We raised potatoes for years. Here is a little I know about seed potatoes. Potatoes (tubors) are "clones" unless you use TPS (true potato seed). (very small seeds produced on the top of the plant in small pods) TPS can produce off spring that are different from the parent. There are a couple of ways of propagating new seed potatoes. Tissue culture is one, and there is a newer one that uses hydroponics. There is pre nuclear, nuclear, G1-G6 (generation) As each year goes by for producing seed stock the offspring have a higher probability for getting disease. Also the yield can start to taper off for each successive generation. After G6 we say the seed is "run out" They use stringent testing to check for disease. Good quality eating potatoes can be as good as seed potatoes but are not tested for certification. For example G3 seed grown for table stock might be as good as G3 grown for seed. However table stock is not tested for disease. G3 grown for seed becomes G4 for the following year. If you cut the seed, make sure the cut side "heals" for several hours to a few days (depending on humidity and temp). Tops mancozeb is a common seed treatment used to prevent disease in cut pieces. Also, eating potatoes can be treated to prevent sprouting so they may not work for seed. One disease that is particularly bad for potatoes is late bight. The newer A2 mating is very aggressive. Humidity plays a big part in this disease. Monitoring stations keep track of humidity and after adding numbers up in a special formula spraying notices are sent out to growers. After you start spraying you have to continue through the season to keep it from getting a toe hold in your field. This winter I took some sprout tips and grew some potatoes in small pots. I am going to try to try them this spring for seed. They look disease free and I am curious how well they might produce. Here is a link for some info on potato growing. http://www.panhandle.unl.edu/peyes.htm Alex Pavlista is well known in potato circles.

Last year, my brother and I built a 50'x28' back to eden garden. Purchased 2 dump trucks full of organic compost and our tomatoes and peppers were awesome. lol Then we learned about double digging, hugelkultur and keyhole gardening. So... this year, we decided to build 8'x4' beds while incorporating everything we've learned about gardening so far. Since we vermicompost, we had plenty of it (about 3 yards) plus all the compost from last year. So we dug a few 8'x4'x2' deep and double diged the bottom. Then we filled with logs, branches, leaves, chicken manure, shredded paper, food (5 gal buckets full for each box) and added plenty of water ("hugelkultur"). We put a 5 gallon bucket (with holes at the bottom) in the middle of these boxes to be at 1" above the gardening boxes to add food as we would normally do for vermicompost ("keyhole"). We them mixed the better soil (top soil mixed with some clay) that we took out and began to add layers of this soil with compost and vermicompost until we reached the surface. We built these beds 12" above ground with big logs (about 6" in diameter) and then another level with old pallets we had. After we reached the top of the boxes, we got lucky with rain and allowed it to get water. Next day the soil gave in about 1 inch, which we then added it back in vermicompost. We have been transplanting and soon will begin to add wood chips to the top, at least 4-6" high (back to eden gardening). I can't wait to see how everything comes out. So far we have done 3 boxes like these but now even my mother (67y/o) wants to dig more boxes. lol The whole family got involved with the system while having a blast. The kids loved digging since they get dirty and don't need to worry about messing anything up. Our chickens/roosters (and dogs) though we were building a new log house for them to play so we had to put a small fence around the box and then a net above it to keep them away. :-)

The linesmen come by our neighbourhood every couple of years and clear any trees/branches which might cause problems with power lines. Instead of loading the truck with freshly chipped mostly spruce stuff, they ask if we want it. They now know not to even ask - just dump the stuff!! I use it for paths, mulching established perennial beds, creating new beds lasagna style that will sit for a few weeks, additive to the compost, etc. I did use them one year right away in a perennial bed and the plants reacted by turning yellow and stopping their growth for a while. This was simply a mulch. Next year I just tried a small area and the same thing happened, so now I let it age for a year before I use it.

Right, at the level of the seed piece and somewhat higher, the tuber-bearing filaments come off the stalk as long as it is kept covered with soil or mulch. Generally speaking once the stalk is quite green it will no longer make tubers from that point, which simply means the plant will put more energy into fewer tubers not necessarily less yield. I make a shallow trench to put the seed into and cover with one or two inches of soil. In the bottom of the trench first goes compost unless the ground is fairly rich. A sprinkling of epsom salt is good and wood ashes if you have any. When the plant is vigorously growing N can be supplied with urine diluted 5 or 10 to one with water. Potatoes like tomatoes are highly symbiotic with mycorhizzae. If you can find old wood chips or twigs with fungi on them toss them in the compost in the trench and soak the trench good of course. One can also buy the spores by mail and inoculate the compost or rotted manure, etc. Once the garden area is well grown out with myco you're all set if you don't till too much, keep the OM up, don't let the ground get bone-dry with means don't let it be bare for long periods. Even weeds help. Every common crop family except brassica needs the myco's for optimum health.