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Sunday, October 22, 2017

Potato Planting

The potato has been sprouting indoors for two months. About three weeks ago, it had leaves. I put it outside two days ago on a shelf and sheltered by the porch. Then, after one chilly night, the leaves disappeared. The little sprouts remained green.

Saturday, after J mowed back and side yards, I gave her the $25 money order, and we went to mail it. She had worked here portions of three days.  I like to see money go into the mail! Then, I took her to the little free pantry to see what was there that she needed. She got sugary cereal and angel hair pasta. Her bf refuses to eat regular spaghetti pasta. I hate angel hair, but I will eat it rather than go buy more.

Then, we came home and planted the potato. I had her put the pallet in the back yard in front of the rock wall. She put the pot on that. The holes are big, so the dirt could fall out. She got the broken pot from the trash for me and got a brick with no idea why I asked for them. I smashed the brick into the piece of pot. She knows my hand hurts so she was trying to figure out how to hand me the brick and not hurt me. She was so shocked. I think I scared her when I smashed the broken piece of pot. I mostly just let the brick fall without much support from my right hand.She has no understanding of planting since she has never done it. I instructed her how to put the pot pieces in, put in dirt, put in potato, and more dirt.

I keep telling her to read about planting. Lots of knowledge can be gained by reading. She does not like to read that kind of stuff.

I told her she now knew how to grow food. Her bf likes meat and potatoes, and pasta with anything. So, she can grow potatoes! I hope she takes this life lesson to heart. Maybe I will find another potato that wants to sprout and give her a bucket, watch her plant the potato. She can take it to her apartment (when she gets one) and grow more potatoes. It will be easy enough to carry without much dirt in it at first.

I asked her to bring a hose to water the potato and soil and to put the hose on a light mist. Well, she put it on a hard mist and shoved the hose into the pot and watered the potato about two inches from the potato. I yelled not to hit it so close and pulled the hose up. It was a yell of alarm not anger. When she got it on a soft mist, she wanted to water closely again. This is a mix and does not need to be watered so long and hard. It blows away even in a mist. It had definitely had enough water. I explained it all to her. She has never heard this, so I hope she learns.

While I was sitting in a chair, waiting for her to bring all supplies I asked her to bring, I examined the potato up close. There was a potato starting to grow. It was about half the size of a grain of uncooked white rice. There were other little nodules, some as small as a period on this page. It was fascinating to observe how badly that potato wanted to reproduce more potatoes. I know I am anthropomorphizing the potato. But, nonetheless, it was following it destiny, its biologic" urge," if you will.

If I had planted the potato when I should have, I would never observed dozens of dust-sized potatoes. That alone, the observation, the knowledge, added a zing to my day. Hopefully, J learned something, too. When the potato has grown through the dirt a bit, I will show her how to add leaves, pine straw, and dirt.

If a raccoon or other animal turns this over, you will hear my primal scream from the ends of the earth. I could put it into the chicken pen...good idea, Linda. Sunshine comes in there. And rain.

Sunday morning
Nothing had dug up my potato.

Your turn
Have you ever grown potatoes from a potato? In a pot or bucket or the ground? Have you ever observed the minute potatoes on a sprouting potato? Would this be a good science project for kids? I think so.

17 comments:

  1. I've never grown potatoes but feel the same way about my potatoes, so happy when they flower and start to grow

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  2. every year I think..I'll grow potatoes this year..every year I forget.I swear I'm doing it next year..want to grow the little red ones and big russets..you have more patience than me..but then if that had been my 5 year old GG I would have had that kind of patience..same thing I guess.

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    1. jackiesue,
      Same here. I even had half a dozen ready to sprout and finally realized no one was going to help me even though six people said they would. Hey, I grew the potato that sprouted, a white one. Yes, it is sort of the same thing...lol.

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  3. Growing anything is a great science experiment - and experience.

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    1. EC, that's true. More specifically, I was referring to letting the potato go until you could see miniscule potatoes. I think all children should plant something.

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  4. I have never tried potatoes. To me the most difficult thing is figuring out what will grow where, and learning not to plant the same things in the same spot every year.

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    1. Anne,
      Get a small or large journal...blank pages in any notebook. Make a map or description of the location. That is the only way I can figure it out.

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  5. Linda, dust sized potatoes, yes I would agree that potato was determined to reproduce. When my daughter was small I kept potatoes under the sink. She opened the door and screamed. There was a foot long root on one of the potatoes. This would be a perfect science project for kids. A treasure hunt. Last year my husband took a bag of sprouty potatoes his daughter had thrown out and just threw them in a hole and covered with dirt. We had a fine crop of red potatoes.

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  6. When I was about 8, my father gave me a small sprouted potato from the pantry. I planted it in a corner of the garden, watered and weeded it faithfully. He told me that after it bloomed it would start producing potatoes. So, after it started blooming,I carefully dug around it looking for potatoes almost every day. Finally got about a dozen marble sized that my Mom boiled. I still remember how good they were! Or maybe it was just that I grew them. I've grown many other potatoes from sprouted potatoes but I've resisted the urge to dig them up to check on them.

    Hope J learns from this that it isn't so hard to grow some of your own food.

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    1. Bellen,
      Great story! I thought you were going to say you killed the plant. I grew potatoes from the compost pile. They were especially delicious even if I accidentally had potatoes. I hope she remembers some of this.

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  7. We plant seed potatoes in our garden every year. The time to plant in North Texas is Valentine's day. We cut them up so they have several eyes for each piece and put them in the ground. At the right time they come up. By June the plants begin to turn yellow and die and this is the time to dig them up.

    This year we got quite a few and our problem is learning how to store them. My storage potatoes were sprouting but still good, so my DH peeled them for me to make mashed potatoes to freeze.

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    Replies
    1. Janet,
      The ones I cut up never got planted. I heard that cutting up a potato is unnecessary, just put the whole potato in the ground or bucket. So, that is what we did yesterday. The potato had six sprouts. I think it will do just fine, but I will report the consequences of planting it whole.

      It sounds like you did not keep them from the light. But, at least you saved them, thanks to dh.

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  8. I'm one of those, if I growing thing can be killed I can kill it (some of us should never be allowed to garden) but I did put potatoes in water as a kid and let them sprout

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    Replies
    1. Barbara,
      Potatoes are easier than tomatoes. Basically, you just need to keep the plants covered with dirt as they grow and keep potatoes covered. Maybe some day, you can grow something. Planting one sprouting potato would work for you.

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    2. Yea, I'd live in a condo or an apartment if I didnt live with the plant whisperer. I have no talent (nor inclination) for yards or gardens although I appreciate the produce.

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  9. Back when I gardened I never got around to planting potatoes.
    Too bad there are marvelous heirloom types to try you can't get in the stores.

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.