At Easter, she was worried about not having enough potatoes to feed her guests, so she borrowed a few from her mother-in-law. They were lovely, homegrown potatoes, and had started to sprout just a bit. The Bag Lady's own potatoes have sprouted huge, long, snake-like sprouts and shrivelled up to the point of not being any use at all (except in the garden).
The Bag Lady peeled those lovely potatoes and felt horrible about wasting those terrific, compact sprouts. There was much conversation regarding wasting those sprouts, and one of the ladies present determined that it might just be possible to start the potato peelings in some potting soil, then transplant them when the ground thaws.
So the Bag Lady did just that. She was a little skeptical that this method would work, so she just tossed them in some dirt in a few shallow containers, watered them and left them to do their thing.
Imagine her surprise when she checked them and discovered that they had indeed started to grow! She took this picture a few days ago, and since then, they have practically doubled in size!
So she is going to have to transplant them into a larger container because it is still too early to plant them in the garden!Crazy, eh?
29 comments:
Very cool - you never know until you try sometimes.
very cool. and for some reason the little sproutlings made me smile.
the fighting to be green and live and POP UP!
Ours are out in the garden and not nearly as sprouty. You must have a green thumb!
And some day maybe they will be grown-up potato chips! Yumm!
Reb - I was a little surprised to have potato peelings sprout so well!
Carla - I just hope I can keep them alive until they can go into the garden!
Marianne - there's only about an inch of dirt on top of these, which is why the sprouts look so long. Must get them transplanted soon!
Crabby - yes! Home-made potato chips - the absolute best!
That is not crazy, that is really cool! I would have never thought to plant the potatoe peel. I must try this now. Does growing potatoes take a lot of space? I could create a box in my yard to grow them (similar to the one I had last year for tomatoes & herbs & strawberries...
Emily - one method I've read (but not tired) for growing potatoes is to plant them in a tire. When they grow above the tire, put another tire on top, and add more dirt. And so on and so on. Potatoes will produce along the length of the roots (which is why they are grown in hills), so keep throwing dirt on top of them as they grow, and they'll produce like crazy.
Potatoes are really easy to grow. (If you try growing them from peelings, make sure the peel has an eye or two.) But potatoes sold in grocery stores are treated so they won't sprout, so planting them is a waste of time. Buy good quality seed potatoes, and cut each potato into a few pieces, making sure each piece has a sprout or two. Of course, that would take a lot of tires, so yes, planting them in a box like you had for your tomatoes would work. Tomatoes and potatoes are related, you know.....
You are the Spud Queen, cousin.
BagLady,
I love it when you do science experiments here.
Having your seed potatoes and eating them, too! Neat!
The grocery has far more varieties of seed potato than they stock for eating. Hmmmm.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
That's great to know!
Wow! mmm...potatoes...one of my favorite foods!
I love it! They look fab! We just planted the first things (peas, brussels sprouts and spinach) in our garden last night. We also have several trays of seedlings that need to get transplanted if the weather would cooperate already!!
So cool!! That's a fantastic idea.
dfLeah - Thanks! Does that mean I'm not the Queen of Denial anymore, or can I be both?!
Tom - glad you enjoy it - I'll try to keep y'all posted on how this 'experiment' turns out! :)
Mary Anne in Kentucky - our grocery stores only stock two or three types of potatoes, usually. But seed potatoes come in SO many varieties! (I find the red Norland grows the best in our soil, though)
BG - I thought it was worth a try! I read something once about people going through hard times who planted their potato peels, so I thought it just might work!
Missicat - I am a potato fan, too, and the Rancher doesn't think a meal is complete without spuds!
Charlotte - thanks! I'm jealous that you are already planting! It will be at least 3 weeks yet for us - the way this year is going, probably more!
Sagan - thanks. It was quite gratifying that it actually worked!
df Bag Lady,
You are a true artist, first the Giggle square and now creating food!
Terrie
"a little weird on occasion"
Translation *cough* eccentric *cough* :)
Cool...potatoes from the yard always taste better...I wish we had enough light in our backyard to have a small garden...I didn't know you could gerow from peels. I figured you would have to have dipped them in rooting hormone first.
that's going green in a BIG way girl!
dfTerrie - all in a day's work.... *giggle*!!
Geo - that totally cracked me up! Next time the Rancher tells me I'm crazy, I'll point out that I'm 'eccentric'!! :)
Annette - it really is, isn't it? (sheesh, planting potato peelings!)
:)
Huh. I found some potatoes growing roots in their bag and I've been wondering if I could stick them in some dirt...Now I think I will do just that!
JavaChick - Go for it - it can't hurt!
Homegrown potatoes taste so much better! I grew some once, and eating them was a revelation. It's almost like the difference between homegrown and storebought tomatoes.
Though it would get really expensive to grow them if I had to keep buying tires...those don't come cheap.
Melissa - good point - about the tires, I mean! :) Of course, there's always a lot of old tires around the farm....
Do you mean to tell me that I can start potatoes from the sprouts? It's warm here, so I might just put them straight into the garden!!
Very cool! I liked Crabby's comment about grown-up potato chips. For now they're still toddlers.. still tater tots.
oh wow-- Kudos on your green thumb BL-- I love the IDEA of plants...they just hate me :(
~rupal
kcinnova - as long as the potatoes weren't treated (like the potatoes in the grocery stores), you can plant them!
Hilary - LOL! Tater tots. That cracked me up.
Rupal - my thumb is not exactly green.... but I can grow some things, sometimes!
I like the tire idea! Thanks for the great advice, you are such a wealth of knowledge!
Emily - you're welcome! Old people generally do manage to accumulate some knowledge along life's path!! :)
Post a Comment