Planting Potatoes

The potatoes are in! In classic Red Wiggler style, we have planted not one, not two, but six (yes, six) beautiful varieties of potatoes over the past two weeks. Red Norlands, Yukon Golds, German Butterballs, French Fingerlings, Purple Vikings and All Blues have been tucked into their beds and are waiting for a nice rain to get them on their way.

Our crew did the lions share of the planting work, and we were lucky enough to get a helping hand from enthusiastic volunteers from the Community Foundation Mothers and Daughters group for the last two varieties to go in. One of our crew, Samantha, shares her perspective on the potato process here:

Some of the staff and growers cut potatoes in quarters, then we let them dry out. We planted them within the week to prevent mold from growing on them. We rolled out potato fabric and cut holes in the fabric. Then a piece of cut potato was placed in each hole. We also made hills in the dirt and planted the potato cut side down, skin side up, then covered the potato with dirt. To keep the holes in the fabric lined up with where the potatoes were planted, metal stakes as well as some wooden stakes and rocks were placed on the fabric to keep the fabric from blowing off during a storm or in high winds.