Nevadans?

[americanvalkyrie]

Count me in on the potato order too. I'll check them out and will let ya know what I'm looking for.

Sweet! How well did your potatoes grow in the shopping bags this year?

ooooooh...... All this potatoe talk is making me

I'd crawl across the floor to get me some sweet potatoe fries!

Just curious: How many pounds of potatoes will an average seed potatoe produce?

In good soil, a pound of seed potato can grow about 10lbs of potatoes. I saw Ron's Purple Viking harvest though, and his exceeded that! Mine was about that... some plants produced better, some worse (more about soil health than anything else) but that's about what I got. My potatoes in bags didn't work as well this year because of the heat. But I'm going to try them next year, maybe with a cooling layer around the bags or something. The potatoes in the chicken feed bags worked better, I think because the bag was white and reflected heat better. And the ones planted in April, and moved inside during frost, produced better than the ones planted later in the year.

I read once, many years ago, that some guy wanted to grow sweet potatoes so badly that he dug a huge hole in the ground and put a water bed mattress in it with the heater. I also read that this method proved successful to him. Don't remember any other details though.

Yeah, I'd say that's REALLY wanting to grow sweet potatoes!

Yea I just spent a bit of time revisiting the information I'd read last year, just now. Longer season definitely, loamy soil, aged manure added to bed in fall, no fresh manure right before planting. Treat plants gently, they don't like to be bumped and bruised.

Warming the soil up is as easy as laying down red plastic ahead of time and covered rows can add an extra week or so to the end of the season. Yes they are 90-110 days. Unlike normal potatoes the leaves and shoots on a sweet potato plant are edible. Often used for stir fry. They are not part of the nightshade family.

I'm not crazy about the varieties sold in stores so for me this would be a plant worth working on. I need to find a supplier that has some delectable and unique varieties. The hay method, with aged manure underneath can help a lot to keep soil warm and to give a more tender plant room to grow without bruising. I really want to try a few great varieties of sweet potato this next season. Time to start preparing is now.

In the stores, you have russets, yukon gold, a red potato, and maybe a blue one. That's about it. And you don't get nearly as much for the price. I think it's about $5 for a half pound. And with sweet potatoes? You have a red and a yellow. We can do much better, I'm sure, if we tried.

I bet you could definitely do the sweet potato thing with the straw and manure. Maybe even lay down a black mulch cloth below them to start the season early, and make sure that black mulch is well covered by the time the sun starts heating up the sand. And if you keep a hose pointed at that area, about all you have to do is go squirt it down once in awhile.

I would really love to grow a Japanese purple yam (actually a sweet potato, as well.) You can buy them in the Asian market, and I bet you could even sprout some from them. They're sooo tasty and beautiful, and shockingly purple! They actually intensify color when cooked... lavender when raw, and deep royal purple cooked. I like to roast them up, then make a triple-color mashed potato with white potatoes, orange sweet potatoes, and the purple yams. Maybe that's worth a try next year if I'm itching for another hobby.

 

[RulerOfTheSkies]

Ok, Role Call: Who is going to be at the show?

 

[sherylreno]

I read once, many years ago, that some guy wanted to grow sweet potatoes so badly that he dug a huge hole in the ground and put a water bed mattress in it with the heater. I also read that this method proved successful to him. Don't remember any other details though.

I've never heard of such a thing.

Sweet! How well did your potatoes grow in the shopping bags this year?


In good soil, a pound of seed potato can grow about 10lbs of potatoes. I saw Ron's Purple Viking harvest though, and his exceeded that! Mine was about that... some plants produced better, some worse (more about soil health than anything else) but that's about what I got. My potatoes in bags didn't work as well this year because of the heat. But I'm going to try them next year, maybe with a cooling layer around the bags or something. The potatoes in the chicken feed bags worked better, I think because the bag was white and reflected heat better. And the ones planted in April, and moved inside during frost, produced better than the ones planted later in the year.


Yeah, I'd say that's REALLY wanting to grow sweet potatoes!


In the stores, you have russets, yukon gold, a red potato, and maybe a blue one. That's about it. And you don't get nearly as much for the price. I think it's about $5 for a half pound. And with sweet potatoes? You have a red and a yellow. We can do much better, I'm sure, if we tried.

I bet you could definitely do the sweet potato thing with the straw and manure. Maybe even lay down a black mulch cloth below them to start the season early, and make sure that black mulch is well covered by the time the sun starts heating up the sand. And if you keep a hose pointed at that area, about all you have to do is go squirt it down once in awhile.

I would really love to grow a Japanese purple yam (actually a sweet potato, as well.) You can buy them in the Asian market, and I bet you could even sprout some from them. They're sooo tasty and beautiful, and shockingly purple! They actually intensify color when cooked... lavender when raw, and deep royal purple cooked. I like to roast them up, then make a triple-color mashed potato with white potatoes, orange sweet potatoes, and the purple yams. Maybe that's worth a try next year if I'm itching for another hobby.

They didn't do well at all in the bags. Got a couple but not enough for a dinner. I want to plant them in the ground this year.

Ok, Role Call: Who is going to be at the show?

Me.

 

[VCfeathers]

I plan to be there. No entries though.


and I'm always happy to share gardening orders.


p.s. Sorry for the absence again.

 

[chicharomirinda]

hi, i haven't checked here for awhile. busy with all the halloween activities, etc. my egg count has been pretty low as well. i thought my broody pullets were done but 2 of them are back at it but they've moved up into nest boxes instead of in the straw under the nest box.

some of the 1 yr olds are still molting. My BR looks hilarious. her butt is all bare.

i really need to do some garden clean up and compost work this weekend. hopefully i can get some done but energy has been low. i also have some bulbs to plant--tulips and daffodils. my tulips have really run their course and have looked pretty sad the last couple of years so it's time to replace.

We got some very good news last week! Steve's contract has been renewed for another 2 years and that is exactly how much more time he needs to put in to qualify for retirement from the Army (as a civilian employee) so that will make retirement a bit easier on us. Maybe we can even find a way to retire here in the states! Before we had no idea how to be able to afford to stay here.

Great news about Steve's contract and his eustachian tube issue! congrats!

I'm doing very well. I've been very busy with work as usual but I can't complain. It took John until tonight believing we have racoons. I asked him last week what will it take for him to believe the racoons are actually here. He said he won't believe it until he actually sees one. So tonight the ducks were very nervous and hiding under the coop and inside the coop. Boy were they noisy tonight. John and I was outside with the flashlight checking everything out when the racoons started their noises while we were out there. Boy did he get nervous and asked what can we do tonight to get them. Of course, there isn't anything open right now to purchase the traps.

hope your birds stay safe from those coons! how's your job going?

A sneak peek at my show line up!

beautiful birds! I'm looking forward to seeing all the entries at the show.

(TMI time... don't read if squeamish)
I am out of my benadryl haze....truly a "wasted" weekend in every sense of the word.

Had the CT scan on Thursday and they said the side effects might be a slight headache, metal taste and a rash.

sorry you're having so much trouble. I hope they can figure out what's going on. sounds miserable. My grandma had very little sense of smell or taste, I remember, but I don't know what caused it. I should ask my dad if he knows.

This is my first show as well. I am so scared I might say the wrong thing, and even more afraid of forgetting something!

Wish me luck!

P.S I`ll be at the show from 7:00 till it ends,can any of you give me some tips?
P.S.S Don`t be surprised at my young age!

good luck! we'll be rooting for you.

My egg count has been way down, too. Oh, and an update on the Black Am breeding experiment in the smaller pen. The gals immediately stopped being broody, and as far as I can tell, they stopped laying, too, unless they did a really good job of hiding the eggs. The good sister made a break for it back to the main pen one day when I was in there giving them fresh water. Then, somehow a male CA quail got in the small pen. I opened the access door to the coop 'cause every time I would go in there he would hop into the coop. He got out fine but Poppy and 'Tude both made a break for the main coop while I was doing that. I figured out how the quail got in (the top netting had come loose on the far side), but since Sis was already back in the main coop, and neither she nor 'Tude were broody or even laying anymore, I decided to just let them all stay in the main coop until Spring.

ETA: Hey, anyone in the market for a really nice Ford 8N tractor, with box scraper? PM me if you are.

hope the breeding will work out better in the spring.

I found some on Craigs list. These people in the Stagecoach area hatch chicks all winter apparently and they actually sell them.

So... I got three. Two are silkie crosses and one is something else... a little black something or other. TINY!

I'll take pics and share later.

glad you found some buddies for your chick!

 

[sherylreno]

Hi Elizabeth! The job is great. I'm very happy there. I do work tons of hours but they're happy hours.

 

[NevadaRon]

Ok, Role Call: Who is going to be at the show?

I'm still trying to figure out when it is...

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Ok, Role Call: Who is going to be at the show?

I'll be there with Sahara, but mostly just to look around and say hi to everyone. We intend to meet at Carrow's too. Might bring the husband... depends on how he feels. You know, the dual-partnership marriage type of thing where you don't assume that you can make someone's decisions for him.

Elizabeth, did the flu hit your family yet? It hit ours early this week. Boom boom boom! It's so contagious! You wake up feeling great, and within 2 hours are off your feet. And our area isn't even one of the ones that's supposed to be majorly infected. I guess it is now.

 

[SunnyDawn]

...
I am officially nuts......final bird entry count is 40! YIKES! Hmmm I will be inspecting feather quality closely this weekend to see if anyone needs to stay home.
Seems there will be a lot of waterfowl at the show this year.

You are entering 40 birds in the show?!!!

Seriously, have you thought about entering a 12 step program for your disease?

ooooooh...... All this potatoe talk is making me

I'd crawl across the floor to get me some sweet potatoe fries!

Mmmmmmm!!! I love sweet potato fries!

...
I bet you could definitely do the sweet potato thing with the straw and manure. Maybe even lay down a black mulch cloth below them to start the season early, and make sure that black mulch is well covered by the time the sun starts heating up the sand. And if you keep a hose pointed at that area, about all you have to do is go squirt it down once in awhile.

I would really love to grow a Japanese purple yam (actually a sweet potato, as well.) You can buy them in the Asian market, and I bet you could even sprout some from them. They're sooo tasty and beautiful, and shockingly purple! They actually intensify color when cooked... lavender when raw, and deep royal purple cooked...

Yes they would do very well in straw since they need loose soil to expand in and they like their moisture. I could get away with a little less water too, if they were in straw.

Now I must have purple yams!!! I mean sweet potatoes. What market did you get them at? OK Sunny, calm down, you can't start them this time of year. Thanks to Dee I am picturing these gorgeous, purple, sweet potato fries!!!!! YU-UH-MMY!

Ok, Role Call: Who is going to be at the show?

DH and I will be there. No entries for us either.

I plan to be there. No entries though.


and I'm always happy to share gardening orders.


p.s. Sorry for the absence again.

Hey Mandy! How are you feeling?

...

i really need to do some garden clean up and compost work this weekend. hopefully i can get some done but energy has been low. i also have some bulbs to plant--tulips and daffodils. my tulips have really run their course and have looked pretty sad the last couple of years so it's time to replace.

Great news about Steve's contract and his eustachian tube issue! congrats!
...

Thanks Eizabeth! I wondered where you'd been. I should get some daffodils in as well. They are one of the few things that the rabbits won't eat.

...The job is great. I'm very happy there. I do work tons of hours but they're happy hours.

That is great news! So happy for you!

I'm still trying to figure out when it is...

November 17th at 9am at the Livestock Event Center on Wells. We will go from there to Carrows to nosh and gab.

...

Elizabeth, did the flu hit your family yet? It hit ours early this week. Boom boom boom! It's so contagious! You wake up feeling great, and within 2 hours are off your feet. And our area isn't even one of the ones that's supposed to be majorly infected. I guess it is now.

It hit here. I was down Monday evening through part of Wednesday with it.

Short lived but it really knocked me out for those 2 days. By Thursday I felt good as new again but now my poor Dad has it. He is feeling better today though.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Ok, Role Call: Who is going to be at the show?

I will be there but I'm not bringing any entries. My daughter is bringing a few. I will have some birds for sale... blue leghorn bantams, black leghorn bantams and a couple pairs of buckeye bantams.