I am also a geek, and as such will try to mix in a little engineering when it comes to producing a crop. So here is my proposal for the garden: The Hundred Pounds of Potato producing garden High Rise! Maybe using the term 'High Rise' to describe something 4 ft cubed is a bit of unmitigated hyperbole, but I read it on the Internets somewhere...
I think Potatoes are fascinating because they grow where the branches/stalk of the plant are submerged in dirt (supposedly this is why the Irish grew potatoes to such a huge degree, because they are one of the few crop that will remain edible even after some army marches over your field). Problem being, traditionally potatoes are labor intensive and involve a lot of digging up and replanting the satisfy the demands of the thrice cursed spud. The basic idea is that you plant seed potatoes in the earth, and as the plant grows you keep submerging the plant as it grows. The planks divide the growing mass into layers, which will help you keep track of what potatoes will be ready when.
The hope is that this construct skirts the labor intensity issue by giving ready access to all the different layers of tubers.
My only concern is the feasibility of all this. I tend to trust the experience of your experience B^2 and that of your green-fingered mother, and I believe when you discussed Potatoes with her it was decided that they simply weren't worth it. On top of that , I don't know how down Kathryn will be with erecting a squat shrine to carbohydrates.
I still think it's a nifty idea, although maybe I should focus on growing a potato instead of diving right into making the monolith.
Linky Seattle Times
Linky Lifehacker (they have a cool diagram of the potato box thingamabob)
Spud boxes! Totally cool. I think the concept is fairly simple. One of the reasons that we voiced opposition in the beginning is the work involved in digging them up, but this seems to go right to the heart of that problem. In fact, we may even be able to improve on the design by adding some hinges instead of using screws. We could also possibly improve on the durability of the box as well.
ReplyDeleteSo fertilize 10-20-20 and water consistently. Oh did I tell you? i totally saw seed potatoes at cityfarmer's nursery. I might stop by sometime and ask them about the potatoes.
I think this could be pretty fun. Do you think multiple species would work (idaho, red, yams)? I've never had a "fresh" potato before but would be quite interested to try one...or 100 pounds.
ReplyDeleteI think multiple species could definitely work. Don't see why not. I also don't know if a fresh potato would make a difference since they do keep pretty well.
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