Tag: Gardening

Checking on my Potatoes

A number of potatoes are rotting

When I went to get some potatoes for a meal I noticed some are rotting, so I took some time to check on all of the potatoes I had harvested and stored last year.

It took some time to really take every potato in my hand and sort all of the bad ones out. I ended up with half a bucked full of rotting potatoes.

I know it is normal that some potatoes in storage turn bad over time and I know my storage is not ideal. Therefore I am very happy that I still have potatoes to eat from and did not have to trough everything out jet. This is what we still have in storage.

We had a very cold period with up to -20°C and it became almost to freezing point in our barn, which is not very good for the potatoes. What I am noticing when I prepare the potatoes for a meal that many are somewhat gray on the inside. They should be a nice yellow colour. The first time I noticed this I did not think anything of it, but then my children and husband hardly ate from the potatoes. The potatoes had a dirty taste, as if you are eating the soil it self. Ever since I trough away such potatoes, but I do not know what causes the potatoes to turn like this. Maybe the cold, but then I would expect all of the potatoes to have turned bad. If anyone has an idea what could have caused this, I would be happy for a comment.

Our new composter

A quick and easy build

Our small composter is full and we needed a new one. My husband has built a new and bigger one out of leftover wood we had sitting. He made it nice and sturdy with heavy lids, so the dogs can not get in there. The composter is about 1 x 2 meters and 1 meter high and very heavy, so we put it in place with a wheel loader. When the composter is full and the compost is ready to be turned over we will just lift the composter and set it aside to access the compost. As a finishing tough we made a wood chip pad to the composter, so we do not have to walk trough the mud.

Finally covering the last plant beds with straw

Will the garlic grow this year?

Finally we made it to cover our plant beds with straw. I had 3 byssi helpers and the job was quickly done. Hopefully the garlic I planted did not take damage of the frost without the protection of mulch. The other plants do not necessarily need the protection against the cold, but I like to cover the ground and keep the moisture in the soil this way. This is mainly in the summertime important, because the sun can really burn although we are not in a Mediterranean climate. We will see what the beds do this year.