Potato
Potatoes are a great crop as they produce a great deal of food for little work and good use of land. Today with smaller sections some people may not want to grow a lot of potatoes which would leave no room for other crops.
Early potatoes are the most expensive and it may be a good thing to concentrate on them.
Purchase good quality certified seed potatoes. Certified means they have been checked in the field and in storage to ensure good quality.
Sprouting, or more correctly chitting, is to place your new seed potatoes on a tray in a dry well lit and ventilated area such as a shed or garage. It will take several weeks for the sprouts to chit and they will be ready for planting when the chits are 2 cm long. In a small garden you may only be able to plant 1 kg of them, about 12 -14 seed potatoes.
If growing early potatoes for Christmas realize they take about 90 days to be a good size. Count back 90 days from Christmas day and that is about the time to sow them.
Prepare the soil, preferably a patch that has not been used for potatoes in the last 12 months.
When ready plant the potatoes in a row about 30 cm apart and rows about 60 cm apart - you need room to be able to mound the plants up as they grow. When about 10 cm high use a hooked hoe to pull soil from between the rows to mound up the potato rows. As they grow during the period the tops will get closer together. Sometimes dry grass clippings or even peas straw can be used between the rows to stop the potato tubers becoming green.
Dig one potato plant (its called a shaw) at a time. Be careful to use a fork and start a long way from the stems as the potato roots spread out and you don't want to stab a potato.
If storing potatoes keep in a cool dark dry place and cover to stop light turning the tubers green. Green tubers are not edible.
Fun Facts
The potato from the perennial Solanum tuberosum, is the world’s fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize.The Inca Indians in Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes round 8,000 BC to 5,000 B.C. In 1536 Spanish Conquistadors conquered Peru, discovered the flavors of the potato, and carried them to Europe.
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to Ireland in 1589 on the 40,000 acres of land near Cork. It took nearly four decades for the potato to spread to the rest of Europe.
Eventually, agriculturalists in Europe found potatoes easier to grow and cultivate than other staple crops, such as wheat and oats. Most importantly, it became known that potatoes contained most of the vitamins needed for sustenance, and they could be provided to nearly 10 people for each acre of land cultivated.
Online information.
Morton-Smith Dawe of Christchurch offer a wide range of seed potatoes.
Click this link to read their descriptions of the potato cultivars for your garden. Morton-Smith Dawe
Link to Potato varieties tested for NZ conditions on Stuff.
History of the Potato online
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/
https://potatoesnz.co.nz/updates/education-comms-and-mktg-updates/history-of-the-potato/
Early potatoes are the most expensive and it may be a good thing to concentrate on them.
Purchase good quality certified seed potatoes. Certified means they have been checked in the field and in storage to ensure good quality.
Sprouting, or more correctly chitting, is to place your new seed potatoes on a tray in a dry well lit and ventilated area such as a shed or garage. It will take several weeks for the sprouts to chit and they will be ready for planting when the chits are 2 cm long. In a small garden you may only be able to plant 1 kg of them, about 12 -14 seed potatoes.
If growing early potatoes for Christmas realize they take about 90 days to be a good size. Count back 90 days from Christmas day and that is about the time to sow them.
Prepare the soil, preferably a patch that has not been used for potatoes in the last 12 months.
When ready plant the potatoes in a row about 30 cm apart and rows about 60 cm apart - you need room to be able to mound the plants up as they grow. When about 10 cm high use a hooked hoe to pull soil from between the rows to mound up the potato rows. As they grow during the period the tops will get closer together. Sometimes dry grass clippings or even peas straw can be used between the rows to stop the potato tubers becoming green.
Dig one potato plant (its called a shaw) at a time. Be careful to use a fork and start a long way from the stems as the potato roots spread out and you don't want to stab a potato.
If storing potatoes keep in a cool dark dry place and cover to stop light turning the tubers green. Green tubers are not edible.
Fun Facts
The potato from the perennial Solanum tuberosum, is the world’s fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize.The Inca Indians in Peru were the first to cultivate potatoes round 8,000 BC to 5,000 B.C. In 1536 Spanish Conquistadors conquered Peru, discovered the flavors of the potato, and carried them to Europe.
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to Ireland in 1589 on the 40,000 acres of land near Cork. It took nearly four decades for the potato to spread to the rest of Europe.
Eventually, agriculturalists in Europe found potatoes easier to grow and cultivate than other staple crops, such as wheat and oats. Most importantly, it became known that potatoes contained most of the vitamins needed for sustenance, and they could be provided to nearly 10 people for each acre of land cultivated.
Online information.
Morton-Smith Dawe of Christchurch offer a wide range of seed potatoes.
Click this link to read their descriptions of the potato cultivars for your garden. Morton-Smith Dawe
Link to Potato varieties tested for NZ conditions on Stuff.
History of the Potato online
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/
https://potatoesnz.co.nz/updates/education-comms-and-mktg-updates/history-of-the-potato/