Storing Potatoes

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Storing Potatoes

Gunny Sacks are good sacks to use when storing your potatoes and then place them in a cool dry place like the garage or unheated room in the basement.

*I made these gunny sacks out of burlap, I used about a yard for each sack and some jute for the draw string.

Note: I like to dig up my potatoes when the temperature is about 70 degrees outside and I also planted my potatoes in the middle of May.

*Dig up Potatoes, making sure the soil is fairly dry:

Using a pitch fork I make a circle around the Potato Plant about 10 inches away from the growing/wilting plant and put the pitch fork straight down and then lift up towards the Potato Plant until I have a pile of potatoes, soil and plant in the middle of my circle and hopefully you won’t dig into too many potatoes. This way of digging up potatoes has worked the best for me.

*Drying Potatoes before storing:

Using a wheel barrow to put your freshly dug potatoes in or what I like to do since my garden is right next to grass I use a tarp. I then put all my unwashed potatoes onto the tarp and drag potatoes and place them under my covered patio making sure there is a buffer between the tarp of potatoes and the cement. I have a rug that I put the tarp of potatoes on, let them dry there for a few days. Then, I will rub off all the clumps of dirt and put them in a gunny sacks to store in my cold storage room in the basement on layered card board flat boxes.

Note: Make sure not to store them with Apples nearby because the Potatoes will not store as long.

If you would like more information on potatoes see here

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These are herbs and peppers that I brought into the garage to make them last as long as I can during the fall weather.

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I hope you are enjoying all of these Fall colors that are in your yard!

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These are all the beets I was able to grow in my garden this year. I decide to cook them and just slice them up for salads.

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Enjoy Fall!

Lindy

Fall in the Garden

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As the fall season is upon us and the canning season has been in full force. I’m harvesting about the last things in our garden. It has been a great year for our gardens and we have been richly blessed. I hope you are enjoying all that this season has to offer!

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These are the Autumn Joy Sedums. They change with the season from pink to a dark rose color. They are a great addition to a fall garden.

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These are the Fall Asters in shades of pink and Purple.

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Lavender Roses

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Purple Phlox

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Knock Out Roses in full Bloom again!

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Our mums this year are in full bloom, blooming in yellow, pink and burgundy/red.

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Jalapeño Peppers in a pot and White Bacopa.

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Autumn Blaze Maple

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Pumpkins, Butternut Squash, Spaghetti Squash and Banana Squash.

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Peppers were the best growers in the vegetable garden. It was such a HOT Summer they grew amazingly. But my Blackberries were very scarce.

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Delicious Red Apples, we had a bumper crop the sweetest apples we’ve ever had so far in our yard.

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Fall Raspberries and my potted Egg Plants.

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Potatoes, Beets and Onions ready to be eaten or stored in a cool storage room or garage.

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Bartlett Pears picked green and put in a cool place to ripen and be eaten or canned.

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If you’re ready to put your gardens to bed for the winter and want to apply amendments to your garden see garden soil prep and lawn.. It’s also a good idea to put a Winter Fertilizer on your lawns just before the first winter snow or first part to middle part of November.

See here for winterizing roses and a winterizer for your lawn.

Happy Harvest!

Lindy