Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

Beautiful colorful organic potato varieties!

(Taken from PVFS October In the Loop Newsletter) if you would like to receive this newsletter email us at orderdesk@groworganic.com with your full name and email address.

First of all, a Customer Success Story:
Bill Bird and his wife Venus planted one pound of potatoes in their 4′x8′ raised bed and harvested nearly 100 pounds of potatoes this summer! They enjoyed many Cranberry Red and All Blue potatoes this year.

Bill said he fertilizerd two to three times a month with a mixture of Omega 2000 and diluted Maxicrop, which he believes aided in their success. Great job Bill & Venus!

And Now….How-to Grow Potatoes:
by Dan Lake, Peaceful Valley Employee

Since I was 12 years old, my family has grown about 4 or 5 different varieties of potatoes in our garden at home every year. I would love to brag about my tater planting abilities, and with all of that experience one would think that I was a spud growing expert, but after reflecting on what I knew, I came to a different conclusion: I devoted most of my time harvesting & eating the delicious potatoes and have a lot to learn about the process of planting them!

Now that I have my own garden, I’ve done some research, talked to a friend who happens to be a farmer, and have compiled some good tips below.

Crop Rotation: When planting potatoes from season to season, they should be kept on a 3 year rotating cycle in terms of location in your garden where you choose to plant as to not plant in the same location. This means, 3-4 suitable sites are needed if you want to grow potatoes every year, rotating the site where you plant every season.

Soil & Sun: When it comes to soil, potatoes are not very picky. They are very adaptable and will usually produce a decent crop even when the soil conditions are less than perfect. What they do require, however, is as much sun as possible because of how aggressive their root systems are, so keep that in mind when picking your spot(s) to plant.

Preparing Seed Potatoes: When you have your seed, which are potatoes certified for growing, set them somewhere where they will be exposed to some light and warmth (between 60 and 70 degrees F). This will help them to start sprouting. A day or two before planting, use a clean knife to slice the larger potatoes into smaller sections that contain at least 1 or 2 “eyes” or buds on them (seeds). Each seed should be approximately 1 1/2-2 inches square, and the smaller potatoes may be planted whole. In the next day or so, your seed will form a thick callous over the cuts, which will help to prevent it from rotting once planted.

Planting Seed Potatoes: After you have trenched a 4′” deep furrow, plant the seeds or small potatoes 4″ deep in the furrow about 12″ apart and cover lightly with soil. The soil should be evenly moist, but not wet or soggy. If the soil is water logged when you dig, your seed potatoes will probably rot before they even get started. Depending on how cold it gets in your area, it might be a good idea to put a layer of mulch or straw on top of the furrow for a little extra frost protection. Two to Four months later, you will hopefully be enjoying some of the most delicious potatoes ever!

You can also reference our Potato Planting & Growing Guide online.

With garlic harvest & curing in full swing, we’re cooking with organic garlic every day! Here are a few of our staff’s favorite recipes. Please share your favorites with us by leaving a “comment” below. Enjoy!

Herbed Garlic Feta Spread (or salad topper)

Combine 2 cups of feta cheese, 4 cloves of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of minced fresh herbs like basil or oregano. Spread on thin slices of French bread or crackers. Or drop small clumps on fresh garden greens for a zesty salad.

Summer Squash Garlic Grill Marinade

Mince 4 cloves of garlic and mix it with a pinch of fine salt. Allow it to sit for a minute (the salt will help bring out the garlic flavor). Mix with1/4 cup of olive oil and add any other herbs you enjoy grilling with. Slice zucchinis, yellow summer squashes, and patty pan squashes into broad 1/4″ slices. Brush both sides with the garlic marinade, grill for about 3 minutes on each side and enjoy.

Oven Roasted Garlic Rosemary Potatoes

Toss some small potatoes or cubed potatoes with 10 whole peeled garlic cloves, some rosemary, olive oil and salt. Bake in a glass dish for 45 minutes at 350 and enjoy as a side dish.

A kind PV customer sent us a message recently:

“Cranberry Red and All Blue varieties (1 lb.) purchased from Peaceful Valley and planted in March. Resulted in close to 100 lbs. of potatoes from a 4X8 bed.”

Harvested just in time for 4th of July! Thanks Bill, and enjoy!

If you haven’t gotten your potatoes in the ground you’re late. I always have the last of them in by Passover. Here’s the quick fix. Lightly till a patch of ground, spread out some bone meal or soft rock phosphate in spots about 1.5 ft. apart, sprinkle some Biozome to decompose things quickly, set potatoes on those spots, cover with compost and soil and sprinkle with Nutri-Rich.

I bury mine 8-10 inches but this time of year you may want to do that in stages so the soil warms more quickly at the seed point, then run a line of soaker hose. As plants emerge begin covering them with straw until you have a good six inches of straw mulch. The little spuds will grow in the straw with just the right amount of moisture (not too soggy) at the seed potato. Never let the new spuds see the sun. They turn green and un-eatable.

And if you want your long season heirloom tomatoes to come in early get them in the ground now with Walls O’ Water. You’ll be amazed.

Stay tuned for the 2009 Chicken Watch updates.

Read our “How to grow potatoes” page here.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter

6 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion

1 large potato, peeled and diced

4 cups beef or chicken broth or

4 cups water and 4-6 beef or chicken bouillon

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions:

Melt butter.  Add carrots, onions, potato and cook over medium heat until lightly browned about 15 minutes.  Add beef broth, then sugar  and salt and pepper.  Reduce heat and cook until tender, approximately 30 minutes.  Blend in a blender, food processor or with an immersion blender to get a smooth consistency.

Last week I scored a BUNCH of Walla Walla Onion transplants. They were on their last leg and needed to get some TLC soon. So instead, I stuck them in the cooler until Friday, took them home and waited until Sunday to even take a look. What initially looked like a total loss turned out pretty well.

First I dumped the whole sloppy smelly mess into the left hand kitchen sink and cleaned them up, leaving the compostables in the right hand sink. After snipping and rinsing in a tub I laid them out on the counter to breathe. This part of things took the longest but I come from a background in organic produce and it was kind of fun… for a while. Once I’d culled the best ones and counted up 120 healthy, clean and ready to plant transplants, I was happy to chuck what looked like the remaining third in the compost. Yeah!

Alright! On to the bed. One of our 4 X 8 wood sided raised beds was an excellent candidate for the onions because of its deep fluffy loamy fertile soil. As opposed to the other “in the ground” albeit amended beds made with lots of local soil and better for things other than large bulbs.

So this bed grew potatoes which perished, at least above ground during our first frost this fall. First the fun part, harvesting a big ‘ol basket of varietal potatoes, rinsing and scrubbing and making home fries for brunch. Yum! So pretty too.

Next I amended the bed by leveling with a soil rake. (My favorite tool next to the breaker bar) I added some Sierra Foothills Fertilizer Mix we had on hand, sprinkled Nutri-Rich pellets, some Gaia Green and a little Oystershell Lime. No big science here, just what we had on hand, I like all these products.

I busted out the tape measure to make easy work of poking finger holes at six inch spacing in a hexagonal pattern to maximize my numbers. I really did’nt think I’d get them all in. Next I used a (veggie) plastic spoon (another good tool in the garden) to spoon in a little Down To Earth Myco-Inoculant into each hole. Up until this point it seemed like all this prep was taking up too much time and I’d never finish by sundown!

But not to worry, once I started the actual planting, I swear it only took about twenty minutes and wow! Done. Our little four by eight now has 116 transplants which left me with 4 in case any fail or whatever. Again I was impressed with the ease and speed with which the planting process went. So soon this week I’ll mulch heavily with the straw we keep around in bales, and this time next year… onions for days.

It’s amazing how quickly the trees, shrubs, and bulbs display their colorful glory! After a long subdued winter, how happy to see the bright yellow radiance of daffodils and forsythia!

Working in the Peaceful Valley store, I’m also amazed by how quickly gardeners display their eagerness to garden! As soon as those Spring colors begin to show, folks from all over the County and beyond come with visions of a bountiful harvest in mind. I love to talk to customers who can only come once or twice a year; they are so thrilled to see and touch the products they read about in the catalog! With our new Nursery up and running, they like to spend some extra time wandering around the plants and inspecting our Greenhouses.

I also appreciate our regulars who have much patience during the busiest times. They wait in line and still smile, glad to gather the materials that allow them to enjoy their gardens in the sunshine.

For anyone thinking about visiting, come on over! I’d suggest that if there are specific items you really need, call ahead to check on stock (888-784-1722 talk to the order deptartment or the store). Like I said, Spring eagerness is upon us!

P.S. – St. Patricks Day is an awesome time to plant Potatoes!