrub.
Bell Peppers are a fantastic source of vitamin C. Green Bell Peppers has two times the vitamin C by weight than citrus (oranges, lemons etc.) and Red Bell Peppers have three times that of Bell Peppers.


http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/growing-bell-peppers.html

[emmeblu]

Summer before last, I grew our own tomatoes and they were delicious.
I planted in the big round wooden barrel flower pots and used organic soil.

Thanks for posting the article on potatoes. I've been thinking about planting a small garden this year. Produce is outrageous at the grocery store.
Publix sells grapes in prepackaged plastic bags and it ends up being about a 6.00 bag. :duh: I wish they would go back to allowing customers to buy by weight on what they want. Think I'll mention it to the manager.

[awakening2lite]

Summer before last, I grew our own tomatoes and they were delicious.
I planted in the big round wooden barrel flower pots and used organic soil.

Thanks for posting the article on potatoes. I've been thinking about planting a small garden this year. Produce is outrageous at the grocery store.
Publix sells grapes in prepackaged plastic bags and it ends up being about a 6.00 bag. :duh: I wish they would go back to allowing customers to buy by weight on what they want. Think I'll mention it to the manager.

Way to go, Emmeblu! I hope if you grow vegetables this year that you will share some pics and techniques with us! I'd love to hear about it.

Ditto, fresh produce is outrageous!

I heard / read something the other day about the different definitions of organic labels in stores. Have you heard about that?

Watch out for grapes. Some of them have traveled a continent to arrive in our stores.

[awakening2lite]

Here's something interesting I came across.

How to start a small worm farm and compost bin


Buying Red Worms as bait can get costly at over three dollars for 30 to use for fishing and sometimes you do not us all your worms and you want to keep them for later. This simple solution does three things. (1)Cuts down on the house hold waste that is sent to the land fills. (2) Makes effective all organic fertilizer. (3) Produces plenty of worms per month for fishing bait.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:



Opaque plastic storage bin with lid, any size.
Extra storage bin lid
Newspaper pages
Dry leaves
garden soil
Red Worms
card board
2 Bricks


Step1
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/Bottomholes_Thumb.jpg (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/Bottomholes_Full.jpg) The placement of the drainage holes. Using a screw, put about 2 dozen or more drainage holes in the bottom of the storage container.


Step2
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/sidehilestopholes_Thumb.jpg (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/sidehilestopholes_Full.jpg) The placement of the ventilation holes. Using the same screw, place a row of ventilation holes on the sides of the storage container and the lid. Place these holes about one inch apart from each other.


Step3
Tear up the newspaper into strips one inch or so. Soak them in water and then squeeze the water out so that the paper is only damp. Add the paper to the storage bin along with the leaves, pine needles, and garden soil. The newspaper and leaves will be the bedding for the worms and the soil help the worms digest their food.


Step4
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/RedWorms_Thumb.jpg (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/RedWorms_Full.jpg) Red Worms. Add the Red Worms to your storage container. Dampen the cardboard sheet and place it on top of the worms and the bedding. Then cover the storage container with the lid. Worms do not like light.


Step5
Place the storage container outdoors out of the direct sunlight and rain. If you keep it indoors, make sure it is a well ventilated.
Step6


Set the other lid up side down on the two bricks and place the storage container on top of the lid. The lid will serve to catch the "worm tea" or the liquid run off.


Step7
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/Picture010-2_Thumb.jpg (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/Picture010-2_Full.jpg) Worm food. Now start feeding the worms your table scraps. Not meat, fats, oil, or onions. Just fruits, vegetable, breads, coffee grounds and pasta. It takes close to two weeks for the worms to break it down into what they can digest. Feed them a half cup and slowly increasing the amount to match what they eat.


Step8
Empty the liquid or "worm tea" that drains into the tray. Monitor the bin once a week to make sure everything is going fine. It should not smell at all. If it does, it is too moist or their is too much food. Cut back on the food or add more bedding.


Step9
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/red-worms_Thumb.jpg (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/red-worms_Full.jpg) Alot of worms After about 40 days, there will be three to four times the amount of Red Worms in your bin and it will keep on growing. You can see the eggs, a yellowish looking pellets about the size of a match head that contain four or more tiny worms.


Step10
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/worm_Thumb.jpg (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4455783/worm_Full.jpg) Compost In 8 to 12 weeks, it is time to remove the "vermicompost" or worm manure. It is very clean and non smelling. Just scoop it out of the bin and add it to your garden or house plants. After removal, push everything else to the side and replace with fresh bedding and food.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4455783_small-worm-farm-compost-bin.html

[Audie]

I'm trying a Topsy Turvy this year. Been 30 years since I had a garden. That did pretty well. I tried to grow a pot plant 35 years ago .. it reached a foot then was buried by 2 feet of snow, lol. I decided that wasnt my cup of tea.

[SavannahStar]

My last trip to the grocery the green bell peppers were $1.00 each.

I thought I would share this article with you and say that I have grown green bell peppers from seed. It was very simple and easy and kept picked fresh bell peppers on the table all summer and into the fall and I gave plenty of them away to neighbors. I only planted 12 plants. Delicious. I would rate them an A+ on the easy scale.





Botanical name: Capsicum annuum

Growing Bell Peppers Organic Gardening Fact Sheet

Seed




http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/images/green-bell-pepper.jpg

Planting time: SU Seeds per ounce: 4500 Ounces per square foot: 0.006 Minimum legal germination rate: 55% Germination type: Extra-long Germinating seeds (http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/extralong-germinating-seeds.html)


Notes
Growing Bell Peppers is best in hot wether, full sun, and moist well drained soil. Bell Peppers are native to semi-tropical regions and and in frost free and low frost areas it can be grown as a small perennial shrub.
Bell Peppers are a fantastic source of vitamin C. Green Bell Peppers has two times the vitamin C by weight than citrus (oranges, lemons etc.) and Red Bell Peppers have three times that of Bell Peppers.


http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/growing-bell-peppers.html

My son and I grew green peppers a couple of years ago! They turned out so terrific....and grew and grew long into the season. We live in FL. We just did it on a lark more or less....took some seeds from red, green and yellow peppers. Little did we know (soon found out, by googling) that they are all the same, except for the length of time growing. All ours were green. They were delicious.

I often think of gardening veggies again. Thank you for this thread!

[nanabillie]

I have grown potatoes! Boy, they were great. The little red ones. I didn't use a box but the lower end of our yard, a neighbor came over and plowed what I thought was a small space until I had to keep the weeks out. Then it looked big. I loved going down and getting potatoes for supper, just washing, slicing then and frying in butter. Heart attack, I know. I just left them underground and dug as I wanted them and was so sad when there were no more. I'll have to add this was about twenty years ago, too. My younger days. We always grow tomatoes in the barrels. We have so many deer now they would eat everything. I wish lots of people would do victory gardens as I think Eleanor Roosevelt started back during the war. I only read about it, not old enough to remember. Mrs. Obama is doing the same.

[nanabillie]

I have grown potatoes! Boy, they were great. The little red ones. I didn't use a box but the lower end of our yard, a neighbor came over and plowed what I thought was a small space until I had to keep the weeks out. Then it looked big. I loved going down and getting potatoes for supper, just washing, slicing then and frying in butter. Heart attack, I know. I just left them underground and dug as I wanted them and was so sad when there were no more. I'll have to add this was about twenty years ago, too. My younger days. We always grow tomatoes in the barrels. We have so many deer now they would eat everything. I wish lots of people would do victory gardens as I think Eleanor Roosevelt started back during the war. I only read about it, not old enough to remember. Mrs. Obama is doing the same.

[nanabillie]

If you plant some marigold around your tomatoes it is supposed to help keep away insects. The smell keeps me away. And the best insecticide is a teaspoon of dish detergent in a half gallon, I think it is, of water. Not too much soap or you will burn the plant. Just like I did last year. I thought a little is good more must be better. Not.

[awakening2lite]

I have grown potatoes! Boy, they were great. The little red ones. I didn't use a box but the lower end of our yard, a neighbor came over and plowed what I thought was a small space until I had to keep the weeks out. Then it looked big. I loved going down and getting potatoes for supper, just washing, slicing then and frying in butter. Heart attack, I know. I just left them underground and dug as I wanted them and was so sad when there were no more. I'll have to add this was about twenty years ago, too. My younger days. We always grow tomatoes in the barrels. We have so many deer now they would eat everything. I wish lots of people would do victory gardens as I think Eleanor Roosevelt started back during the war. I only read about it, not old enough to remember. Mrs. Obama is doing the same.

Speaking of deer, I just heard they really don't like Rosemary. It can grow up to 20' if not clipped and it has been said the deer will go out of their way to avoid it. Maybe you could try planting some of it and see if it helps to ward off the deer?

Loved your story about your potatoes. I cut up my new potatoes, sprinkle them with Mrs Dash original, just a spray of canola oil and bake at 350. Yummy! My favorite is the red yukon gold.

[Faith]

A2k, I wanted to let you know I planted potatoes. I did not do as your 1st article said, I just planted them in a big flower pot to experiment this year. The truth was I asked DH to build me a potato box as your article shows but he never got around to it. When I cooked potatoes I saved the eyes and I just threw them in a pot way out by the shed and I noticed Saturday they were about 6 inches tall. I will have to harvest them all at once I suppose.

Did you plant some?

[Faith]

When I was a kid my grandfather was retired from the military and he fished everyday, had trot lines out and checked them every morning and evening. I don't know if he sold any fish but I know he caught a lot.

He had a worm box. I remember dirt, lots of leaves and pine needles. He had it in the shade under a walnut tree. I used to stand on top of it and sing lol- I was 10 when he passed away and I remember this as if it was yesterday.

He died doing what he loved, fishing. My uncle, his son, was up from the coast. My grandma was fixing breakfast and told me to run down to the river and tell pawpaw to come eat. Me and my brother ran down there, about 300 yards away and his head was in the water, the only thing held him in that boat was the trot line, it was still in his hand. They said he had a heart attack.

Anyways, I learned a lot from him and I was 10 when he passed away.

He always had a huge veggie garden, I mean HUGE. I would run up and down the rows while he worked in it late every evening. Back then I don't recall eating any meat at their house other than bacon and sausage, they raised pigs, I suppose we had pork chops, ribs, etc but I do not recall ever eating that at their house. They ate a lot of fish.

Wow, great memories this morning.

[Faith]

I am growing tomatoes and squash this year in flower pots and 5 gallon buckets.

My soil is no good for growing veggies. I want to build a raised bed and have a small veggie garden, get a load of dirt brought in for a fresh start. That's another project I can add to DH's honey do list. I would have to fence it b/c deer is awful here.

Dog fence wire is very cheep, like $20 for a 50ft roll, 3 ft tall, I would need it higher but it shouldn't be over $30 for 6 to 8 ft and I already have the T-post.

[SavannahStar]

I have grown potatoes! Boy, they were great. The little red ones. I didn't use a box but the lower end of our yard, a neighbor came over and plowed what I thought was a small space until I had to keep the weeks out. Then it looked big. I loved going down and getting potatoes for supper, just washing, slicing then and frying in butter. Heart attack, I know. I just left them underground and dug as I wanted them and was so sad when there were no more. I'll have to add this was about twenty years ago, too. My younger days. We always grow tomatoes in the barrels. We have so many deer now they would eat everything. I wish lots of people would do victory gardens as I think Eleanor Roosevelt started back during the war. I only read about it, not old enough to remember. Mrs. Obama is doing the same.


Re victory gardens...check out this site, guys:

http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/

[Firehead]

A few years ago I tried an experiment and planted a few tomatoe plants in containers on my back deck. WOW ! Fresh tomatoes! Last year we remodeled our deck, made it bigger and installed a plant section. I still grow the tomatoes in pots that now sit inside the section. I also grown herbs in boxes that hang on the rails. I did this all because we have a lot of deer in the area which love to eat my flowers. They nibble on the flowers, I keep the veggies. We now also grow peppers along with the tomatoes.

[Bayou Lass]

I am growing tomatoes and squash this year in flower pots and 5 gallon buckets.

My soil is no good for growing veggies. I want to build a raised bed and have a small veggie garden, get a load of dirt brought in for a fresh start. That's another project I can add to DH's honey do list. I would have to fence it b/c deer is awful here.

Dog fence wire is very cheep, like $20 for a 50ft roll, 3 ft tall, I would need it higher but it shouldn't be over $30 for 6 to 8 ft and I already have the T-post.

Faith, I have five raised beds and I love them. No weeding whatsoever and I can grow anything in them. I planted small red potatoes, cucucumbers, green beans, english peas, corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and I have a small 4X4 that my herbs are in. I don't have a problem with deer but may I suggest an electrified fence? It is not high voltage and will deter any hungry deer you might have and the fence doesn't have to be high at all - about waist high. My Daddy had one around his garden and would just turn it on at dusk and off whenever he went out in the garden. We had one around our dog yard for a while (doggies wanted to dig out) right around the bottom of the fence and the good thing about it was that it did not use a lot of electricity. Check out your hardware store or your garden supply store as they should have the voltage meters and wire. Worth the investment to keep deer and other critters out of your garden.

[Bayou Lass]

Re victory gardens...check out this site, guys:

http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/

Savannah, I live very close to Shreveport, LA and you should see all of the neighborhood gardens up there. There is one neighborhood that had a lot that the owners didn't keep up (grass cut, etc.) and the residents all got together and purchased the lot for a Victory/Neighborhood Garden. It's beautiful......almost like a park setting, but a garden for all the neighborhood...tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, cabbage, corn, and just about everything else you can think of. They have even put in benches and a covered patio area with a picnic table. I would love to see more cities and towns encouraging this.

[PatC]

A2k, I wanted to let you know I planted potatoes. I did not do as your 1st article said, I just planted them in a big flower pot to experiment this year. The truth was I asked DH to build me a potato box as your article shows but he never got around to it. When I cooked potatoes I saved the eyes and I just threw them in a pot way out by the shed and I noticed Saturday they were about 6 inches tall. I will have to harvest them all at once I suppose.

Did you plant some?

Faith, I just recently read... I think it was somewhere on this board... someone was growing potatoes using straw. IIRC, she planted the seed potatoes and when they came up covered them with straw... when they poked thru again, added more straw and so on. It sounded really neat because she said the potatoes are nice and clean and perfectly shaped. I think she said it was the Scandinavian way since their ground stays frozen so long. I'll have to try to search and see if I can find the post.

[Bayou Lass]

Faith, I just recently read... I think it was somewhere on this board... someone was growing potatoes using straw. IIRC, she planted the seed potatoes and when they came up covered them with straw... when they poked thru again, added more straw and so on. It sounded really neat because she said the potatoes are nice and clean and perfectly shaped. I think she said it was the Scandinavian way since their ground stays frozen so long. I'll have to try to search and see if I can find the post.

I've done this before! There was an engineer that told me this is the only way he plants his potatoes. When you are ready to harvest just pull the straw away and there are your new potatoes all clean and beautifully shaped. I have planted them in the ground for two years now and in my raised beds they still are beautifully shaped and surprisingly enough not really dirty as you might think, no scrubbing the dirt off, just rinse with a garden hose.

[Trailblazer]

I love homegrown tomatoes. Maybe I need to think about planting some in pots...

As to the deer...they eat everything in my yard...makes me crazy and I have a fence too...they jump the fence and eat my hostas and my flowers, even some of my evergreen shrub....wish there was something I could do to keep them away...

[Faith]

If deer ate my Hostas I would be VERY mad. I live in the woods so there are tons of deer here, they have ruined my yard this year and we are working on the electric fence for next year but don't know how to cover such a large area. My Hosta is blooming now, its right in front of my porch by the house, maybe hey won;t come that far from the woods. I hope not!!

I planted potatoes, a small amount. I will see how they turn out. I put them in a flower pot.