any one going self sufficient

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone have a link to a step-by-step process to plant potatoes??

- prepare ground*
- lay out seed potatoes;
- cover seed potatoes;
- keep butting up as the shoots grow*
- harvest

* how you prepare the ground depends on what growing (and harvesting) strategy you want to use. I use my spuds both as a dinner crop and a way of getting patches of ground into good condition after years of neglect.

For a "neglected" area, in year 1 I clear it with a strimmer, run a rotavator over it a few times, plant my saved-from-last-year marbles in deep drills and pretty much ignore them till the autumn. The potato plants themselves keep most of the weeds down, and I don't worry too much about butting them up because flattening the drills after harvest is extra work.

If I'm going for quick-and-easy, then I lie the potatoes directly onto previously worked soil (could have been fallow for two years or more) and cover with something organic (old straw-and-manure when I still had it, or more recently grass clippings) and keep topping that up. This is my "no-dig" technique, and also helps to get the soil back into condition for the following year.

This year, I have one nephew and one niece back in Dublin that are competing to see which of them can grow the best crop from a single potato each (my Christmas present to the family! ) They're growing them in big buckets: a layer of soil in the bottom, potato on top, covered with more soil & keep topping up as the plant grows until you run out of bucket.

Birdnuts wrote: »

Glad the clucks are upping their output with the longer days - proper eggs seem to be in very short supply in the shops according to other family members, unless you want to buy rubbish from battery stock

No battery chickens now, barn or free range omly

I have to do something with our chickens.
They are older and no eggs this year at all, I think they are done. But they were pets for the kids and youngest knows each of the four from each other.

May have to make space and just increase the flock.

We made curried sausages yesterday.

https://m.imgur.com/a/JxHel3E

Very tasty 😋

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Curried snags a great bush dish out this side, wgat curry did ye use? Can Keen's curry powder be got at home?

Just used a medium curry powder from Aldi, not curry sauce.

Birdnuts wrote: »

Think I've pulled a ligament in right hand putting in veg 2day:(

Putting in veg......yeah right

bizidea wrote: »

With the lazy bed method where you dig and turn over the sod on top do you get as good a yield of potatoes as you would by ploughing and making drills. Might try a drill of potatoes this way probably was the traditional way of sowing around the country

No buts it a great way to break up ground. It is nearly 40 years since I planted spuds that way. If the ground has had no spuds in it for 6-8 years the crop should be ok anyway.

Bass Reeves wrote: »

No buts it a great way to break up ground. It is nearly 40 years since I planted spuds that way. If the ground has had no spuds in it for 6-8 years the crop should be ok anyway.

Might try doing a ridge for the craic probably be better trying it on a maincrop than first earlies id be thinking

Alison Old-fashioned Thud wrote: »

Got the garden rotovated today and started my raised beds for spuds.

why not go for ridges ? you'll get a better yield i think anyway

Alison Old-fashioned Thud wrote: »

had them last year. Caused more work for the rest of the veg.
turning a ridge to a bed.
I'm going no dig this year so want beds set up

I just need to spray roundup on the grass that comes up over the next few weeks on the unplanted ground

perhaps if you want to go organic try getting a roll of the black pallet wrap on the ground between the beds , its cheap enough , worked a treat for me a few years ago , if you dont have a lot of unplanted ground

Too me potatoes are a field crop rather than a garden crop. It costs you money to grow them.

I never bother with them

bogman_bass wrote: »

Too me potatoes are a field crop rather than a garden crop. It costs you money to grow them.

I never bother with them

Potatoes are easy to grow and now are expensive to buy especially new potatoes. Last Saturday for about a mixed half stone of spuds, a 12 tray of cabbage ( there was seventeen in it) a tray of lettuce and a half point off onions for a tenner. At a guess there will be 100 euro of stuff off them. Spud are easiest to grow and nearly dearest to buy now

20200401_181501.jpg this is my 3rd Hen coop keeps 6 hens easily and not much work in them.