Sunday 3 September 2017

Last Potatoes Lifted

We've had a few decent days with reasonable amounts of sunshine and fairly respectable temperatures by day but it's been a bit chilly overnight.
Temperature & Rainfall Records 31 August - 02 September 2017
On Saturday I lifted the last of our potato crop. They were a couple of short rows of "Winston" and I wasn't expecting much of the crop. I'd lifted the same variety a couple of weeks ago and they were so badly slug damaged they were consigned to the council recycling bin. There wasn't a damage free potato amongst them. The remaining couple of rows had been planted as a "clearing crop" in a bed that had been dug over in autumn 2016 after many years of growing herbs.
 October 2016
The soil having not been cultivated for a few years didn't dig over that well and it was left for winter rains and frost to break down.
Potatoes - Winston 
The rows I lifted on Saturday had done much better. The crop weighed in at what I consider to be a hefty 25kg or 55lb. That includes slug damaged potatoes but there were plenty of good sized undamaged ones in the crop. I'll weigh up the undamaged ones when they are sorted out before bagging up for winter storage.

After lifting the potatoes the bed was dug over, the soil was in much better condition than it was last autumn.
September 2017
I'll now be able to include the bed in a three or four year rotation plan. The bed was covered with weed control fabric and will be left until next spring.

Finally, I've added a video of a plot tour taken at the end of August and just before these potatoes were lifted.

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