Daylily, those are some good reasons to plant the potatoes. What you say was reinforced last night by a venerable old local gardener who told me if the tomatoes were blight free, and had only been growing in that spot for one year, the potatoes should be all right. Disease tends to take a number of years of same-crop to build up, he seemed to be saying. And he said growing tomatoes in a bed that had been growing potatoes would be worse. While doing some research on this I came across the idea of growing tomato plants IN potatoes - making a hole in the potato and inserting the tomato plant (if I read right), so as to get a simultaneous crop of both. Will have to find that link.

You could try dusting them with garden sulfur and see what happens. And you could grow the "off" ones in a container to make sure nothing bad gets started in your garden. I threw away (not composted) some unsafe-looking seed potatoes this year.

Hmmm The perfect raspberry plant Well, IÂm up to 10 varieties now, with more coming in the spring, and IÂd say none is perfect, but all are pretty darn good. I mostly have many varieties to try to spread out my harvest. For an everbearing red, youÂll usually see Caroline recommended often here on this forum. For a gold/yellow raspberry, youÂll usually see Anne recommended most here. For a blackberry here, youÂll often see (thornless) Triple Crown recommended. If you search these forums for those varieties, youÂll probably get a lot of the info youÂre looking for. For Thornless raspberries, I do have ÂJoan JÂ. Other people have said that they didnÂt like the flavor of Joan J, but I find the flavor to be every bit as good as my other varieties. I have found that it isnÂt quite as vigorous as some of the other varieties. If youÂre looking for something unique, IÂd go with the yellow/gold raspberries mentioned above. I donÂt have Anne (planting that this coming spring), but I do have Kiwi Gold, and theyÂre some of my favorites. Or, better yet, I might not do 6 varieties, but maybe two? From what youÂve told me, so far, IÂd do a bed of Caroline and a bed of Anne, though those varieties are not thornless. But, I have a 4 year old, and a 2 year old, and they really have zero problems with the thorns. Both varieties are known for their superior flavor. Caroline is also known for having large berries and a large yield. My raspberries are almost care-free. If you get everbearing (fall) varieties, and not summer varieties, you can simply mow (or cut) them down once they go dormant and youÂll get one large crop. Or, you can leave them up over the winter, and prune the tops in the spring, and then get two (albeit smaller) crops. The birds basically leave my raspberries alone, although this is not true for many others. I suspect itÂs because I have a lot of wild ones growing nearby. I really havenÂt had any problems with diseases or insects. For me, in this area, they are by far the easiest fruit I grow but people (in different areas) have different growing experiences. Right, I always recommend some sort of trellis for your raspberries, though, IÂve never tried growing them around a stake. The one thing that you are going to have to take seriously is containment. Raspberries are like weeds, and they will spread and take over like something youÂve never seen. I have my beds against my lawn, so I can easily control them by going by with the mower. But, in your case, youÂre going to need to dig down 15-18" down and place a barrier. Raspberry roots can easily tunnel down 10" and travel for many feet underground. YouÂll want to do some research on this before you just plop them in the ground. I agree with Hines about what he said about the blackberries. I find them to be even more productive for a given amount of space, than the raspberries. And, I love Âem! But, 2 concerns 1) is that you need a really solid/beefy trellis for them. 2.) For me, it wasnÂt until their 3rd season that they really got going. You can probably get some raspberries at your local nursery, but this is an expensive way to do it (here itÂs $25 for a 1 gallon plant), and youÂll be stuck with limited (often inferior Heritage, etc) varieties. You really want to consider getting bare-root plants check out http://www.noursefarms.com/. IMHO, and from what IÂve read from others, they are pretty much known to be the best place to buy berries, certainly in the East, possibly in the country. They have a perfect rating last time I looked on Daves Garden Watchdog (which rates online nurseries) http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/112/ Start doing research here on this site, and elsewhere on the internet, and IÂm sure youÂll have a great crop of berries in no time. Have fun! -Glenn

You don't want to plant potatoes immediately after cutting. The rot too easily if you don't let the cut end dry. My husband cuts ours up and puts them in the garden shed for about a week. It is dark and dry in there. After that he plants them and we never have a problem with them sprouting after they are planted. I don't see a problem leaving them for longer