Under my soon-to-be cantaloupe trellis, I have a patch of dirt ready for some planting. The ground is rich and fertile and really a perfect setting for some potatoes. I will pick them young so they don't need to grow too long. Potatoes take awhile. The best thing is that you have what you need to plant just sitting in the pantry!
You know those shriveled little potatoes with roots sticking out? Yep. Those are your seeds. Cut them into about 1 inch chunks with at least one eye (root) on each cube. I do this at night and let them sit out overnight to dry out a bit.
In the morning, I dig a little 4-6 inch trench and space them about 5 inches apart. Cover them and keep them well watered.
A green little bush will emerge and the potatoes will grow underneath in clusters. As the potatoes start to get above ground, cover them in mulch, hay or more dirt. Keep doing this until the green tops start to shrivel and die. Then you know they are ready.
So easy. You can use any kind of potato you want. I used some creamy gold potatoes that I had from the Backyard Farmer. I want to do some sweet potatoes as well but I might do those in some burlap sacks on the side of the garden.....just for fun. Everything is growing amazingly well. I give the credit to good mulch, my fertilizer from the Backyard Farmer and fish/sea weed fertilizer. The tomato plants are so full of tomatoes that I could probably live off one plant alone!
In case you didn't catch this film I posted on facebook, watch it now! It is long but so inspiring about gardening. I can't wait to totally farm this way. I am on my way. I dug up more mulch that very day to cover my garden beds. Watch it here:
http://backtoedenfilm.com/
Sorry for the iPhone quality picture but I had to snap this. I had picked several long stalks of celery for our soup and had the tops left on the counter. When I came in to the kitchen, I saw Tate going to town on the tops of them. This was the 4th one. When he saw me, he thought he was in trouble! This is a testament to anyone that kids will eat veggies if you teach them. This is the child, with Autism, who had to be force fed for the first few years of life. I had to put food in his mouth and force it closed. Autism causes all sorts of textural and sensory issues. I wasn't going to allow that to be a crutch for him. He was going to eat normally come Hell or high water. We went through both but he came out of it strong and better for it. I have a friend who son has Autism and she brings him a corn dog to school every day , for years, since that is all he will eat. They can be taught. Same with every child out there. Make them eat their veggies! They will learn and they will learn to like them. Celery tops. Really. They were even bitter. He loved them.
As a side note, you know when the lettuce and celery get bitter when it gets warm? Well, soak them in water and some white vinegar and they taste great again! My celery is huge and still yummy! I am still cutting lettuce daily as well.
Have a great one!
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8 comments:
Hi Shari,
What does Tate eat at school for lunch? my son is starting full day Kindergarten in August and he's on the GFCFSF plus anything artificial free diet and I'm trying to come up with stuff to send to school for lunch without him feeling weird about having things that are different but most of all things he'll eat for sure and nurture his body but won't spoil and make him sick. I'm planning on sending his lunch in a small cooler with ice pack but still.
Thanks!
Nora
Nora,
I put an ice pack in his lunch as well and use the snapware BPA free containers. He usually gets about the same thing since I won't be there to force him to eat things he may not want. I used to put what I wanted him to eat in there and it would come home untouched so here is what he will eat without me prodding: Organic, natural almond or peanut butter and raw honey sandwhich on Udi's bread. Organic kettle potato chips or organic corn chips. Some fruit or veggie. Some homemade cookie with coconut sugar or other homemade treat. Sometimes I put popcorn in or other snacks. He is only allowed to eat what I send with him at school and the teachers all know it. If they are having a special treat at school, I make something that looks the same so he doesn't feel left out. His lunches really look like the other kids. I haven't had a problem yet!
Thanks Shari!
Nora
my husband was force fed veggies as a child and to this day I have never seen him touch one. He accidently ate something green our first year of marriage and he got so emotionally ill he threw it all up. I will not force feed my children. All 5 of them eat veggies though. If that is all that is offered, they get hungry enough. My husband used to eat the to survive his bullied-controlling childhood. I doubt he will eat them again the rest of his life. good luck.
I actually didn't mean that to sound so judgmental- oops. I love your blog and think you are amazing. I just don't agree with the force eating thing since my husband was ruined by it- but obviously it works out for some people. Sorry to throw my emotion about the situation at you, that was not intended, but I don't want people to force feed their kids because of my experience with it. My hubby is healthier than I am and I eat really healthy, so you never know I guess.
It is a little different with a child with autism. You need to treat each child different and it can't be an emotional battle. With my others, it was never a battle. They just knew that in our house, we ate our veggies. It was never a struggle. With Tate, if I didn't force feed him, he could have never gotten over his textural issues.
That makes sense. My sister has 4 kids with aspergers and all they will eat are chips and apples. I get your point. Sorry again I took my emotions out without thinking of your circumstances. Thanks.
No offense taken at all. Sounds like your husbands parents were a little too rough to be scarred like that. I can see your side of it.
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