Autumn is coming on and the familiar Gold Rush begins again. People flock to veggie patches with trowels and spades hoping to bring home a tasty nugget or two. Digging up potatoes is a very fun job. Almost like digging for gold really. On this post, I will go over three things: When to harvest, How to harvest and Where to store. Enjoy!
When to harvest: Wait for the leaves of the plant to go brown and die. Digging up green plants will mean that the potatoes (or golden nuggets as I like to think they are) will be small and/or inedible. Alternatively, if you leave them in too long they will go rotten, so make sure you don't leave it too long.
 |
Fool's Gold
Fool's Gold is smaller than normal gold and is inedible.
You can leave in the ground for more gold next year. |
 |
| Smooth away the earth with your hands and lever up with a finger |
 |
| Deeper trowel work is sometimes needed |
How to harvest: There are two ways to dig up potatoes. You can either jab a fork in the ground and lift up the earth. This is a quick and easy way but it does mean that you risk putting a hole through your potatoes. The other way (that I like to do) takes more time, but insures your potatoes stay whole. Uncover the top of the soil with your hands around the area of your dead potato plant. Many potatoes are right on the surface so you can dig them out with your hands. (see photos above) Then, once you have taken all the top ones out, dig a bit with your trowel. Make sure you dig softly or else you will destroy your potatoes and therefore render all your work useless. Continue like this until you are sure you have got them all.
How to store: Store in a cool dark space and eat when needed. (Sounds like the label they put on cereal doesn't it?)
Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment