Potatoes.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WASHB 1 April 2009 Potato chitting progress.
Picture one and two indicate an attempt to chit supermarket potatoes. Notice how the potatoes did not sprout properly in 30 days, and they turned black. It is apparent that some type of sprout inhibitor has been used. One carton of the store bought potatoes was previously discarded, since I did not like the quality of the sprouts.
The three cartons of purchased seed potatoes are sprouting well in just 15 days. The extra carton from a friend are doing well, but they had white sprouts before placing in the light. Now the sprouts are turning greenish.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?Pontiac 12 April 2009 Planting Red Pontiac Potatoes. Twenty two potatoes were planted. The ground temperature is about 7 degrees C, but the potatoes are well covered so should thrive.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?Potatoes 13 April 2009 Potatoes planted. Today about 60 more potatoes were planted. Row width is two feet and spacing in the row is 12 inches. Depth is about four inches. Types are Superior (white), Russian Blue, Unknown from 2008 stock, Four store bought to complete a row. Total in the patch is about 80 potatoes.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?Hilling 17 May 2009 First Potato Hilling. Quality compost was added to the area around the potatoes. This will be used for the final hilling, when the stalks are about a foot or more high.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?PotatoH 27 May 2009 Last hilling of Potatoes.
The four rows of potatoes were hilled. This gives a depth of six to eight inches of soil above the seed potato. In the valey formed after hilling, the space was filled with compost. This was not necessary, but the compost was available and it will supply nutrients.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?Potatobug 15 June 2009 Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)
The ubiquitous potato bug appeared today. I found four adults and no eggs. Method of control is picking them off the vegetation,, since I have only about 70 plants. If the potato field is large chemical control is almost mandatory.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VVSJI 12 August 2009 Pontiac Potato
Late blight, the same blight of the Irish Potato Disaster in 1848, is prevalent in the area this year, so a plant was dug to check for damage. None was apparent. The weight of the potatoes was eight pounds, which is considered excellent, near the top of the chart.

Russian Blue Potato

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HMNSL 16 August 2009 Russian Blue Potato

There are about 12 plants in the garden and the tops have died back. The seed tubers were placed in the ground on 13 of April 2009. They are left in the ground for storage at the present time. Russian Blue potatoes are really are from Russia, although, like all potatoes, they originated in South America. They’re an heirloom variety which means they’re totally old school and not genetically modified. Washed weight is just under 3 pounds from one plant, all uniform in size. They produce numerous top seed pods, which can be seen in some of the photographs. I do nothing with the seeds.There were no small potatoes on this plant. I bake them in the oven and eat with a bit of butter, skins and all. The blue color remains after cooking. The tuber appears to be more dense or fine grained than our typical potato.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EUVSD 18 August 2009 Russian Blue Potato Harvest
Total of eight plants for a weight of 12 pounds, average weight 1.5 lbs. This harvest is much less than last yer, but the tubers are larger.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QEIEN 18 August 2009 Superior Potato Harvest
Nineteen plants produced about 40 lbs of potatoes. The average weight was 2.15 lbs per plant. One plant produced 3.5 lbs. An excellent crop would be 5 to 8 lbs per plant. The tubers are large and excellent quality.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VFDVZ 22 August 2009 Red Pontiac Harvest
Red Pontiac row of potatoes were dug today. Total weight was 60 pounds from 16 plants for an average per plant of 3.5 pounds.The crop is average if not a little below. The tubers are solid with no hollow centers. The largest potato was 1.25 pounds.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?FAKES Summary: Potatoes 2009.