Illinois...

[BReeder!]

I realize this isn't a gardening thread, but has anybody seen seed potatoes in stores? They usually sell them in paper bags with pictures of potatoes on them. I haven't been able to find them, but they are usually available in March. I was hoping to get them in the ground before Easter.

 

[spottendogrun]

I realize this isn't a gardening thread, but has anybody seen seed potatoes in stores? They usually sell them in paper bags with pictures of potatoes on them. I haven't been able to find them, but they are usually available in March. I was hoping to get them in the ground before Easter.

I had just bought a few at the beginning of the month at Home Depot in Shorewood.

 

[BReeder!]

I had just bought a few at the beginning of the month at Home Depot in Shorewood.

Thanks. I'm just 10 min from there so I'll check it out this weekend.

 

[cavemanrich]

BReeder!​

What some peeps opted for, in seed potato planting, is getting organic potatoes from grocery store. They are not sprayed with the chemical that prevents sprouting. Understandably, most straight run potatoes are treated with the chemical to prevent the potatoes from sprouting. Sprouted potatoes turn green skins, which is not the ideal potato to eat.
Check Whole Foods. They may carry organic potatoes. Maybe Trader Joe's as well. They are big into ORGANIC.
Organic potatoes should not be sprayed,

 

[cavemanrich]

BTW,, Organic potatoes will be less cash than seed potatoes. I seen previously seed potatoes at Menards, and small bag was quite pricey.
I think Molpet has been sowing her own stock of potatoes, they she started from grocery store. I could be mistaken, but something rings by me,,, that they were Yukon Gold variety.

 

[Molpet]

BTW,, Organic potatoes will be less cash than seed potatoes. I seen previously seed potatoes at Menards, and small bag was quite pricey.
I think Molpet has been sowing her own stock of potatoes, they she started from grocery store. I could be mistaken, but something rings by me,,, that they were Yukon Gold variety.

Yes my first were organic Yukon gold from the grocery store. Actually I have had some regular russets that started growing and I planted.
I have some purple yellow, huckleberry, that I bought online a couple years ago. They are supposed to be low glycemic.

@BReeder! I can give you a few

 

[BReeder!]

Yes my first were organic Yukon gold from the grocery store. Actually I have had some regular russets that started growing and I planted.
I have some purple yellow, huckleberry, that I bought online a couple years ago. They are supposed to be low glycemic.

@BReeder! I can give you a few

I'll try to pick some up this weekend first. We tend to grow quite a few pairs here. I'm planning a little less this year to make room for melons, but still going to plant approx. 32 seed potatoes.

I plant in wide raised rows with a staggered double row method, planting densely and allowing me to her alotb of potato plants in less space. I'll have two ~12ft rows this year but should be able ton get a fair amount of potatoes planned and harvested.Each raised row is planted in a pattern like this:
X.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X
.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X.....X

 

[Faraday40]

I wish I was as organized in my garden. I plant here & there (in rows). The layout is always different. My solution for overcrowding was to just make a BIG garden. Some years I don't use all of the space. I weed in May & June when I have little plants (or at least keep putting grass clippings in areas I want free of weeds). Sometime in late July my garden turns in a food jungle. It produces a lot and all I can manage is some time spent picking and occasional watering if we're in a drought.

By September & October my former missed weeds turned into some squash, pumpkins and wild tomatoes.

 

[BReeder!]

I wish I was as organized in my garden. I plant here & there (in rows). The layout is always different. My solution for overcrowding was to just make a BIG garden. Some years I don't use all of the space. I weed in May & June when I have little plants (or at least keep putting grass clippings in areas I want free of weeds). Sometime in late July my garden turns in a food jungle. It produces a lot and all I can manage is some time spent picking and occasional watering if we're in a drought.

By September & October my former missed weeds turned into some squash, pumpkins and wild tomatoes.

Whatever works to produce some food.
Being organized in planting helps me remember what's where so I know not to pull a young plant thinking its a weed by mistake.

I try to keep weeds at bay, but they eventually win. I picked up an action hoe this year, I'm hoping it will help in the battle of weeds. The weeds with tap roots are the worst, especially thistle. Say all anybody wants to say about the medicinal benefits of thistle, I hate the thorny itch-inducing weed. We do have a heavy duty weed pullet for those tap root weeds though.

 

[Molpet]

I cover most of the garden in grass so there's not as much to weed. My cousin gives me her yard grass and I put that on the garden. Some goes to the poultry.
Tomato get grown in holes in weed fabric. Chickens are in with caged tomato most of the time and they can't dig up the roots. They do get the lower fruit so I plant a dz.
Onions in holes in a heavy paper. They don't bulb well with mulch and the fabric is to hard to make a hole every 6 inches. The paper I can use a trowel to cut a hole.