Ides of March? Eyes of March you mean

It is officially potato planting time here on the homestead.

The lazy bed method is my favorite way of planting potatoes. I have been doing this method for years, and it is surprising that I do not have any photos of the technique. I will do a step by step pictorial for you later if you like. 

I digress, we started doing the Lazy bed method because of the clay soil we have and the flooding that happens here on the homestead. And we discovered last year, that it helps during droughts as well. 

It's simple, create an elevated row, double wide, place your potato seeds on top of the dirt, do not cover with soil, then cover the bed in a foot of straw. If you straw begins to grow later in the season, carefully flip it, or leave it be as it will never get tall enough to hurt your potatoes. 

A tip here; plant your watermelon in the middle of the double rows. These two plants benefit from one another, and help you condense your garden.

If you are dead set on planting your potatoes the traditional way, in ground:

plant large edible sunflowers with them if you have hard clay like soil. The thick rooting system of the sunflowers allow the tubers to find their way around and easier on them to grow larger. It's like how earth worms use dandelion root systems to move around. Plus the sunflowers helps with clay type soils. It does take a few years, but worth it.

Different potatoes need different things. Seems to me like all potatoes need the same things. However we have found that some types of potatoes do better than others in our soil type. Sweet potatoes love it (if you are wanting to plant sweet potatoes, I have a small how to here>>>)

Yukon's seem to grow wonderfully with the lazy bed method. Russet types do better in ground with sunflowers. My reds, I have still been experimenting with as they tend to struggle with both these techniques. I really wanted to link over to some one, however I forgot which one of you wrote about it. If you have an article link to it in comments please. We are going to try the potato in the tire method for the reds, to see if mulch and compost will generate better results. Blues or just about any fingerlings seem to be more impressive if potted.

Any questions?

On a personal note. Husband and I have decided to back out of the motorcycle shop. It's a private story. However you have me back full time. Please ask questions or demand a how-to so that I can get back into the swing of things. Thank you.

Not Ready

A little trivia for you. My oldest just walked in the back door and informed me that "Hobo's are nocturnal." Hobo's? "yes hobo's." Did you just see one? "no".

Winter seems to be creeping in rather quickly this year. We are not ready for it. Usually we have another month before we have to prep. It is not normal for me to be neck deep in canning and needed to winterize the homestead. It is becoming a mad dash of sorts.

Because we have only hit 100 F a handful of times this summer, because the average temperature was barely getting into the 80's F, it has not been warm enough for my sweet potatoes to grow. I am going to attempt growing them in that bathtub we ripped out of the master bath. Turning it into a greenhouse. We shall see how it works.

Now, back to tomatoes and apples.

Hope everyone gets a chance to come up for some air, and take a slight break from canning soon.

Seed sweet potatoes

I don't have a hot box here. Maybe it's our climate, but they never seem to work for me. If I had one, I would allow my sweet potatoes to seed, cut it into small chunks, root them and place them in the hot box. Instead here is what I do.


Before digging up the tubers, I cut the leaves off at the base. The ones closest to the mother plant. Cut at an angle like you would when cutting flowers.Once that is done. Bring them in the house and set them in water.

After a few days, roots will develop. These need to be placed into a large flower pot of good soil.


repeat the process in the spring, instead of planting them in the pot, they are ready for garden planting.

We had our first freeze of the season this weekend. I will start doing more indoor things shortly. I should also warn you, we tend to lose electricity, if you have to heard from me for a few days, this will be the reason.

The Sweet Potato Harvest

Autumn has finally arrived in Kansas. Yesterday the temperature was in the mid 60's F {15c}. I was concerned about how cold it was going to get at night, and the news informed me that the overnight lows would be in the 30's {-1c}. As they called for rain over the next couple of days, I chose last night to dig up my sweet potatoes. They need to be dug up while still dry. My husband stayed inside to clean and light the furnace, my children giggled and screamed while playing on the trampoline, and I took my potato fork and dug a foot down and in a twenty foot row to dig up my beloved sweet potatoes.

I tired to get them all in one shot, they weren't keen on posing for me, so I had to take several pictures. {And with one of the feeds all screwy I condensed it into one} I pulled up 79 tubers. Not counting my first test batch.

I somehow managed to pull up a few of them that are bigger than my hand.
Now they need to sit out and cure before eating or storing. The bruised ones will have to be cooked up right away.

I am looking forward to eating them. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorites. If you missed my article on sweet potatoes and why one could live off of them, you can find it here; Sweet Potatoes are the Perfect Food.

Speaking of articles, recently I had one published with World Food & Wine. It's a cheesy little thing about Halloween and foods. Which also reminds me, This weekend we have to go and get pumpkins, not only for jack-o'-lanterns, but for food preservation.

Don't ask about the apples. I am apparently making enough apple butter to feed the state of Kansas.

Sweet Potatoes and apples part 2

I was recently asked what I had done differently this year than previous years, with growing sweet potatoes. In the past I have talked about using the lazy bed technique to grow potatoes, but I did not do that with my sweet potatoes. Instead we moved them to a new spot in the garden. An area where the weeds didn't grow as well, and created a very large and long mound of earth. And trenches on either side to help run off any water. I waited until it was a warmer time in spring, the ground temps should be in the 70'sF, and did little in the way of weeding. I stopped watering and weeding them altogether once the vines had covered the mound. And I didn't freak out about the invading cooler temps, leaving them in the ground a little longer. {we have 2 more weeks until we should get our first hard frost, the remaining tubers will be dug up by then}.
Here is what is left from my sample dig. Sweet potatoes become sweeter in storage.

I had a few that the potato fork mangled a bit. They needed to be used immediately as they will not store. I went and scoured through my massive amount of handwritten recipes and found one that I was looking for.

Sweet Potato Bake {serves 12}

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 ½ pounds butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2/3 cup light brown sugar, divided
3 large eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Cinnamon, divided
½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350F. Cook sweet potatoes in water in a large saucepan until tender {20 minutes} drain. Cook squash in another saucepan until tender {10 minutes} drain.
Combine 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, all eggs, 2 tablespoons of the butter, all of the vanilla, 1 1/2 teaspoons each of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Reserve 1/4 cup of the mixture for squash.

In food processor, blend sweet potatoes with remaining egg mixture until a smooth puree. Spread in greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Top with nuts of choice.

In food processor, blend squash with reserved 1/4 cup egg mixture. Spread over the pecan layer. Arrange apple slices on top of the squash layer. Mix 1/3 cup brown sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon, then sprinkle over apples. Drizzle 4 tablespoons melted butter over top. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until set in the center. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Calories: 285

Total Fat: 14.4g

{I have a new program that will tell me the nutritional value of my recipes}

Onto the apples;

this was not something I wanted to see.

nor this,

2 of my applesauce cans did not seal correctly. The dimple was indented, and the lid did not come off when I removed the band. But at some point it did come off enough to allow air into it. 2 pints ruined. This does not make for a happy day.

Apple trivia to amaze {annoy} your friends with; The history of apple consumption dates from Stone Age cultivation in areas we now know as Austria and Switzerland

Sweet Potatoes and apples

My camera is still missing, and I fear that the youngest of my boys has thrown it out with the trash. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened. And yes, we do get trash service out here. Everyone in the county does, no matter how far from a town they are. I have lived in places where there was no trash service available, but because of one man who started his own trash removal service, decided to give rural dwellers trash service {because he was rural} everyone here has that option. Burn bans are common here. Between the Kansas winds and the semi arid conditions, fires can easily get out of control. But I am sure that you are not interested in my trash removal habits.

It was a beautiful early fall day, yesterday. I was dragged out {kicking and screaming APPLES!} to the garden, where I was desperately needed. I can't gather food items from the garden, I won't be able to process them, not until I get these apples under control. Don't marry an intelligent man with high work ethics if you ever want to have your own way. No amount of appealing to his logic helped. I had to work in the garden. I could have walked away, but when I saw the state of my neglected garden, I was soon digging up my sweet potatoes. It is time to check them.

Sweet potato vines

I dug up two plants, instead of the one test subject. The roots had intertwined, and I was forced to if I wanted to save any of the sweet potatoes from the second plant. I pulled up 5 very robust tubers, the largest is almost a foot long. {where is my camera} and 12 smaller tubers, which I will can, yam style. This is my first successful year with the sweet potato. A feat I am most proud of. In the previous years, we were only getting the spindling, dry, long roots. Discovering these nice fat ones, makes all the work {not much real work involved, mainly planning} worth it.

I noticed that our green beans have dried up nicely, and they need to be seed harvested for next year. I also need to plant the fall and winter garden, and prep the remaining area for next spring. Peanuts will need to be dug up soon, and my tomatoes are attempting a second round of blooms. This year was a bad year for tomatoes.

On to the apples.

I am now at the point where I can confidently declare, I AM SICK OF APPLES! I can not tell you how many pounds I am down today. I had this brilliant idea to take a bushel and process the apples into juice. This is more work then expected. Late last night, my back burning, I wanted to chuck the apples to the hens, throw my hands up and declare defeat. It's so much easier just to buy apple juice. The cost of my labor is more expensive then the 10% real juice drinks. Yet, it didn't feel right just to give in like that. Not in a fit of my drama queeness. I put my work away in the refrigerator, and decided that things will be better in the morning. I skipped reading last night and went to bed early. Now as I sit here typing, I can see that bushel of apples, and they are mocking me.

My mood is not much better this morning. I am not looking forward to my back burning and pleading with me to give in. I do not have an apple press. My husband had me find some blueprints on one, and he has promised to build me one before next years harvest. That doesn't help me right now. I am using a food processor to shredded the whole apples, and cheesecloth to squeeze the juice out. It's a slow, trying way to do it, but it is all that I have, and must make do. Funny, if I had the money to purchase the much needed equipment at the time it is "needed", would I still want to do this? With what some of these items cost, it would be cheaper to buy the food stuffs at the grocer. As of this morning I could truthfully answer you as, no, I would not be doing this if I had more money to be able to "splurge". Yet, if I scroll down a few entries and recall the day out, picking apples with my family, I will have to reply to that question as, yes, I would still do all of this. I didn't have this kind of time, or blissful moments with my children when I was working third shift at the hospital. I ended up bringing work home with me.

Needless to say, I am still in the process of making apple juice. I have decided to freeze it, rather than can it.

To my question about apple recipes that do not contain cinnamon;

Magid suggested apples cooked with red cabbage, cider vinegar, and spicy sausage -apples in turkey stuffing (with bread, onions, mushrooms, etc, possibly also walnuts) -apple-[other fruit] jams

Cheryl suggested "This isn't really a recipe for an apple dish, but my kids love it and it might help get rid of some of your apples (and there's no cinnamon). It's for Apple Dip (tastes like caramel but is healthier). Stir ½ cup of brown sugar into 1 cup of cream cheese. Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla (sounds like a lot, but it's right). Stir until smooth and use as a dip for apple slices."

Marina sent me a recipe for butternut squash/apple soup.

Lynn S sent me to her site where everything she knows about apples are in one convenient place.

Merry asked if Venison and apples go good together. I don’t know, as I am not a hunter the only time I get deer is as a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law and her boyfriend that do hunt. I will see if I can find a recipe, and keep back some apples just in case I do get deer this year.

Sirannon informed me that she was going to ask family for any ideas.

Thank you guys. More suggestions welcome.

Some apple trivia to amaze {annoy} your friends with; Folk hero Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) did indeed spread the cultivation of apples in the United States. He knew enough about apples, however, so that he did not distribute seeds, because apples do not grow true from seeds. Instead, he established nurseries in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

I do hope there are no more problems with the feed for my blog. You should now be able to see the entire post. If you are still having problems, please let me know. Comments and questions are always welcome.

The Sweet Potato and You

I received a phone call yesterday, someone was asking about sweet potatoes. My first thought was How did you get this number? But it's hard to keep your phone number away from your family, they always seem to find it.

When your sweet potato vines start looking like this...STOP WATERING! They fair best when hot and dry. If you are suffering from a drought a quick watering once a week will suffice.

I realize that it is a little late into the season to talk about planting, but I figured that it's best to cover it all so that 1. you can pin point your mistakes and they will not become a bad habit. And 2. I don't have to re-write this next spring, I can link to it.

First we need to obtain our seed stock. Several ways to do that. Catalog, local supplier or by contacting the Extension Service to get a foundation seed stock.

Now for the soil. Nice fertile soil will get you a nice large yield, but a poor quality root, while too poor of a soil will get you a wonderful quality root, but low yield. You really need a happy medium. Perfect soil for the sweet potato is light and sandy, or silt loam, with a clay sub soil, good drainage and moderately fertile. Don't have that? We find an area that little plant life grows, and plant our sweet potatoes there, I prefer quality over quantity.

For an early crop plant in the spring as soon as the soil temp reaches 70f {21c} degrees. Any colder than that and your cutting will not fair well. Build rows about 3 feet {0.914m} wide and 1 foot{0.305m} high. Spacing the rows 3 feet {0.914m} apart. Plant your sprout four inches {10.16cm} deep, spacing them 12 inches { 30.48cm} apart.

Try not to weed to deeply, they do have shallow roots, once the vines start running, you will only need to pull weeds that pop up over the top.

After 130 - 150 days your sweet potatoes are ready. They do need to be pulled before your first hard frost. Start by using a potato fork, and digging up one hill to see if they are ready. Dig deep as you can find them up to 1 foot {0.305m} down, and make sure your soil is dry. If the root is underdeveloped or the skin is tender wait another 20 days before pulling them.

Once you have your crop in, separate the bruised ones, they need to be eaten soon. The others need to be initially stored in a well ventilated area at 85f {29c}for 15 - 20 days. After curing store them at temperatures between 80f-60f {26c-15c} never lower than 50f {10c}. Wrap them individually in newspaper when placing them into long term storage.

The simplest way to secure a new crop for the next year is to cut your runners. Planting one short vine in a hanging planter. Not only do you get a pretty houseplant, but you have your starters for next year ready for you.

Ok, so I lied. There is more to go over, but this is the basics that will get you through the rest of the season. In January I will talk more on this subject, just remind me.

You can read my article on why sweet potatos are the perfect food.

I have received a few queries on hot water baths and canning green beans. I will go over that subject tomorrow.

a few roots in my garden

Onions

I have never done well with growing my own onions. Most of them die or stay small. I still don’t know what I have done wrong. This year I have many, over 400. And they are growing nicely. Too nicely in fact. I was only expecting half to grow, that’s why I bought so many. Last year I hung the ones I had in a nylon stocking in my coat closet. {We all smelled like onions in the winter} This year we will have to clean out the cellar and try to keep them in there. I am grateful that I do use a lot of onions in my cooking.

I walked out the other day and found that some of my plants where growing flowers. Oddly enough I found this thrilling, next year I will try and grow onions from seed. I have read the books and I am prepared.

Potatoes

I have had trouble with them as well. The first year they didn’t want to grow, the next they were flooded out. This year we went the route of the lazy bed. The lazy bed is a very wide and tall row, and instead of burying the seed potatoes, you cover them with straw. All of the seed potatoes that we planted are sprouting. Now if someone could tell us how to keep the wheat {from the straw} from growing. But because of this, we are going to go ahead and try growing and grinding our own grains.

Sweet potatoes
Last year I had wonderful sweet potato vines, no roots. This year we are trying again.

Peanuts

Last year’s harvest was ok. We ate only a few, and then placed the rest in a nylon stocking and hung them in the barn to dry out. We left them there all winter to be planted this spring. I actually did something right! They are growing. My plan is to have enough peanuts to make 12 quarts of peanut butter and enough to replant next year. {And we started 3 grape vines for the jelly}

Garlic

My garlic died last year, all of it. Turns out that it is best planted in the fall and left over winter. I will try again at that time.

Carrots

My first year with carrots was a good one. The boys would go out and pull them right out of the ground to eat. {Sometimes they washed them first} The next year, I only got one. I found a sandy spot in the garden and planted them close to the tomato plants. Looks like a good year.

The picture above is of the onions that were ready to bolt. This is the same amont that I had in total last year.