On Time for Taters

Considering we have been dealing with the Winter that would never end, it seems odd to be able to report that we actually put our potato crop into the ground when we scheduled them to go in.  In fact, we put them in on the front EDGE of the scheduled time slot.

Realities of a Farm Schedule

Given the multiple variables that can impact any schedule we might develop for any growing season, it is remarkable to us when we actually hit something *right on schedule*.  In fact, our schedules actually reflect our own recognition that we rarely hit the optimal date.  For example, my schedule for potato planting says "April 28-May 5 is optimal."  April 15 to May 30 are the outside edges.

Beds with the initial tilling complete (April 30)

Frankly, we were expecting that the fields would not quite be ready to go during the optimal period this year.  But, we had warm, sunny and breezy days that helped dry out the fields.  Usually, we are later putting in potatoes than nearly any other veggie grower we know in Iowa.  That has to do with weather and the heavier, wetter soil we have here.  The physical nature of potato planting may also play into it a bit.

Hard, But Not As Hard

Last year, Tammy and I needed two days to put in our potato crop.  That doesn't necessarily mean two FULL days, mind you.  But, there has usually been at least two planting sessions to get all of the planned beds put in for the season.  

Further proof that Rob DID fix Barty up properly.

What was so different this year?  After all, Tammy was only involved in the whole process for a few hours, instead of full days.  How could we possibly get things done faster with fewer person hours?

First, let me make something perfectly clear.  Many growers have tools that are specialized to help speed potato planting.  It just happens that we have never really targeted equipment specifically help us with this process.  And, in some cases, we actually HAD the equipment, but we didn't have a system that worked with that equipment.  Let's also not ignore the benefits of experience with some of these tools.

And, there IS one more thing.  We decided to drop back from 12 beds of potatoes to nine (but more intensively planted).  We haven't been terribly happy with our potato crops in recent years, so it is time to revamp the process so we can see more success.  One of our strategies for crops like this is to reduce how much we plant so we can improve the quality of what we do have.  If we need to, we scale back up once we feel we have a better approach for our farm.

Not Quite What We Wanted

Sadly, the seed potatoes for many of the varieties we prefer were not available this year.  At least they weren't available through the supplier we have relied on for the past several years.  We could possibly have gotten the varieties we wanted from other suppliers, but the seed might not have been certified organic or, more likely, the seed would have cost multiples of what we had been paying.  If you are trying to improve crop results through technique changes it may not behoove you to spend that extra money until you feel you have solved those problems.
 

Trenches ready in the beds for the seed potatoes

That means we don't get to harvest Purple Majesty, Carola, Rio Grande, Sangre or German Butterball this year.  Actually, German Butterball has under performed, so it was due to be removed anyway.  We thought Purple Majesty and Rio Grande might re-appear after their disappearance last year.  Sadly, that did not happen.  But, we had no clue that Carola and Sangre would go away this year.  Now what?

The good news is that Mountain Rose does return to the farm.  Canela will be our russet potato again as it has replaced Rio Grande in our grow list.  We don't like it quite as much, but it has been fine.  We're trying Red Norland for our earlier potatoes and Kennebec comes back to the farm after being away for nearly ten years.  We had some Carola potatoes left over in storage that we put in the ground and we are trying a bed of Harvest Moon again this year.

New Tools and Approaches

We added an attachment to Barty, our BCS walk-behind tractor that we might call a hiller/trencher.  We used it to make the trenches for the potatoes.  Unfortunately for Rob, he actually tilled the beds first and he probably should not have done that.  Or, better yet, he could have turned off the tiller while he was trenching.  It would have wore him out a little bit less if he had.

Even so, the trenches were made much more quickly and with less effort than previous years.  And, the even better news is that we expect it to be even easier next year (and years thereafter) now that we are a bit more used to the tool.  I think I can be forgiven for thinking I had to till more because we DID just replace the tines on Barty.  We were used to a certain amount of tillage in one pass last year.  (a hint - it wasn't very good)  So, it was a bit of a shock to get a beautifully prepared bed in one pass.

We understand that a middle buster on the back of Rosie, our tractor, would have done a fine job as well.  But, we don't have a middle buster at this time AND we're trying for a little more precision within the bed for intercropping reasons.  The smaller equipment gives us a bit more precision, so we'll go with that for now.

Once trenches were placed in the beds, we just needed to drop the potatoes in.  We just load up 5 gallon buckets and walk the row, dropping in the seed potatoes.  Yes, there are potato planters and other mechanized ways to do this.  But, we really don't mind walking 200 feet and dropping in some taters.  It's the simplest part of the process and it encourages us to observe what is going on with the seed and the field.  Clearly, I would have a different viewpoint if I planted much more than 1800-2000 row feet of potatoes.  But, I don't - so there you have it. 

Potatoes dropped in the trenches

The last step is to cover the potatoes.  The old method?  Rake the trenches in.  Usually it happened at the end of  long day.  We were tired and we really didn't enjoy raking that much dirt in.  This is where Rosie came out to play with the simple 2 disk hiller that we have.  The potatoes were covered (maybe a tad bit deep, but the soil is lose and will flatten out just fine) in about five minutes.  Celebration (and dinner) followed.

Why haven't we used this hiller before?  Well, we originally got this implement when Durnik (Ford 8n/2n) was our primary tractor.  Sadly, the hydraulic lift on Durnik couldn't be set to a desired height/depth on that tractor.  So, the result was that the disks would either be pushed in all the way (resulting in ridiculously high hills) or they would float out of the dirt - hilling nothing.  We tried to make the darn thing work two seasons in a row with no success.  I guess we rake it in, eh?

Picture added May 12 - rows hilled.

Frankly, those results soured us on using the hiller and we actually forgot we even had it in our arsenal until last year, when we hilled potatoes mid-year.  Ok, we sort of forgot it.  We also had trouble getting to it when we wanted it a couple of years ago.  That was one of the events that encouraged us to do a major farm 'cleaning' that corresponded with finally building our walk-in cooler.

We may not be the fastest at adapting, but we do get there eventually.  Here's to what we hope is a fantastic potato crop in 2018.