The #1 Survival Crop You Need to Know How to Grow
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- For peace of mind, plant potatoes in a piece of your garden.
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Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today we take a quick look at the one survival crop you should really know how to grow - potatoes! We talk about how to grow potatoes and why they are the best crop to keep you full.
I grew up in the coalfields of Virginia, in the 1950s & 60s, we as a people would never have survived the winters without potatoes and hogs. There were there were 6 basic crops that everyone grew to survive winter; cabbage (kraut), pinto beans (soup beans), onions (strong yellow storage) field corn (cornbread) and potatoes. And everyone raised and killed a hog for winter. If you had a large garden space you could grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and green beans for canning but a lot of families just grew enough summer crops to eat fresh with the majority of garden space going to winter food. We also foraged a lot. Nobody ever went anywhere on foot without a bag in your pocket in case you saw something good to bring home.
Thank you for this invaluable knowledge. I can't get enough of information like this. Not just how to grow a certain crop but how to make creativity with feeding yourself and integral part of your life.
@@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim Learning to forage was something we learned as children. It used to be an important part of rural life. Were I grew up we foraged : black walnuts, hickory nuts, american hazel nuts, butternuts blackberries, black raspberries, wineberries, wild blueberries, wild strawberries, pawpaws, persimmons, morels, hen of t he woods, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, ramps, wild chives and too many wild greens to list here because this list is getting really long. 👵
NE Ga here and that’s exactly how I grew up ❤
Why not pumpkin/ winter squash or sweet potatoes? Both last 6 months or better. Was it a space thing? Or carrots? I'm not critiquing I'm honestly curious.
@@mrs.w5539 in the coalfields land is very steep and rocky with lots of cool shade. Winter squashes in general takes a fair bit of land especially for the amount food grown. Sweet potatoes need both a softer sandier soil and a longer hotter season to do well. On occasion you would see someone grow pumpkin or sweet potatoes but nobody would consider it a yearly crop. More of a whim or novelty crop. I would think that those 6 basic crops did exceptionally well in the Appalachian coalfields and could be counted on to fed the family. Pigs and chickens don't require the grazing land that cattle do, so those were the animals most everyone had and if lucky enough to have some cleared land, a milk cow was always a welcome addition. My granddad use to say, "that land is so steep the milk cow had shorter legs on one side".
We planted 35# of seed potatoes last year and got over 350# at harvest. We planted 5 different ways to see what would work the best here on our new homestead. We will probably get half again that this year as we now know what works best here. We still have potatoes left and hope to get spring planting in in the next couple of weeks. Go Go potato
What method worked best?
@@RewiredforJoy What worked best for our area is the easiest in my opinion. We dropped potatoes on to cleared ground and covered with straw two or three inches and deep and after they have pushed up three or four inches cover them again then let them go. The second best was the tried and true hill method. Your results may very.
@@tvctun111 what area of the country are you in ? I am in N FL and people have not been very encouraging about potatoes.
@@tysmarc we are in northern Washington. Potatoes do best in cool weather so I would think you could grow them in the winter down there. They also don’t like overly wet soil they tend to rot .
Important to grow your calories... This year I expetimented growing taters in raised beds, fabric bags and in the ground. Massive results with all.
I have pictures of me helping Dad plant potatoes on our farm in 1941! Yes, I am That Old!
Dad would have been 125 tomorrow ~ 3/18/23.
Yes, of course, the pictures are B&W!
By the way, I still plant potatoes! For my convenience, I grow them in washer & dryer tubs. Works great!
Maranatha!
That is wonderful, Annie. What a memory.
@@davidthegood Thanks, David.
Ephesians 2:8-9
I have gardened for. 50 years and I can not imagine a garden without potatoes. They have always been one of my must have. It always amazes me how productive and simple they are
@Rebecca Grimsley What USDA zone are you in, and what variety of potatoes do well there?
"Boil em, mash em, put em in a stew."🤣 I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Keepers of the Old Ways Festival in Dothon!
Those funny Hobbitses.
I'm currently cooking up my butternut squash that were picked in the fall. They're still just about perfect...even better than unsweet pumpkins. I love growing potatoes in a trench with green slime, fish, worm+ compost, wood ash and hay on the bottom of the trench, then filling in dirt and compost as the indeterminate Russets grow.
Green slime? What is that?
I grew up in a family of 10. Half of our huge garden every year was potatoes. We had a root cellar off the basement and it was piled full every year. That, plus fishing and a deer or 3 in the freezer was how my working parents kept 8 hungry kids fed.
What great memories. Thank you.
David, I am growing lettuce because it is one of the more expensive food items I purchase. Plus, it is high in folate, which is necessary for proper detoxification in the body. I will try sweet potatoes this year as summer gets crazy hot here. You have been an inspiration for me to grow more varieties of veggies. Cheers.
Apples and oranges... You grow potatoes not because it's expensive, or because it's high in some vitamins or minerals, but mostly because potatoes is a survival food that can fulfill the bulk of a family calorie needs quite easily. If something goes wrong with the food supply chain, lettuce won't save your life, potatoes will.
BTW, you can get folate and other vits and minerals from wild edible plants, but the bulk of our calorie needs has to come from something more calorically dense! Most wild edible plants have very low calorie density, or aren't available in sufficient quantities to satisfy our needs...
Thank you. Yes, the economic reason is also why it makes sense to grow tomatoes, herbs, greens, etc., if they're a decent part of the budget. They just don't keep you full, so I plan them in after big banks of calorie crops. Sweet potatoes are always a good choice if the climate allows.
The nice thing about sweet potatoes is that you can eat the green leaves and vine ends as a green .. there are around 2 - 3 thousand varieties world wide as I understand .. from the morning glory family.
@@MerwinARTist Yep! The green leaves aren't only edible but also quite delicious!
I grow lettuce too because we follow Dr. Berg’s advice about eating 6-7 cups a day and it is expensive. Kale and chard, also. But for WTSHTF I grow potatoes for the calories, and sweet potatoes for the tubers and their greens. I also grow canas and elephant ears ( I do NOT eat the leaves raw) for the tubers for the ‘ just incase’ scenario…not to mention the cattails in my pond.
For the last 3 years I haven't been able to grow any potatoes, lots of foliage but no spuds. I think I might have some sort of disease in my soil? Next crop I am going to buy some soil and grow them in pots to see if they produce. It's weird because my garden grows everything else in abundance.
I always grow potatoes! When I lived next to a potato farmer, the kids and I would go glean his field when he was done. Oh my! Fresh from the ground is the best!!
YES David our Lord told me several years ago Plant allot of Potatoes so I did a couple different ways experimenting The ground always gives me the best yields 🥔 👍 Thanks for sharing n hope people listen to you God bless 🙏 🇺🇸
Excellent, David. I just read your book, Compost Everything. You turned a potentially dry subject into a fun and informative tour de force. I love your content. Keep up the great work and keep the faith!
Thank you, Paul!
Potatoes are a lil hard to grow here in FL but doable. Problem we have is always fighting potato worms, no matter where or how I plant them. Any ideas on how to combat the borer worms? Sweet potatoes make a phenomenal survival crop here and the worms dont seem to bother. I have them as ground cover EVERYWHERE. Everglades and Matt's Wild cherry tomatoes are a great survival crop here too. I have over 400 volunteer ones this year. It's insane! They are popping up in all of my gardens. Birds must've seeded for me.
Maybe sweet taters
Will be interesting. I have planted Yukons for the first time in my raised beds. I hope I don’t get the worm! Heard Yukons do good here. And russets not so much (unfortunately). My sweet potatoes did awesome. I got a haul in January. Then just replanted more slips in another bed, which are doing good. My yukons are just sprouting out of the dirt. Fingers crossed.
My dogs like snacking on the ET's and I'm pretty sure they spread them in my yard. As far as potatoes, Sweet Potatoes or tropical alternatives like Cassava are the way to go, at least in S. Florida.
Maybe try companion plants. I experimented with alliums, peas, chamomile, nasturtiums, tagetes, petunias, etc. It worked.
@@FloridaGirl- I'm not sure on Yukons. I typically plant kennebecs. But every year, twice a year I plant them. Every year, twice a year the worms get them. Tried buckets, grow bags, raised beds... Once the worms infest the soil, they can survive for years. So you can't plant the potatoes there again- or even close to it. I'm running out of garden areas. I wish you luck. Sweet potatoes are good. Jicama grows well here and is a good potato alternative. This will be my first year planting true yams/dioscorea alata but DTG swears by them. Cassava is another good potato substitute.
Started growing potatoes last year. I really enjoy it. ☺️
Just harvested a couple bags of potatoes planted in November (in Florida) I still have 3 more bags. I did not get a great yield, but I am still learning. I will do better and be even happier next season!
Got about 500 potatoes planted, 800 onions, 800 Garlic from last fall, and will have a couple hundred sweet potatoes slips by May (Purple, White and Orange American), and usually grow a couple hundred black bean plants, red beans, along with peas, all kinds of greens, etc. I credit you my brother for making me concentrate on calorie crops, Prep your grains and buy them now, as they are semi cheap compared to the future and you can plant them. Also I am still eating off of pumpkins and some squash from last years harvest but they are starting to go bad, God Bless and good luck in that great Alabama soil you got,
How do you keep up with it all?? Sounds like hours every day in the garden... not that it's a bad thing. How do you put up the produce?
David the good is the BEST!
Amen!
No he’s just good
Pretty. Darn. Good.
Homer Simpson planted a hot dog. Potatoes are the only thing I know where the part you eat you can plant and it grows more. Potatoes have a good user interface.
When I saw the thumbnail, I was afraid you were dead. Then, I watched the video all the way to the end and didn't see anything like "in loving memory of David the Good", so I figured everything was okay. I'm glad you're alive, and I liked the potato video.
I grow potatoes in the winter here in Brooksville FL. True "name" yams, & yuca in summer, but my survival garden consists of 35 fruit, nut, olive, & Avacado food forest & 6 grapevines that alone put out hundreds of pounds of fruit yearly. & don't get me started on the mulberry tree that produces 50 gallons of berries in March & April.
After watching you for so long now, I finally planted a ñame root from the grocery store. I was pleased with myself when it got new shoots from the ground. It's only one, but I hear they get big. It's a trial run. Lol
Good work.
When Europeans brought potatoes back to Europe most people rejected them While others grew them for their beautiful foliage and flowers. Meanwhile the Irish basically dropped everything they were growing and grew hardly anything but potatoes.
💚 Yes! Potatoes are awesome! Irish stew with beef, potatoes, carrots and peas is awesome for a cold, rainy St Patrick’s Day! Mmmmm. I’m still looking for my rainbow with the pot of gold to take from a leprechaun lol. I hope you find that 4 leaf clover 🍀🤞🏻
Potatoes should be the FIRST crop any aspiring gardener starts to learn with. Super easy, super bountiful, very forgiving. Just 1 tater in a 5 gallon bucket can yield at least 5+ pounds with minimal effort. Only thing to really know here before starting is the difference between determinate and indeterminate varieties and if it's regular or sweet (much different).
Took your advice and actually got the potatoes in the right time of year and have pulled most of them now w great success. Sweet potatoes just getting going for the year now.
And potatoes are less likely to succumb to critters (like corn is) 🦌
I have my first crop of potatoes growing now! Trying everything in NW Florida
Thanks. What about sweet potatoes?
You are correct sir they're delicious versatile and easy to grow and they will keep you alive! Thanks for this awesome Channel
Thank you.
Potatos are amazing they can produce hundreds of pounds in a small space. Were i live in Alaska they grow great they even flower and fruit every year they really want a long cool period. we cant grow tomatos or peppers at all but we always get a bumper crop of potatos.
1:20 What’s taters, precious?
beat me to it, best easter egg
Quick back of the envelope calculation and web search suggests you may get 10 times the weight in potatoes per square foot of garden space, compared to wheat. Does that seem accurate? I wonder how this breaks down for various crops. Or calories of food per square foot. Or dollar value per square foot (taking into account work as a negative dollar value).
Yeah, potatoes are unbelievable compared to other crops.
But if you want to get fancy you can graft tomato’s on to the potato plant and plant the lettuce in between. That way you have potato’s below. Lettuce at ground level and tomatos above.
Funny you should put this video out because my main growing crop this year
POTATOES!!❤❤❤❤❤❤
Its like a treasure hunt when digging them, I love it.
Me too - it's the best.
Fun fact, St. Patrick's day is the first day of spring at northern latitudes.
We now have 12 hours of sun in Saskatchewan, yay!
‘Taters! Each year gets better with the varieties we try to grow. Last year was close to 5 lbs. (not much, but it’s a start). Appreciate your channel David-thanks for encouraging us to just get out there and put stuff in the ground. 👍👍
Store that 5lbs of potatoes properly, and the next year, you can turn it into between 25 and 50lbs
I think in the south the tropical yam is to be favored to the potato, the yam will keep a lot better (longer), I think they are more nutrient dense and not as prone to diseases.
There is a definite balance. We are on the edge between sweet potatoes and white. White just aren't as happy here, but still just worth doing.
All facts!!!
Truth! Everyone knows you need 13 broccoli plants for survival!!!
J/J Yes I know calories first.
The most nutritious part of the potato is the skin.
I started chits just by themselves, now they're growing in a container quite well. First year to try it.
I'm in the temperate rainforest zone and trying to grow potatoes in the ground doesn't work well. Too much water falling roots the tubers. Blight, scab, and fungal damage seen frequently.
@@ninemoonplanet Yes, you need to figure out what does like the ground there.
@@ninemoonplanet I would try growing them in raised beds or Hugelculture style, above the surrounding ground, and keep hilling them up. That would provide drainage.
Grow bags have worked out swimmingly for me. We get tons of rain here in Georgia, and the clay doesn't drain worth a squat. Ten gallon grow bags are easy to pick up and dump into wheelbarrow to get your harvest.
Our Ants absolutely love surviving on my potatoes 🥔
Hmmm....must grow potatoes and piggy for bacon cheesy fries! Now all we need is a plant that produces ranch dressing for our bacon cheesy fries. Hmmm...ranch dressing. 😃🌱🐢
I have a hard time growing traditional potatoes in Phoenix, but Sweet Potatoes grow easily.
And all the cousins, yams, Taro, Yuca, Yautia,
Ñame, Malanga, Boniatos...
I just paid $4.59 of inflated fiat currency for one pound of organic Yukon golds
I love potatoes, and grow them regularly…. They’re easy to grow, but hard to get a good yield off, like 6-15lbs a plant, although possible. My top yield was big red ones at just shy of 7lbs, 6.6lbs one plant, usually less tho, you need high yielding varieties and great technique. Or lots of space, love them. 🥔🥔🥔
Potatoes are King! ! Thank you David the Good👍
Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew!! Happy st pats day David the Good!
Eline emeğine sağlık bu güzel vlog için kolay gelsin hayırlı işler....👍👍👍👍
Right on Brother
We here in Idaho approve this message.
I prefer sweet potatoes. Super easy and you can eat the leaves too.
Thank you, David, for reminding 🙏 me about the potatoes 🥔
They were not easy for me. Any one want to help me brainstorm? First, even though I live way far away from any other garden and had never grown potatoes before, I had literally thousands of potato bugs. My kids would kill 100 or more every single day.
Second, I planted five lbs each of three different determinate types for my local, cold climate. I only got tiny baby potatoes from them IF I got any. I planted each type of potato three different ways - in ground, in potato buckets, and Ruth Stout. The RS way I got zero harvest, in ground I got very little, and in the buckets it was ok but they were all tiny.
I will take any expertise offered me about these two problems. The potato bugs have me turned off from ever trying again.
Here in the EU, potatoes are no longer cheap. They have doubled in price. I grow potatoes (compost and straw) and sweet potatoes, which do very well here. Last year I started with miserable soil, mainly clay and stones. It was terribly hard work, but worth it. I am in the process of building some raised beds.... I am old and it is hard to work on my knees.
I have learned a lot from you and many others. I really compost everything, including the rats my little dog catches. 😎 I'm still impressed with all the veggies I harvested and canned last year. It was my first year and it was a wonder to me to see all the plants thrive.
LOL no 4 leafs today. I love growing potatoes even in my small backyard. I hope to get mine in the ground this coming week. I really think they taste so much better when I grow them also. I love growing radishes to and roasting them they are amazing. I sometimes substitute them if I'm out of potatoes.
One problem with potatoes is they don't grow well in heavy clay soils. Unless you have tons of compost or store bought soil you can use the lazy bed method were yo plant them under an upside down square of sod.
Im in ! wow what a sales pitch !!! Actually i tried for the first time last year i pulled 60lbs from a ten by ten ft garden bed . Ya there cheap to buy until there arent any to buy lol. Thats kinda the way im lookin at it . Thanks David , I love all your books . I have 3 on audiobook now too , great job my friend thanks for all ya share too. Its appreciated , take care
You are the only one I have saw plant potatoes the way my dad taught me as a young child. Thank you!
People say the same things about eggs and chickens eggs are so cheap why get chickens.. and then what happens when Uncle Sam's not supplying cheap eggs
David is right yet again. I'm finding myself adjusting my homesteading through trial and error and coming to many of the same conclusions as you. This year's game plan was adjusted from last year's failures and successes as I do every year. This Spring I have zero plans to grow any lettuce, kale, etc because of reasons in this video. Feeding my wife, 4 children and mother doesn't come easy. These greens are a luxury item not the cornerstone of a high calorie nutrient dense survival diet. I only have so much time and energy and have decided to eliminate those greens while doubling my potato planting. Will be doing 50lbs of German Butterball seed potato. I have my concerns of putting all my faith in one variety but financially buying a 50lb bag is the only way I can turn a "profit". Also much more focus this year on expanding my birds and perennial plantings. Especially fruits. Here in the Northeast I feel focus on perennials is of even more importance considering our short growing seasons. Always sound advices David. Keep Fighting the Good Fight.
My spud tops froze, with row cover on them! NE Bama is getting rough too figure out!
I love potatoes! This year I'm definitely planting Tahitian squash, they winter over, taste like butternut and are 2_4' long!!
Never heard of them, they sound great!
Please make a video on how to cure sweet potatoes. Out of the ground they are NOT sweet..
The most wise words of Samwise: “Boil them, mash them, put them in a stew.”😂
Many on RUclips have share insight on how and what to plant. None comes close to your RUclips video. “The #1 Survival crop you need to know how to grow.” It is short, simple, and precise that no one can dispute. To all those who read this, Take heed of how you hear. “Grow or Die.”
That was super. Happy St. Pat's. Got to have the cabbage as well!
Yes!! I'm right there with you. I've never understood the survival crop of lettuce. I like lettuce, taste great on a burger, maybe a salad but to survive on. No thanks.
This year , we're experimenting a bit on different growing methods, and food. I'm planting stuff I've never eaten, figure if we don't like it the animals will and I'll learn that I don't like it but I can grow it.
A lot of people store things like beans and rice for long term emergencies. Some lettuce, kale, peppers and herbs could change a beans and rice diet from intolerable and vitamin deficient to tolerable and healthier. So it has its place. Obviously for the longest and most sustainable plan, growing all of your calories wins.
@@raez7155 Yes , lettuce does have a purpose, what I'm referring to is survival kits I've seen that has 25 packets of seed and some I've seen 4 packs are various lettuces. There are so many vegetables with power packing nutrients, people should make their own survival packages. I can eat a salad and within hours I'm hungry and munching. There are foods out there that are more filling and you can pretty easily preserve it to survive on. When I think of survival, I think calories, nutrients, storage long term. Many are new to gardening and storage, lettuce even though I enjoy it , it won't take up much space in my own survival pack.
True. Depending on your climate, sweet potatoes, potatoes, true yam and cassava are the best survival food which can fulfill the bulk of your calorie needs. Incredibly easy to grow, doesn't require complicated skills, heavy machinery...easy to harvest...
I also watched your potato video from two years ago. The reason potatoes taste so much better right out of your garden is because the store lets them sit around and the sugars begin to turn to starch. If you make them in to potato chips, you can see that they have two layers that brown differently in the fryer. The older they are, the wider the outer layer. But if you put them in the refrigerator, below 40F, the process is reversed and they make sugar again. Sometimes they get too sweet.
Four leave clover is supposed to indicate no more freezes?
I have been growing potatoes for a few years now, and have them in the garden now. But I also have already had an 80F day while continuing to have some risk of frost for the next few weeks. Potatoes are certainly doable, but the climate in the southern U.S. just isn't the best for them. Corn, supplemented with sweet potatoes seems so much simpler. I also find that sweet potatoes store quite a bit better in my warm indoor setting than white potatoes. Yes, wheat is more work, but I grow it, too. The work isn't nearly so bad as something like rice that has a firmly attached hull, and wheat grows through the winter so I still have time for a summer crop in the area where I grew it.
David have you ever tried curly dock? I eat the leaves raw when real little and cook the older ones like spinach. They are great in quiches. Perennials so they always come back. If you have spot that stays wet then they will grow like crazy. Roots for medicinal
I was just out checking on my taters. I'm thinking my 110 day taters are looking like they are getting close to done already. They stems are starting to droop. Another couple of weeks..Not supposed to be ready until the middle of April. Hey, when they done-they done 😄 Shabbat Shalom, David and Family. Yeshua Hamashiach and Lord!
Taters?….what’s Taters? POTATOES! 😂
Best scene from Lord of the Rings worth the 9hours it took to get there.
I do have a few taters in grow bags, just to see if I can grow them in Florida. One (Yukon Gold) has been growing for almost 4 months and the plant still looks green and healthy....afraid to check in case whatever is under the soil is less than the 6 oz spud I planted....lol
Look up the full growing time, you're at 120 days now. Best harvest of those is when the foliage dies off.
@@ninemoonplanet Thank you, yes, it is late, but no flower, and no sign of any leaves even wilting...The first one is the hardest😭... and figures it would be the developmentally delayed one.
Here's to potato health! 🥔
👍✝️🙏❤️
I'm a senior, and my Dad always said, " If you have potatoes in the house, you'll never go hungry."
Learning to grow plants is a useful skill and people with less space should focus on plants that give them what they feel is the maximum return. I like growing potatoes. It is an easy way to break new ground and I find it very fun, but unless people have ample room they may be disappointed by their yields. Growing something like lettuce, hot peppers, kale, etc. is not particularly useful for calories, but they are high reward crops for new gardeners and gives them practice over taking care of finicky plants.
Potatoes are not a particularly attractive plants and most of the fun is hidden underground, but I have found that when I bring people to harvest crops in my garden they get the most wonder out of the potatoes that magically appear from under an unknown plant. I was able to easily grow enough potatoes on a few hundred square feet of rocky soil to last for half a year. It is very rewarding and fun, but a lot of people only have a few dozen square feet.
I ❤️ love my 30 day French breakfast radishes!
I don't have any problem with growing potatoes but they taste a lot better with the roast Chili's and onions
In the case of small gardens, it makes sense to grow "up" by putting them in wire rings or something.
I fully agree with growing potatoes and also sweet potatoes.
If you’re in the desert eat cactus and mesquite
Today, I am in the process of planting potatoes by the Ruth Stout method that your brother showed in one of his last videos. I have tried hills, bags, pots and all of my harvests were lackluster. I'm giving it one more go this year. I love 'tators and home grown ones taste so good. For mulch I have a bunch of old horse hay that was cut from my own hay meadow. I don't spray so it is really clean. I have sweet potatoes in my kitchen window growing slips.
How did the potato crop turn out?
@@CoolBreeze640 They started very nicely and promised to be a great harvest. But I had rampaging armadillos feasting on the young roots. LOL. True story. I'm trying to figure a way to protect the potato bed with underground wire. The Ruth Stout method seems to work well and I'll try again. TY for answering!
@okieranchwife
We in NC are starting to get armadillos, but I haven't seen one yet. I dread them finding my garden. Do they dig under fencing? I'm not sure that matters for me as I can't yet afford to fence it. Are large containers an option for you?
@@CoolBreeze640 Yes, they are diggers. Large containers do not work for me because they get too hot in our sun. I may try a raised bed with hardware cloth at the bottom and a high wire enclosure at the top. The good thing is that my sweet potato harvest (in the containers) makes up for a bad Irish potato one.
Spuds are not cheap in nz any longer
Happy st Patrick's day from Ireland 🇮🇪 ❤️🌱
Thank you - you too!
David, I'm anight shade nube. I am planting lots of potatoes starting today. About 3 pounds of certified seed potatoes & about 5 lbs of grocery store potatoes. Wish me luck.
Good luck!
I put some lousy greening Walmart potatoes in an old garden bed a month ago. Thanks to today’s rain, I’m now growing a crop of taters!
God bless the Irish!
Now DAVID, Please! You know lots of resourceful folks. I need an effective Coyote Caller device! Damn coyotes killed all fowl for a mile. Everyone has pets plus we don’t wanna kill the miscellaneous “critters” with a trap. We Need a COYOTE CALL!!! TYIA.
We have coyotes everywhere because of neighboring chicken houses and dairy farms. Have had a wolf for 7yrs. Never had a single coyote in our yard. Wolf urine works wonders and if you get them young, you can train them to see the chickens/ducks/livestock as part of the pack. Not conventional but works for us.
"What's taters precious?"
You ain't gettin a Samwise Gamgee quote by on me!
I've tried for over 50 years to grow potatoes with no success. I always get back less potatoes than I plant. I live in zone 6 in clay country. I know people here, who get stupendous yields in my area. Last year i planted 20# and maybe got 2# back. No luck for me. I have tried every method under the sun. . I guess I'm just a cursed Irishman or maybe my ancestors fled Ireland, because they couldn't grow potatoes either.
Amend your soil every year. I grow in heavy clay. The past few years I started growing comfrey just to improve my soil. I also add grass clippings, old hay, used straw, old chicken bedding ect. I have grown over 200 lbs of potatoes from 20 lbs of seed. It's a constant battle but one worth fighting.
I've grown em. I just wish it was easier to harvest them when they are planted in poor soil. I literally left half of my crop in the ground because digging them up was BS. Was wasting more calories than I would have gotten. I hear people say that their garden soil is so soft they just pull the plant up. But I have hard AF Clay dirt ... And let me tell you the "Is it a Rock, or is it a Potato?" Game gets old very quickly.
In Tennessee I put them in a shallow trench and piled up straw and leaves and mulch over them. That helped.
After four years of trying to garden in a place with brutal summers and very shady property, we changed to planting perennial foods, like sunchokes, nettles, comfrey, and other annual roots and tubers. This year we are focusing on potatoes, sweet potatoes, burdock, skirret, scorzonera, and dandelion roots. We had more than 100 beautiful potato plants last year and not ONE potato in the bunch. We heard that happened to a lot of people. And we had a mix of commercial seed potatoes, organic potatoes from the store, leftover sprouting potatoes from the kitchen and the previous year's harvest. Not. One. Potato. Fingers crossed for this year.
Love you, please keep producing your logical videos.
Got potatoes growing in hay at the moment. Planted them 14 March. Want to use a natural type of fertilizer at some stage. Any suggestions as to what is best for potatoes growing in that medium?
They need more than the standard NPK mix. Dilute Epsom salts 1 tsp per 5 gallon for the sulphur and magnesium, or use that as foliar spray.
Calcium carbonate (egg shells) ground up and mixed 2 parts vinegar 1 part shells, in a large container will provide soluble calcium for the plants.
DILUTE this 1 part calcium liquid, 1000 parts water. Foliar spray anything that produces fruit, potatoes, tomato, etc about a week before the flowers open.
@@ninemoonplanet thank you!
Planted 80 just recently. And when they come out the sweet potatoes go in. Long enough season here to do that.
Potatoes from the garden are completely unlike store bought. So much tastier.
Yeah, absolutely. That was the first thing I noticed when we grew our first crop years ago. WHOA! These taste AMAZING!
Eighty more days till I harvest my potatoes! 😅 Love this video! Best of luck to you and your family.
Anyone have potato varieties they recommend for warmer and humid climates?
You’re darn right I’m glad I recently got into potatoes last couple years I just pulled two five gallon Buckets worth of potatoes that came up as volunteers in a 4 x 20 bed just threw some chicken poop around them and they did great👍
How do you feel about sweet potatoes?
They are great.
Oh i just wanted to add that most keep very well too if you dont wash them off , ive had mine since last fall late oct and they are just getting soft now and sprouting ready to be re planted . Big win for winter storage . Thanks again take care
@@Tim, I was wondering about this!! Thank you for sharing!