[AT] digging potatoes

[Ralph Goff]

On 6/30/2013 9:38 AM, charlie hill wrote:
> Ralph most of the commercial potatoes here in the S/E have already been
> harvested.
> They plant them in Jan or early Feb.  We can actually do two potato crops
> here.  A
> spring crop and a fall crop.  I don't know if any of the commercial growers
> do or not.
>
> I planted mine late this year and they are about like yours with
> no blossoms yet.  As cool as the spring has been here I suspect they may do
> alright but
> in a normal year they wouldn't do good this late.
>
Charlie, I think most people here think I am crazy for planting so early 
(late April) . It is only due to a well drained sidehill garden that I 
can get away with it. I try to spread the planting out over a month. 
That way if the early ones freeze off or fail to grow I still have the 
later ones . Early blight has been a problem lately.
And yes, leaving the dirt on seems to be better for long term storage 
from what I have heard. I usually leave mine spread out in a wooden 
trailer in the shed for a few days after digging so that the dirt is dry 
on them before putting them in the basement. I'm still using last year's 
potatoes but I think there might be a few new ones under the plants by now.

Ralph in Sask.