Potatoes

 

When Sweetie had his birthday in March one of the unusual gifts was a seed potato for a Bodega Red potato, an heirloom variety that was grown in the pioneer days at Bodega Bay.

I'd never grown potatoes before so I waited until when I usually plant things, with the warmer soil, to plant the  Bodega Red potatoes and a Idaho that had started sprouting vigorously in the potato bin. I looked up how to prep them for planting on You Tube and just followed what they said to do. I planted them in a very large grow bag I got on sale at the end of the season last year. It's about the size of a small kids wading pool. My neighbor who has animals gave me some straw to top the bed with and as the leaves came up I added more soil, which I think is called 'hilling up'.

A few weeks ago the Idaho variety started having yellow leaves and basically dying back, so Sweetie and I dug up those spuds. Exciting harvest for someone who wasn't at all sure that the potatoes would grow well. We had some of the potatoes cut into chunks and boiled, then topped with butter, salt and pepper. Yum!

Now the Bodega Red plants are dying back so we are beginning to harvest them, too. Thank you Jan for your great gift!