Unbought Delicacies: Could be the year of the potato...............

Sunday 14 February 2010

Could be the year of the potato...............

I usually don't grow a huge amount of potatoes, as when the different types are in season, they are reasonably priced to buy, and they do take up a lot of room in the veg garden. I always grow some First Earlies, though, as there is little in the line of self reliance that comes close to that first taste of summer :)
This year, I have some Pink Fir Apple for a late crop, ready to start chitting now. I've ordered my usual Heritage seed potatoes too - Shetland Black, Edzell Blue and Highland Burgundy. I came home to a message on the answering machine on Friday to say I was the winner of a competition in a local gardening magazine - the prize is a seed potato colelction from Edwin Tucker - funnily enough, the company I ordered my Heritage ones from! LOL No matter, I can find room for them all. I bought a small pack yesterday of a new one to try - another First Early, called Vale's Emerald, which is a cross of Charlotte and Maris Peer.
In addition to these, I'm doing a couple of tattie-themed experiments too. One is a single potato in a bucket - how many lbs of potatoes can I get from just one? The other is to grow some from shop bought potatoes; I've done this before with reasonable results. I acquired a very cheap bag of potatoes the other night when shopping - reduced from 1.38 for a bag to only 19p; the challenge here is to see how many lbs of potatoes I get from that lot for only 19p, some goat manure and a little effort. :)

Watch this potato-shaped space...............

2 comments:

Fran said...: Hi, I only ever grow potatoes in pots and I only buy cheap potatoes from supermarket and let them sprout. One of the benefits is no digging required, just tip them out, boil and eat. I reckon on about 4-5 lbs per plant pot (from an original planting of 4 potatoes/pot) Fran; 14 February 2010 at 18:49
Jacqui said...: Just waiting on my order arriving - orla and maris peer. I have a bit of a storage problem so I only grow earlies and buy from my local veg box people afterwards. My Dad did well with Swift in a couple of pots last year. Its a great time of year all this planning xx; 14 February 2010 at 21:03

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Sunday 14 February 2010

Could be the year of the potato...............

2 comments: