Potato patch 2011

[wmontanez]

Wow Richard, those berries are trully picture worthy!
Is that mulch from the NZ grass you have next to your hoophouse?

[Mark0820]

The size of those volunteer spuds is quite remarkable. Three crates is a nice harvest for volunteers.

I look forward to seeing pictures of this years harvest.

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by wmontanez

Wow Richard, those berries are trully picture worthy!
Is that mulch from the NZ grass you have next to your hoophouse?

Do you want some from "Cara" Wendy??,they are a nice spud,mind you i don't know if crossed with some of the others or not.

Thats just the dead potato stems,all i spread over that area was horse poo and sawdust before they popped up.

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by Mark0820

The size of those volunteer spuds is quite remarkable. Three crates is a nice harvest for volunteers.

I look forward to seeing pictures of this years harvest.

Some of the parent volunteers were still a good size though hence why the ones ive dug yesterday are such a good size ,these are ones that had been greened or had pitch fork through them so they just get dug under for the following season.

[wmontanez]

Richard, I am swamp with new varieties this year so I have to pass sigh. Next year? I already ran out of space to put potatoes but I have pots for those maori spuds.

Also can't wait to see your main patch harves must be something if the volunteers gave you that good crop.

[Medbury Gardens]

No worries Wendy,but if anyone else would like some Cara TPS the offer is still there.

Today i finished digging the last of the volunteer bed and ended up with three and half crates.
Then started on this seasons crop,first row was Kowiniwini, ten seed spuds were planted, 2 never came up,one didn't produce many spuds,so this lot less a few that i cut in half to see if any had rotten centres,i didn't want to select from a plant that has which this variety seems to be effected by,the small pile on the left is all from the most uniform as well as high yielding plant.


Check out this Kowiniwini

[Mark0820]

Richard,

That is one impressive Kowiniwini spud. Overall, a very nice looking crop. It appears to be quite a productive potato plant.

I would be interested in some of your Cara TPS. What color of potato is it, and what is its primary use? Do you want me to send a SASE?

[Medbury Gardens]

The story with Kowiniwini is ,i was given it about 20 years ago and all that time it never did that well,i would get these tiny little spuds from equally as small plants and every year, i would think,"why do i bother with this one",then three seasons ago i dug one plant up and 'huge spuds',it was like it had been in a coma and it had just woke up.So the last two seasons its been producing good crops but certainly bigger this year as has every other potato.

I'll get some Cara TPS off to you Mark and dont worry about the SASE,it only costs me $NZ2.70.i'll do another post on Cara once ive dug it,its the last row to be done.

Today when i get a spear hour i'll do the next row which is Moie moie,ive noticed with this spud that some plants tend to grow stem tubers, these plants grow there crop close to the surface as well while others don't grow any stem tubers and grow a much deeper crop,the deeper growers are what i pick from for the following years seed spuds.
Here's a good example of a Moie moie with heaps of stem tubers and you wouldn't believe it,in all the years of growing this spud its never had berry,the plant below produced two,so i put them in my pocket forgetting that it had a hole in it ,i'll be head down hoping to see them on the ground somewhere in the coming days

[Mark0820]

Wow! That Moie moie looks like it is loaded with spuds. Does Moie moie always produce a yield like that?

[salix]

Richard, bummer about those Moie Moie berries. If you came across them on the ground, would you recognize them? ie do they have distinguishing features?

Love the look of those Kowiniwini, are they a tasty tuber? Good storage variety?

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by Mark0820

Wow! That Moie moie looks like it is loaded with spuds. Does Moie moie always produce a yield like that?

Yes it is a good producer and i would say there's heaps of potatoes underneath that one,but how many are are to close to the surface i'll have to wait and see.
Didn't get to do any digging today,had to many other things to do.

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by salix

Richard, bummer about those Moie Moie berries. If you came across them on the ground, would you recognize them? ie do they have distinguishing features?

Love the look of those Kowiniwini, are they a tasty tuber? Good storage variety?

I may find some more berries yet,if there's two there should be more i reckon.
Kowiniwini are a yellow inside potato,ok taste but as nice as Moie moie and a very good storage variety

[Medbury Gardens]

Managed to dig the Moie moie's yesterday,i was pleased over all but unhappy in other ways,the good news was i found some more berries and believe it or not i actually managed to get them inside without losing them The plant in the previous post which as i pointed out yesterday was not as good as it may have seemed looking at it,even though the yield was good many near the surface were too misshaped for this plant to be chosen for next years planting.

Example (two spuds in the photo)


The plant that was chosen was a plant that only had one tuber showing above ground in yet the volume of potatoes was similar to the one just mentioned .
One disappointing aspect of this years Moie moie's crop was about half the plants only grew a couple of very small spuds each which were not even big enough to be put the crate for eating.

Oh well Mystery is next to be dug

[Mark0820]

Those two Moie-moie spuds might not be uniform in shape, but they will still taste good. They look huge.

[Medbury Gardens]

Weren't overly happy with the Moie moie's this season though,about 30% of the spuds planted didn't even produce any,oh well still got a reasonable crop off the others plus the really bonus of berries from the best producer.

Mystery was the same,only four good plants out of 10 and no berries which i thought was odd as they always produce them every year.

Rima again was a disappointment after last seasons bumper crop

Catriona on the other has been amazing,some plants had huge potatoes as well had truck loads of berries,i dont remember Catriona ever producing berries before.
Thats all i got done last night before it got dark so this leaves Cara,Lo Owl Skycap and Diamond Blue to go