Cost of potatoes is sky high....

[BatmansWife]

Wasn't this posted recently?? I could swear someone posted about potatoe prices, but I didn't even open the thread to read it at the time. Tonight I was at the store and needed potatoes. A 10# bag was $4.99, which was.....$4.00 off! What?! Regularly $8.99 for 10#'s! :eek: The 5# bags were just a little cheaper than the 10# sale price. I came home and searched for the potatoe thread to reply. I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I really am going coo coo.

Edited August 27, 2011 by ~AprilMay~

[Julie in CA]

The thread was actually about how all of the potatoes are rotten.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=301588&highlight=potato

[Lady Marmalade]

Was it on that thread about sticker shock at the grocery store?

 

Potatoes ARE crazy! We haven't eaten them in months because the last time I went to buy them I was floored at the price. I finally picked up a bag of red potatoes yesterday from a farmstand- I paid $4.00 for a ten pound bag- I cannot wait to make something that uses potatoes!

[BatmansWife]

The thread was actually about how all of the potatoes are rotten.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=301588&highlight=potato

 

Oh, maybe that was it. Thanks Julie. Obviously you see I didn't read the thread. :blush: So, apparently potatoes are a double whammy right now....either rotten or super expensive (or both).

[BatmansWife]

Was it on that thread about sticker shock at the grocery store?

 

Potatoes ARE crazy! We haven't eaten them in months because the last time I went to buy them I was floored at the price. I finally picked up a bag of red potatoes yesterday from a farmstand- I paid $4.00 for a ten pound bag- I cannot wait to make something that uses potatoes!

 

:iagree:Eat lots of potatoes for awhile so they don't go to waste. You don't want them to end up sprouting little arms (even though you are the Sproutmaster). ETA: Erika....I just noticed you are in NE WI. I am in NW WI. I wonder if potatoe prices are high anywhere else. Probably. :D

:smilielol5::smilielol5:

 

ETA: Erika....I just noticed you are in NE WI. I am in NW WI. I wonder if potatoe prices are high anywhere else? Probably.

Edited August 27, 2011 by ~AprilMay~

[Lady Marmalade]

:iagree:Eat lots of potatoes for awhile so they don't go to waste. You don't want them to end up sprouting little arms (even though you are the Sproutmaster). :D

:smilielol5::smilielol5:

 

:rofl::rofl:

 

If it was spring and they sprouted, I'd plant them and grow new ones!

[BatmansWife]

:rofl::rofl:

 

If it was spring and they sprouted, I'd plant them and grow new ones!

 

:lol: I would have never thought of that. But, you would...since you are the master at sprouts. :D

 

OK....I know my jokes are corny. :tongue_smilie:

 

Hey...I don't know if you saw my ETA on my reply to you above. But, we are in NW WI. I see you are fairly new. Welcome!! :seeya:

Also....my sister's name is Erika....with a K. You don't see it spelled that way often.

[Lady Marmalade]

:lol: I would have never thought of that. But, you would...since you are the master at sprouts. :D

 

OK....I know my jokes are corny. :tongue_smilie:

 

Hey...I don't know if you saw my ETA on my reply to you above. But, we are in NW WI. I see you are fairly new. Welcome!! :seeya:

 

Also....my sister's name is Erika....with a K. You don't see it spelled that way often.

 

Thanks for the nice welcome! And the corny jokes- they're making me giggle after a long, tiring day. :) We're in Appleton, and the K in my name was a change when I was in middle school and there were two other Erica's in my class. Mom always said she wished she'd spelled it with a K, so we changed it. Made me special. ;)

[Guest]

I didn't see this post you're referring to, but when I went shopping last night, I was a bit shocked by the price, as well. I ended up getting a small bag of red potatoes as they were the cheapest.

[QueenCat]

Not bad here... I paid $3.89 for a 10lb bag of yukon golds yesterday.

[silliness7]

potatoes here are on sale for 90 cents this week. I'm guessing that's a 5# bag. I need to get some before the sale ends.

[BatmansWife]

Thanks for the nice welcome! And the corny jokes- they're making me giggle after a long, tiring day. :) We're in Appleton, and the K in my name was a change when I was in middle school and there were two other Erica's in my class. Mom always said she wished she'd spelled it with a K, so we changed it. Made me special. ;)

 

My sister lives in Appleton. Not the Erika sister...a different one. :001_smile: I think the letter change in your name was a good one....I like the name so much better with a K. Soooo.....3 Erica's in your class? I wonder if you are about the age of my sister (maybe there were a lot of Erica's born around that time??). She is 38 now. There was a Peter, Paul & Mary song around the time she was born and my mom got her name from that. "Erika with the Windy Yellow Hair". Have you ever heard it? I just looked up the lyrics. I remember it now. It makes me all :crying: for some reason.

 

Erika with the windy yellow hair

Dancing through the day or moping by the stair

My joy to know my Erika with the windy yellow hair

Yesterday I met her running home from school

Her face was tear stained, she didn't know I knew

But I do, I do

Today she had a song to sing and a poem she knew

And with a kiss and a hug she dashed away, she had things to do

I do too, I do too

Lithesome child, I turn with care

When viewing you on step or stair

All my hope and love for you,

My Erika of the windy yellow hair

 

 

potatoes here are on sale for 90 cents this week. I'm guessing that's a 5# bag. I need to get some before the sale ends.

 

Whoa! Stock up on taters! Unless they are 90 cents each. :D

Edited August 27, 2011 by ~AprilMay~

[Teachin'Mine]

potatoes here are on sale for 90 cents this week. I'm guessing that's a 5# bag. I need to get some before the sale ends.

 

Don't know where you are, but it's possible that that's a per pound price. :tongue_smilie:

[FaithManor]

Non-organically grown potatoes are heavily saturated with fertilizers that are fossil fuel based. Costs of production for standard field run Idaho potatoes has increased $4000.00 per acre since 2008. Due to potato contracts with large food congolomerates, many potato producers had to wait until 2011 to renegotiate their contracts. New contracts with ConAgra, etc. include an approximate 50% increase on wholesale prices which of course then translates to anywhere from 100% -300% mark-up to the end consumer unless stores run sales to bring shoppers in.

 

Another factor is that several countries in the world, India and that region in particular, had lower yield and some had disastrous potato crops this season. Big Ag companies are making more money exporting potatoes then selling domestically. Wheat products will likely go up similarly as export deals right now are very lucrative which means that domestic markets have to meet that price or not buy. Cheese has already seen a large increase because cheese exports have nearly doubled this year.

 

Food is going to become much more expensive in the coming years due increased competition for our agricultural products. Supply and demand. If other countries are willing to pay more, Ag will up the prices domestically. The bottom line is what counts. They won't sell at home if they can't make as much or more than selling globally. It happened first with manufacturing, then some aspects of the service industry - IT, Customer Service, etc. and now it's made its way to food.

 

For anyone who is interested in growing potatoes next year...they are pretty simple. You can even grow them in plastic milk crates with dirt in the bottom and straw on top and hill them up with either straw or dirt. My friend grows potatoes and only hills up twice. She does hers directly sown into the end of the garden in two rows that are approximately 16 feet long. She harvests some of the best tasting potatoes you'll ever eat and no pesticides or herbicides. She gets about 75 lbs.

 

Faith

[RegGuheert]

I came home and searched for the potatoe thread to reply. I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I really am going coo coo.

More likely your search failed due to your "Dan Quayle" spelling of the word "potato"! :001_smile:

For anyone who is interested in growing potatoes next year...they are pretty simple. You can even grow them in plastic milk crates with dirt in the bottom and straw on top and hill them up with either straw or dirt. My friend grows potatoes and only hills up twice. She does hers directly sown into the end of the garden in two rows that are approximately 16 feet long. She harvests some of the best tasting potatoes you'll ever eat and no pesticides or herbicides. She gets about 75 lbs.

:iagree: When we want potatoes, we walk out back with a shovel and dig them up! We grow five 66-foot-long rows of potatoes each year. Last year we probably yielded about 400 lbs. This year we had many seed potatoes rot due to excessive flooding this spring. Still I wouldn't be surprised if we still get 400 lbs. since we planted more pieces closer together (though 50 lbs. of seed both times).

 

One other thing we noticed last fall and winter when potatoes started to get scarce: The ones in the stores were all GREEN! According to The Resilient Gardener, which MomsintheGarden recently read, the poison in a green potato is not just in the skin, but throughout the entire potato! In other words, you should not eat them, even if you can stand the taste!

Edited August 27, 2011 by RegGuheert
work->word

[Lady Marmalade]

My sister lives in Appleton. Not the Erika sister...a different one. :001_smile: I think the letter change in your name was a good one....I like the name so much better with a K. Soooo.....3 Erica's in your class? I wonder if you are about the age of my sister (maybe there were a lot of Erica's born around that time??). She is 38 now. There was a Peter, Paul & Mary song around the time she was born and my mom got her name from that. "Erika with the Windy Yellow Hair". Have you ever heard it? I just looked up the lyrics. I remember it now. It makes me all :crying: for some reason.

 

I've never heard that song- but I do have long blonde hair! I'm sure my parents knew the song, but my name was inspired by my mom's love for All My Children and the infamous Erica Kane. :tongue_smilie: Though, if you ask her now about it, she insists that she pulled Erica out of my Dad's name Frederick. She stopped watching soaps years ago...

[Lady Marmalade]

:iagree: When we want potatoes, we walk out back with a shovel and dig them up! We grow five 66-foot-long rows of potatoes each year. Last year we probably yielded about 400 lbs. This year we had many seed potatoes rot due to excessive flooding this spring. Still I wouldn't be surprised if we still get 400 lbs. since we planted more pieces closer together (though 50 lbs. of seed both times).

 

Wow! Do you grow different varieties? Potatoes are one vegetable that's always intimidated me, so I've never tried growing them. I've already determined that next year is the year, but I'd like to try some varieties that are more interesting than russets.

[joannqn]

Potato prices aren't too bad here. I just bought a large bag, and I wouldn't if it were suddenly double the price.

 

One other thing we noticed last fall and winter when potatoes started to get scarce: The ones in the stores were all GREEN! According to The Resilient Gardener, which MomsintheGarden recently read, the poison in a green potato is not just in the skin, but throughout the entire potato! In other words, you should not eat them, even if you can stand the taste!

 

Yes, they seem to almost always be green...the entire bag, usually.

 

Wow! Do you grow different varieties? Potatoes are one vegetable that's always intimidated me, so I've never tried growing them. I've already determined that next year is the year, but I'd like to try some varieties that are more interesting than russets.

 

Potatoes are really easy. It's one of the few things that survived in my disaster of a tiny garden this year.

Edited August 28, 2011 by joannqn

[RegGuheert]

Wow! Do you grow different varieties?

No! MomsintheGarden always grows 30 different varieties of everything, but I have some say over the potato patch and we only grow Kennebecs. The seed cost gets pretty high if we instead would purchase 5 10-lb. bags.

Potatoes are one vegetable that's always intimidated me, so I've never tried growing them.

I wouldn't be intimidated by potatoes. One of the gardening authors MomsintheGarden reads points to potatoes as the one crop you can grow if you want to feed yourself. Nothing else you grow will produce as much produce.

 

That said, there are a few pointers I will give:

- Don't grow potatoes in raised beds. We tried it and the yield was horrible. (Though perhaps we did not do it properly...)

- Hill your potatoes. The tubers grow between the seed and the top of the ground, so you want to add about one foot of dirt between the seed and the surface (after they have started growing). We do it twice, as FaithManor indicates.

- Potatoes have lots of pests. The main one is the Colorado Potato Beetle, but we also are now fighting blister beetles. If you do not battle these pests, your plants will be completely consumed by them. Commercial growers spray for these with chemicals but we (usually MomsintheGarden) pick them off and kill them. That is effective, but you have to keep up with them.

I've already determined that next year is the year, but I'd like to try some varieties that are more interesting than russets.

IMO, russets have a somewhat limited application. I like Kennebecs because they taste good, are very versatile and they produce very well. But there are many other types of potatoes that I like as well. The book I just linked has specific recommendations on several different types of potatoes that the author recommends. If you would like to know what they are, I can look them up for you.

 

Good luck with your potatoes next year and let us know if you would like any advice! It's still free and worth every penny! ;)

Edited August 27, 2011 by RegGuheert

[MomsintheGarden]

I agree with everything Reg said, except I would like to try a couple of other potato varieties sometime. :)

 

I must blanch some tomatoes when the pot boils, but I wanted to post some articles that Carol Deppe recommends in The Resilient Gardener, which I highly recommend if you feel you are ready to move beyond the basic gardening books. Another beyond-the-basics gardening book that has a lot about potatoes is Steve Solomon's Gardening When it Counts. I have not read these articles but plan to (does that count?). Anyway, Deppe summarizes them in her book.

 

Deppe says that glycoalkaloids can be produced by potatoes exposed to a single day of sunlight. The process is irreversible, and glycoalkaloids cannot be eliminated by cooking. What this means is that most potatoes sold in stores and at roadside stands are probably toxic. We didn't know this when we first started growing potatoes, but now that we do, it motivates us more to pick off those potato bugs!

 

http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/234-182.pdf

 

http://journals.uzpi.cz/publicFiles/00250.pdf

 

http://noarthritis.com/research.htm

 

http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/pfvegetable/PotatoesEarly/

 

Must work on that salsa now. I hope you enjoy today's dose of gloom and doom. :001_smile:

 

GardenMom

[LucyStoner]

Potatoes were still pretty cheap the last time I bought them here but I am in a big potato producing state. Food in general is getting very high.

[BatmansWife]

More likely your search failed due to your "Dan Quayle" spelling of the word "potato"!

When we want potatoes, we walk out back with a shovel and dig them up! We grow five 66-foot-long rows of potatoes each year. Last year we probably yielded about 400 lbs. This year we had many seed potatoes rot due to excessive flooding this spring. Still I wouldn't be surprised if we still get 400 lbs. since we planted more pieces closer together (though 50 lbs. of seed both times).

 

One other thing we noticed last fall and winter when potatoes started to get scarce: The ones in the stores were all GREEN! According to The Resilient Gardener, which MomsintheGarden recently read, the poison in a green potato is not just in the skin, but throughout the entire potato! In other words, you should not eat them, even if you can stand the taste!

 

Oh my goodness!!! I really can't believe I spelled it with the e. I DO know you only add the e when you make it plural. I went back to seem my original post because I didn't believe your quote that I had spelled it that way. But I did. :eek: And, more than once yet! :w00t: How embarrassing. :blush: Truly, I do know how to spell potato. I wonder why I did that??? And, actually....when I did the search I spelled it both ways in case the original poster spelled it wrong (which I ended up doing myself!).

 

That's really great that you can grow potatoes (with the es). Our land is really sandy...not sure if we could grow anything here....probably not even one potato (without the e). Good to know about the green ones. If it wasn't too bad I'd just cut or peel that off. Sooooo.....that's a bad thing?? :lol: It's a wonder I haven't poisoned my family yet! :tongue_smilie:

 

I've never heard that song- but I do have long blonde hair! I'm sure my parents knew the song, but my name was inspired by my mom's love for All My Children and the infamous Erica Kane. Though, if you ask her now about it, she insists that she pulled Erica out of my Dad's name Frederick. She stopped watching soaps years ago...

 

All My Children. Yep. My mom too. I remember it was always a treat when I was sick and got to stay home to watch soap operas. :lol: You know....I think Erica is *still* on that show. It's got to be like 30 some years! BTW...I like the Frederick story. :001_smile:

Edited August 27, 2011 by ~AprilMay~

[Jennifer3141]

This thread made me get off my fanny and plant the fall potatoes. lol

[hsmom]

They are still cheap here, $2.99 for a 10# bag and reds are $4.99 for a 10# bag. Same as it has always been.

[lisamarie]

I don't know what state you guys all live in, but here in MI there has been no change in the price of potatoes. This week 5 lb bags of round white potatoes were on sale for $1. 3 lbs bags of sweet potatoes were $1. I generally buy a 5lb bag of new potatoes for under $4 not on sale (these are my favorite and I very rarely buy other varieties).

[RegGuheert]

 

That's really great that you can grow potatoes (with the es). Our land is really sandy...not sure if we could grow anything here....probably not even one potato (without the e).

I think sand is probably fine. We usually get our seed potatoes from Maine. I think they are grown in sandy soil. This year our seed came from Minnesota. They appeared to be grown in very black soil. We grow them in red clay. It all seems to work...

[BatmansWife]

This thread made me get off my fanny and plant the fall potatoes. lol

 

You mean.....since I posted last night?? Wow....you're fast. :D Glad you were inspired.

[FaithManor]

I don't know what state you guys all live in, but here in MI there has been no change in the price of potatoes. This week 5 lb bags of round white potatoes were on sale for $1. 3 lbs bags of sweet potatoes were $1. I generally buy a 5lb bag of new potatoes for under $4 not on sale (these are my favorite and I very rarely buy other varieties).

 

The wonderful thing about Michigan is that much of agricultural products are locally sold. Our prices are MUCH lower than many, many states because we produce so much in-state and through smaller farms not owned by the big-ag companies. Michigan State University Agricultural department is still very much in the corner of small, family farms. Therefore, our prices are dependent more on local crop sizes and demand than on worldwide demand. It's very, very good for us! I've posted so many times about how low our prices are and others, particularly from the coasts and low agricultural producing states in the south, have posted back how high their prices are.

 

Despite Michigan being the stench of the armpit of the economic crisis in a lot of areas, produce in season is one thing we generally count on remaining quite a bit lower than everywhere else in the country. I hope it stays that way!!

 

Faith

Edited August 27, 2011 by FaithManor
sp

[silliness7]

Don't know where you are' date=' but it's possible that that's a per pound price. :tongue_smilie:[/quote']

 

You girls were making me nervous. I had to go hunt down my sale flyer. Homegrown Round White Potatoes 5lb. bag. 10 for $10 get the 11th item free. Mix and Match.

 

So I figure things are 90 cents because I always get 11 things and it doesn't have to be 11 bags of potatoes. Whew!! I couldn't eat that many potatoes.

 

I wish I could buy them up and help you all out. I'm in Michigan if anybody wants to come buy up our taters. :001_smile:

[silliness7]

The wonderful thing about Michigan is that much of agricultural products are locally sold. Our prices are MUCH lower than many, many states because we produce so much in-state and through smaller farms not owned by the big-ag companies. Michigan State University Agricultural department is still very much in the corner of small, family farms. Therefore, our prices are dependent more on local crop sizes and demand than on worldwide demand. It's very, very good for us! I've posted so many times about how low our prices are and others, particularly from the coasts and low agricultural producing states in the south, have posted back how high their prices are.

 

Despite Michigan being the stench of the armpit of the economic crisis in a lot of areas, produce in season is one thing we generally count on remaining quite a bit lower than everywhere else in the country. I hope it stays that way!!

 

Faith

 

I just read your post. I had no idea. I resonate more with the armpit metaphor. :lol:

But hey, gonna go get some cheap. potatoes today.

Last fall I learned about cheap apples. (I like to keep claiming I'm new here but I don't know how many more years I can pull that off. I'm basically just ignorant)

[swellmomma]

I don't buy them at the grocery store very often because they are so pricey. However when I lived in the city I used to buy them directly from the potato producers $5 for a 50# bag. I should see if they still do that. I bought onions from them that way too and then sold them to family so we all had 5# of onions for 0.50 each. Hmm, maybe next time I am in the city again I should see if they are still selling potatoes like that.

[swellmomma]

One other thing we noticed last fall and winter when potatoes started to get scarce: The ones in the stores were all GREEN! According to The Resilient Gardener, which MomsintheGarden recently read, the poison in a green potato is not just in the skin, but throughout the entire potato! In other words, you should not eat them, even if you can stand the taste!

 

 

I learned this in my food handling course as well. Last time I was at the grocery store all the potatoes being sold were green. I was shocked.

[RegGuheert]

This thread made me get off my fanny and plant the fall potatoes. lol

Fall potatoes? :confused: I must admit complete ignorance here. We've never done anything like that! Please do tell more! (Said Reg, knowing full well that MomsintheGarden will be put out that I didn't just ask her, instead going to "those ladies on the Well-Training Mind Board". :tongue_smilie:)

[Audrey]

- Potatoes have lots of pests. The main one is the Colorado Potato Beetle, but we also are now fighting blister beetles. If you do not battle these pests, your plants will be completely consumed by them. Commercial growers spray for these with chemicals but we (usually MomsintheGarden) pick them off and kill them.

 

 

Potato beetles hate soap. Their eggs also don't stick well on soap. Regular dish liquid cut with water and used as a spray works fairly well if you remember to spray the undersides of the leaves as that's where the eggs are laid and the beetles hang out. This doesn't get all of them, but it does cut their numbers down a bit.

 

However, you still have to search and destroy. I just use a coffee can with about a half-cup of gasoline in it. Go along the plants. Hold the coffee can under a plant and shake the plant. The beetles fall into the can. Pick up any that fell on the ground and toss them in the can. When you're done, set the can down and toss in a match.

 

*Disclaimer: If you can't handle bug pyricide, then obviously don't do this. also, if you can't handle a lit match and some gasoline properly, don't do this. Otherwise, it is a remarkably satisfying method of eliminating those little sons-of-a-biscuit.

[Melissa in Australia]

Well, all the prices I have seen on this thread sound very cheep to me. Potatoes here range from $5 kg for the fancy types down to $1.50 kg for the poor quality, unwashed potatoes.

[RegGuheert]

Potato beetles hate soap. Their eggs also don't stick well on soap. Regular dish liquid cut with water and used as a spray works fairly well if you remember to spray the undersides of the leaves as that's where the eggs are laid and the beetles hang out. This doesn't get all of them, but it does cut their numbers down a bit.

Thanks for the tip! I'm not sure that is practical for nearly 500 plants as we had this year, but we may experiment a bit next year and see how it goes.

However, you still have to search and destroy. I just use a coffee can with about a half-cup of gasoline in it. Go along the plants. Hold the coffee can under a plant and shake the plant. The beetles fall into the can. Pick up any that fell on the ground and toss them in the can. When you're done, set the can down and toss in a match.

We used to use diesel fuel when I was growing up. MomsintheGarden showed my that a cup of water works just fine. You can include a little soap in the water. Anyway, that is what I do sometimes.

 

MomsintheGarden, OTOH, likes simply crushing them between her fingers. I'm thinking she does this as an outlet for all the stress from homeschooling! :D

[Julpost]

I had fresh potatoes from a farm stand last night for the first time ever and COULD NOT BELIEVE the difference in taste. My 4 year old kept stealing them from my plate because he could not get enough. That is one crop that I'd like to grow next year for sure!!!

[DawnM]

We buy our potatoes at Costco unless there is a sale of some sort at the local store.

 

I think they are still 10 pounds for $7 or $8. It is somewhat high maybe, but they last a long time.

 

We do have a potato bar night at least once per month. I get butter, cheese, sometimes bacon or chicken, and sour cream. I like it with chicken broth instead of butter. My kids actually LIKE potato bar night.

 

I need to start a price book. You are reminding me that it is a good idea.

 

Dawn

[Amy in NH]

If other countries are willing to pay more, Ag will up the prices domestically. The bottom line is what counts. They won't sell at home if they can't make as much or more than selling globally.

 

Faith

 

Don't we pay HUGE subsidies for those potatoes? And now they're selling them overseas and we can't afford to buy them ourselves? Something's rotten...

[Audrey]

Thanks for the tip! I'm not sure that is practical for nearly 500 plants as we had this year, but we may experiment a bit next year and see how it goes.

 

We used to use diesel fuel when I was growing up. MomsintheGarden showed my that a cup of water works just fine. You can include a little soap in the water. Anyway, that is what I do sometimes.

 

MomsintheGarden, OTOH, likes simply crushing them between her fingers. I'm thinking she does this as an outlet for all the stress from homeschooling! :D

 

 

We usually have about a 1/4 acre in potatoes. We use the little Case 640 and the sprayer to do the whole garden which is about 1.5 acres (because we also do a bit a market selling out of it). The soap thing works for many pests. The sprayer we have is low and always "fluffs" the bushier plants. Do you use equipment, or are you just doing it all hands-on? If it's hands-on, you can get back-pack sprayers that are a lot easier on you.

[Nestof3]

I don't buy potatoes very often, and when I do, they rot before I use the entire bag unless I'm very proactive about planning them.

 

How in the world does a person store 75 pounds of potatoes? :001_huh:

[Truscifi]

I tried to grow potatoes in a bucket last spring. The foliage grew well, I topped with dirt twice, it died back just when it was supposed to, I dug everything up...and found empty potato skins. :glare: Bugs had burrowed in and eaten most of the inside of every potato. :cursing:

 

My gardening friends suggested I try again this fall because the springs here are too hot and humid for potatoes to do well. Oh, and also that I put the bucket on a stand so it is off the ground for better drainage and fewer bugs. I plan to start them in late fall.

[LibraryLover]

The organic potatoes at the famer's market this week were $1.50/lb and I was very excited. I thought it was cheap.

 

I haven't had much luck growing potatoes, but I know people who have. I am going to try again next year. I didn't plant any this past year-- I just didn't have the heart for it.

[Geo]

:iagree:Eat lots of potatoes for awhile so they don't go to waste. You don't want them to end up sprouting little arms (even though you are the Sproutmaster). ETA: Erika....I just noticed you are in NE WI. I am in NW WI. I wonder if potatoe prices are high anywhere else. Probably. :D

:smilielol5::smilielol5:

 

ETA: Erika....I just noticed you are in NE WI. I am in NW WI. I wonder if potatoe prices are high anywhere else? Probably.

 

They're high here in western NC. Not buying them right now though, we grew some in our garden...wish I'd planted more. :glare:

[Colleen]

Potatoes are one vegetable that's always intimidated me, so I've never tried growing them.

Oh, but potatoes are one of the easiest things you can grow. Save some of this year's crop, cut 'em up and stick 'em in the ground, and voila! you've got the next crop. Convenient and inexpensive. I still do buy a lot of potatoes, but only organic grown locally. If I had to choose between conventional potatoes and no potatoes, I'd go the later route, no question.

[FaithManor]

Thanks for the tip! I'm not sure that is practical for nearly 500 plants as we had this year, but we may experiment a bit next year and see how it goes.We used to use diesel fuel when I was growing up. MomsintheGarden showed my that a cup of water works just fine. You can include a little soap in the water. Anyway, that is what I do sometimes.

 

MomsintheGarden, OTOH, likes simply crushing them between her fingers. I'm thinking she does this as an outlet for all the stress from homeschooling! :D

 

 

You could try tobacco poisoning. A number of slugs, insects, beetles, creepy crawlies of all kinds, are sensitive to tobacco. It is out go-to more natural pesticide here. If you think of it this way, you've probably heard stories of workers in tobacco fields who have gotten tobacco poisoning - some have even died - from absorbing too much tobacco oil through their skin.

 

What we do is dissolve packages of chewing tobacco in five gallon buckets filled with water and two cups of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap - I use the peppermint essential oil infused soap because peppermint oil is another thing bugs HATE. We steep it for a few days so it is good and strong and then put it on with a sprayer. It reduces our pest problem in the garden by easily 75% if not more than that and depending on the bug, it can be pretty close to 100% eradication. When necessary we will do it more than once per season. So far we have not run across any info that suggests it becomes toxic to our vegetables. Therefore, at this time, we are assuming it biodegrades rather efficiently into the soil and becomes neutralized. Dr. Bronner's is an olive oil based soap so it is safe.

 

Faith

[BatmansWife]

You girls were making me nervous. I had to go hunt down my sale flyer. Homegrown Round White Potatoes 5lb. bag. 10 for $10 get the 11th item free. Mix and Match.

 

So I figure things are 90 cents because I always get 11 things and it doesn't have to be 11 bags of potatoes. Whew!! I couldn't eat that many potatoes.

 

I wish I could buy them up and help you all out. I'm in Michigan if anybody wants to come buy up our taters. :001_smile:

 

Well, that's an awesome deal. Lucky! :001_smile:

 

Well, all the prices I have seen on this thread sound very cheep to me. Potatoes here range from $5 kg for the fancy types down to $1.50 kg for the poor quality, unwashed potatoes.

See.....now I wouldn't have a clue what that means. :D

[mommyagain]

 

How in the world does a person store 75 pounds of potatoes? :001_huh:

 

:lurk5:

[mommyagain]

What happened to all the potato people?:D

[RegGuheert]

We usually have about a 1/4 acre in potatoes. We use the little Case 640 and the sprayer to do the whole garden which is about 1.5 acres (because we also do a bit a market selling out of it). The soap thing works for many pests. The sprayer we have is low and always "fluffs" the bushier plants. Do you use equipment, or are you just doing it all hands-on? If it's hands-on, you can get back-pack sprayers that are a lot easier on you.

Wow, 1.5 acres is a big garden! Is the bottle for the sprayer carried on the 3-point hitch and the spray part driven by the PTO?

 

We have a Kubota 4330, which is a little big for a garden tractor. We've used it in the potato garden (1/30 acre) so far to dig out about 15 tons(!) of limestone boulders and also we use it to plow out the potatoes. I have so far refused to put the rows far enough apart to accommodate the tires, but we have put them about 44" apart so that if I put the potato plow all the way to one side I can plow them out without running over the next hill (but I run over the hill on the other side). Point being that I cannot drive the tractor through once we've planted. But I think a backpack sprayer might be interesting! We'll have to see next year if we want to continue the manual process or if we will try something new.

 

Someday it may be nice to have a market garden here. The problem is that the limestone removal needed to make new garden space usable is either a massive amount of work or impossible. We tear up too much equipment if we don't get them out. I'm sure we could find some rock-free areas but I don't want to put the garden too far away from the house. In any case, I'm sure a 1.5 acre garden keeps you more than a little busy!!

 

Thanks again for the tips!