Ooooh, those look terrific! You're right, your friend doesn't get it...hee hee!

I sure wish I had a good spot to put in a veggie garden. I am envious!

Linda

I agree, he doesn't get it. I know they will taste better to you as they are home grown!
In another month I will go over to the farm on the North Fork and get a 50 lb bag of Chefs potatoes. I love using them in all kinds of soup, and they make excellent mashed potatoes, so moist you don't even need butter.
Enjoy your spuds!

mrsmarv, you're right, he doesn't get it. And for the record, homegrown DOES taste differently. I planted Yukon Gold for Dad and Red Pontiac for me, I've dug just a few, but they are ready.

We eat all I can grow, between Dad's house, mine, and the grandkids. I still buy the big 50 pound bags when they are really cheap in the fall and make french fries for the freezer. Somehow, they get eaten nearly as fast as I can make them. :-)

Annie

I have lots of memories of following the plow picking potatos and dropping them into 5 gallong buckets.

I made rosemary pan-rosted potatoes last night for dinner and they were deeeelicious. The recipe is from a cookbook my cousins gave me, The Cook's Garden. And it's true about them tasting so much better right from the earth ;o)

kframe, I remember doing that too, it was like finding treasure, and boy did we get dirty!!!Those small spuds were made into wonderful potato salad by my aunt.
And they do taste better, so fresh!

They are absolutely gorgeous! I remember what fun it was digging them up about 35 years ago when DH and I had a garden. But next year, by golly, I will have a garden.
Your friend just does NOT get it. You have control, you know they aren't covered with pesticides, and you have the pride of growing them yourself. Nice job!

And, you know how old they are. There are ways of keeping produce "fresh" for ages, but much of the food value is lost. I also LOVE to go dig my own.

Linda: You don't need a garden to grow potatoes, just a big container of some sort. I rescue any potatoes with buds and stick them in any space available in any large container. I almost always have fresh potatoes.

I've seen potatoes grown in stacked tires. They start with one tire/one layer of dirt and as mounding is needed, add tires and dirt. From what I can tell the yield is excellent.

Very nice! Very satisfying feeling. I got the same thing when I made my son's b'day cake - elaborate for me but trust me not professional looking! One of my friends couldn't understand why I would bother when you can get a very nice Thomas cake at Costco (not knocking Costco cakes - I love them...but you know - I wanted to make it for him!) I am sure he will be asking for the Costco cake himself soon enough - LOL.

I have never tried potatoes. Do I have to wait for fall? I can just use potatoes with buds?! Any spot in the garden? Thanks!

On the advice of many, I purchased potato "seeds", which are potatoes produced specifically for crops. They have been inspected at a state level, and from what I've heard have been treated with a coating to prevent diseases and also aide in product yield (??). Store bought cooking potatoes have some sort of growth inhibitor to prevent the eyes from sprouting too quickly. I purchased the seed potatoes and cut them into quarters, each quarter having at least one eye on it (this is where the tubers grow from). I planted ours in mid-April and I just started harvesting them this past week.

Your potatoes look wonderful! I miss having a garden. Hopefully next year we will be able to get our garden in.

I don't know if it is our soil here in IL or what but we grew the best potatoes and green onions I have ever eaten. And if the summer is not too hot the celery is out of this world!

Michelle

Michelle - We're also growing leeks for the first time and boy! are they coming along beautifully. Potatoes + leeks. Hmmm, can anyone guess what my favorite soup is?

I grew potatoes in England where our house was built on an old pig farm. You can imagine the great soil I had. There was nothing better than a dish of jawbreaker sized potatoes w/skins with a good dollop of butter.

Mostly I'm not a tater eater but I think I'm gonna consider them again next year. In the UK if I recall, you were to plant potatoes on Good Friday? a lunar thing. Is that a tradition in the US too? Maureen

Maureen, I think that depends what part of the U.S. you are from. Grandpa used to say to plant potatoes and peas on Good Friday, but that's at least two months before the last freeze and it's never worked for me!

Annie

Ah, Westelle, but my problem is not space, it is lack of sunshine....

I may have to cut down some trees just to get more sun in here. You guys are killin' me with all this home grown produce!

Linda

Here are the last bunch I got...a handsome looking bunch of spuds if I do say so ;o)