The Tater Harvest Has Started

I planted some interesting dark blue/purple organic potatoes I bought from Whole Foods back in March.  Just kept them in the warm for a couple weeks and they grew eyes, and I put them in the ground.  It was more cost effective than buying potatoes marketed as "seed potatoes".  The baby plants were actually purple, but then they greened up.  I've been told that once the plant above ground starts to die, if it doesn't perk up when you water it, it's time to dig up the taters.  If it's diseased, throw it out and don't compost it, if it's good then eat the taters.  Two of my plants started to die, so I dug up the taters.  They seemed healthy.

The new generation of taters was maybe 4 or 5 taters per plant, not very big, but neither were the original taters.  They were very dark purple.  The yield of this particular variety wasn't that great.  I dunno if I could have gotten more by mulching the plants with straw, but hey, you can quadruple your "underground investment" in 3 months.  Maybe more if you just cut off a small piece of the original tater that has an eye, and let it harden off for a day or two, then plant that.  In a way you can either have more pieces to plant per tater, or you can have your tater and eat it too.

I had better yields with Yukon Gold taters last year.  I have a few of those planted, too, and some red taters.  Two of my Yukon Golds from last year, somehow I missed some of the smaller taters when I dug them up, and I got volunteers this year.  Which says to me that I could probably plant taters for next year in the fall and let them overwinter.

In place of the tater plants I dug up, I think I will plant either beans or turnips, although it's so hot that any brassicas will probably bolt.  I could plant mustard. It won't matter if that bolts. I haven't had mustard in the garden for 3 years.  Maybe it's time again.  I'll double dig the bed and add humus and aged manure first, whatever I decide to plant.  I also need to put strings for the pea plants to climb.  I had peas alternating with taters, because one climbs and the other one needs room, so they seemed like they would be able to crowd together.

You can plant multiple crops if you find ones that don't get in each other's way, or do an early crop and then a warm-weather crop, and then in the fall something that can overwinter, like root vegetables.

Is next to harvest, carrots.

I just planted a "fish" pepper plant I got at the farmers market (sounded interesting, a medium hot pepper they prepare fish with, hence the name), some coriander I harvested last year (for cilantro plants), and some pirogue tobacco, which I started in a window box, although it gets to 4 feet tall.  But I want to be able to know which plant is the tobacco, and keep a better eye on it.  It's a little late for the tobacco, but I tried in April and it failed to germinate.

It hasn't rained in several days and my rain barrel is getting low.  Obviously in a grid down situation I'll want a second rain barrel, or I'll be hauling water from the river daily, like a tribal lady.