Picking Potatoes at the Farm
My garden continues to produce bounties of beautiful fresh vegetables.
Yesterday, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and my longtime housekeeper, Laura Acuna, harvested the potatoes. Potatoes are from the perennial nightshade Solanum tuberosum. As the world's fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat, and rice, potatoes are grown from “seed potatoes”, which are certified disease-free and specially grown in nurseries for planting purposes. Our “seed potatoes” came from Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, a small family-owned business in Ellensburg, Washington.
The last two seasons, have produced many healthy potatoes in a variety of shapes, colors and tastes. I can't wait to enjoy this new batch of farm-grown potatoes this fall and winter. Here are some photos.
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- Ryan and Laura are very pleased with this season’s potato harvest – there were lots and lots of delicious potatoes to pick.
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- Our potato crop is planted in our main vegetable garden – this year, between the onions and the eggplants.
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- You may recall, we planted our potatoes in the last week of May. The best time to plant is when the soil has dried enough to be workable. They do best as rotation crops, and should be placed away from where potatoes, tomatoes or peppers were grown in the last two years.
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- By mid-June, the potato crop was already so lush and green.
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- By late July, they grew even more, but the plants had not yet turned brown – the crop still needed another few weeks. New potatoes are ready for harvest after about 10-weeks. A new potato is a small moist tender thin-skinned potato harvested early in the growing season.
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- And by late August, the leaves finally turned brown. This is definitely a less attractive sight in the garden, but it is a well anticipated one because it means the potatoes are ready.
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- Yesterday, ahead of some expected rain, Ryan started harvesting the potatoes. The best time to dig up potatoes is on a dry day once all the vines have died back. This means, when the tubers are done growing, and the potato plants have begun to turn yellow and withered – when there is no more sign of green.
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- Because potatoes grow underground, it is always a surprise to see how prolific the plants have been.
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- For this task, Ryan uses Johnny’s Selected Seeds nine-tine, 20-inch wide broadfork. These deep-tillage tools, designed long ago in Europe and redeveloped by Eliot Coleman, make turning the soil almost effortless because it uses body weight to insert and maneuver the tool.
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- Ryan gently turns the soil with the broadfork. It’s important to dig them up carefully, so as not to puncture any of the tubers.
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- Ryan starts away from the potatoes and works his way in to safely turn over the soil.
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- Then slowly he turns up – if you look closely, you can already see a potato.
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- Ryan manually begins digging for the potatoes. He doesn’t use gloves, so he can feel for them better underground – potatoes will be slightly cool to the touch.
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- Within minutes, there are potatoes everywhere.
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- The tubers form around the base of each plant among the roots. Native to the Andes of South America, the potato has become the world’s fourth-largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize.
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- Laura helps by placing the potatoes in trays, separated by color and cultivar. An entire potato plant grows from just one potato eye, although when planting, always plant a piece of potato with at least two eyes to ensure germination.
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- Never wash potatoes until right before using – washing them shortens the potato’s storage life.
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- Ryan continues to feel for potatoes. These plants were not planted too deeply – all the potatoes are buried within the top five-inches of soil.
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- Ryan picked every one he could find, even the tiniest of them. If not, they may grow into new plants, where they aren’t wanted.
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- Laura has another handful of freshly picked potatoes.
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- These potatoes are purple on the outside, with golden flesh on the inside. Don’t leave harvested potatoes in the sun as excessive heat could cause them to cook. Just brush off as much soil as possible and let them dry in a cool place.
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- Ryan looks through the trays of potatoes to ensure all of them are organized properly.
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- All the trays of potatoes are ready to go up to my flower room, where they will be stored until ready to cook.
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- Phurba cleans out all the beds of weeds and leftover potato stems. In the coming days, Ryan and Wilmer will plant a new crop of winter vegetables in this location.
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- Ideally, potatoes should be kept in an environment around 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit. They can be stored in bins, boxes, or even paper bags – just nothing air tight to prevent rotting. And, don’t store with apples – the ethylene gas will cause the potatoes to spoil. In addition, they should never be stored in the refrigerator. We have so many potatoes – I can’t wait to try them all.
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