Golden Valley Farm
  • Blog

Digging Potatoes

14/3/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
In the photo above you can see the potato plants in their full glory, leaping upwards and shading out the weeds between the rows. That was a couple of months ago.

Now the plants have mostly died back and it is time to get on with the arduous work of digging out the spuds.
Picture
I start at the bottom of the row, as it is easier to work uphill than down. First I pull off the wilted vines and chuck them on the row that's already been dug. If the weather is dry, the vines wilt and become brittle and the hoe on the tractor chops them into the soil.

The spadework starts at the extremities of the row and works inward and up. Even so, I still manage to cut a few spuds in half as I go along (and why is it always the big ones?).  The potatoes in the picture are Nicolas, a variety favoured in the Mediterranean for its firm, waxy, sweet yellow flesh, and they have become a favourite of mine this year too.

The steel bucket is there for damaged or green potatoes. I remove these spuds to a separate pile where they wither and die in the sun. If the damaged potatoes are left in situ, they get hoed and chopped into the soil and become vigorous weed competition for the following crop (in this case brassicas; mostly broccoli for the winter, but also some cabbages and cauliflower. You can see a few seedlings in the rows to the right of the potatoes).

It's perfect potato digging weather right now. With the soil so dry, the potatoes crumble out of the earth almost clean enough to eat. I'm hoping that with the bulk of the winter plantings out the way, I can get stuck in over the next few weeks and dig most of the spuds before the autumn rains arrive....all I have to do now is to figure out where to store several tons of potatoes...ideas, anyone?
1 Comment
Christine Galbraith
17/3/2014 12:25:31 pm

Hi, my husband and I are looking to buy a small farm in the cygnet area. Today we drove up golden Valley Road and noticed a "For Sale" sign at the front of your property. We immediately rang the agent and he indicated the property was not listed for sale and that it was probably an error. Are you selling?????? I love your little farm, I didn't realise it was your place until I saw the twin verses calves at the gate. We are from NSW and have sold our property and are here looking to start a small farm for a complete lifestyle change. It you are interested, can you contact me please.. I would lve to hear from you.
Regards christine

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Website

    Categories

    All
    Certified Organic
    Cheese Making
    Cold Compost
    Collards
    Compost
    Coverage
    Cygnet
    Deep Organic
    Garden Tools
    Global Food
    Hay Making
    Hoe-made Bread
    Industrial Organic
    Lentils
    Local Food
    Lunch
    Market Garden
    Organic
    Organic Farm
    Potting Shed
    Propagation
    Rocket
    Seed
    Seedling
    Six-row Seeder
    Slow Food
    Sow
    Sowing
    Spinach
    Sustainable Food
    Tasmania
    Tool
    Tools
    Tractors
    Uncertified Organic

    Archives

    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.