The Poultry Keeper

NannyP · Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject: How soon after flowering

Can I dig some new potatoes?
I'm hankering after our own from the garden......they're looking good and are in their 3rd day of flowering.

mcleod-girls · Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 5:42 pm Post subject:

I thought you usually waited until after flowering? thats for main crop though, I suppose a few wouldn't hurt althouh they may be small (but tasty!) Confused

NannyP · Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 6:38 pm Post subject:

Well I dug some up, new pots size...sadly not many to a plant.
So, have dug 5 plants Shocked

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2062 Location: North Cornwall

You can scrape away the soil from a plant with a trowel and just take off a couple of pots and leave the rest on the plant to grow a bit bigger. Do that on a few plants until you have enough for your meal Very Happy

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6895 Location: isle of lewis

we used to do that Very Happy

my aunt had a system of growing potatoes in shavings
she would plant potatoes in a long mound of used shavings and compost and when they flowered we would put rubber gloves on feel around and pick what we needed the rest of the crop would grow on ,3 rows of potatoes would keep us feed for weeks Wink

mcleod-girls · Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 8:51 am Post subject:

thats a good idea, didnt know you could do that Very Happy

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6895 Location: isle of lewis

well they had 6 milking goats and loads of chickens
5 of us to feed ,no money ,2 ,6 foot sons Shocked

and a long way to drive to town
they ownly ever brought coffee, tea ,sugar and flour ,apart from animal feed ,loads of manure to use up so experimented with ways of using it

really wildgarlic · Joined: 16 Apr 2005 Posts: 19 Location: Aberdeenshire

Mmm yum. I like the idea of stealing away a few tasty tatties without digging up the whole plant... getting the best of both worlds that way.

vanessa · Joined: 24 Sep 2005 Posts: 1163 Location: Correze

I'm experimenting with growing them under straw this year, much the same principle as the woodshavings one. Placed the seed potatoes on the earth, covered with 6" of straw, adding more straw to "earth them up" as they grew. This way, once again, you can "nick" a few spuds and then cover them up again to continue growing.

This also means much less digging ... great for the likes of me with a bad back.

greentree · Joined: 08 Jun 2007 Posts: 152 Location: Wicklow - Ireland

Yes, we always do that too. It means also that you dont have loads of tiny spare spuds when digging them up. The energy from the 'nicked' spuds goes into the other growing ones.

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2062 Location: North Cornwall

vanessa · Joined: 24 Sep 2005 Posts: 1163 Location: Correze

Yes, it works with earlies and lates ... and yes, chit the same as usual. Very Happy

You do need a good source of straw though ... but this can be supplemented later on in the growing season with dried cut grass too ... your regular lawn mowings spread out somewhere and allowed to dry for a day or so in hot sunshine, call it finely chopped hay if you like! Dried weeds can be used too.

Tony Sirett · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 2:24 pm Post subject:

i have 3 tyre towers each with 5 tyres, mine have just started flowering lovely purple flowers with yellow centers, have been told to wait until the leaves turn yellow befor dismantling the towers

kated · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1679 Location: norfolk

That's true for main crop Tony, but if they're earlies then you can dig them after the flowers have died.

Kated