Ups & Downs (Mostly Downs) of Storing Potatoes

On the last day of September, I sorted through my 2 bins of summer harvested potatoes. Some were going bad, and almost all were sprouting. I wasn't surprised about this and actually expected it for two reasons: the time of year we planted them, and the storage conditions they had to endure this year.

A spring planting yields a summer harvest. What we really need, if we want to store potatoes successfully, is a summer planting for a fall harvest. We planted ours (Red Pontiacs) during the first week of April.  I would have liked to have planted later, but they came with my spring seed order and by that time, they were all beginning to sprout. So into the ground they went.

We harvested them the last week of July, after all the tops had died back. That was about 16 weeks from planting. We did get a good harvest, about 120 pounds from 9 pounds planted. But here I am, two months later, with a big batch of sprouting potatoes.

Besides the time of year they were planted, the other problem is how/where I had to store them. This has been the summer of mid to upper 90s every day, and with no way to keep those taters cool. According to Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike and Nancy Bubel, potatoes store best in a cold, moist environment. They recommend 36 to 40° F, with a relative humidity going on 90%. For me, that means refrigeration during the summer, though my unheated pantry should do well for winter storage.

I did plant some of this harvest during the first week of August, in hopes of some fall potatoes. Unfortunately none of these grew, but I do have some healthy volunteers growing in the original potato patch, smack dab in the middle of my fall garden. These are just starting to flower, and with first frost expected sometime this month, I'm not sure what we'll get. Even so, I'll be happy with anything they produce.

Counting back 16 weeks from when we'd like to harvest (around Oct. 1st), I need to do my storage potato planting during the first half of June for an autumn harvest. I'm doubting any of this harvest will make it until then, so I probably need to plan on a late order for seed potatoes.

I figure can still have a small patch for summer potatoes, but the bulk of them I'd like to keep for storage.

In the meantime, I've transferred the remaining good potatoes to my extra fridge (kept in the pantry for just such purposes.) Hopefully they'll do better there.

Comment? (potato or otherwise)

Ups & Downs (Mostly Downs) of Storing Potatoes © October 2010 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Dan's Hawk Deterrent

A follow-up to Chicken News: the Good, the Scary, the Silly

After researching how to deter hawks, Dan decided to try a couple of things. There are tons of recommendations on the internet: scarecrows, mirrors, fake owls, mannequins, kites, shiny fluttery milar tape, fake hawks, shutting the chickens up till the hawks go away, big dogs, larger livestock, radios, roosters, netting, and hawk call recordings.

We decided to use what we had on hand, which meant a good old-fashioned straw stuffed scarecrow.

We also took five old CDs and attached one, shiny side up, to the top of it's hat. I put the others in pairs, back to back, and dangled them from the scarecrows arms.

It was fun to make and when we stood back for final inspection, we had a good giggle. If the chickens and goats aren't afraid of it, then I wonder what the hawks will think. Dan says we'll probably find hawks perching on it tomorrow.

We have noted a change in the chickens' behavior since the hawk incident. Yesterday morning Lord B, our rooster, let out a cry and all the hens ran for cover. We didn't see anything, but are glad to know he's more watchful than before.

Later, when I shook the dust out of a couple of throw rugs, the flapping sound sent the chickens running for the bushes as well. Obviously it reminded them of beating hawk's wings.

I've read mixed reviews on how well scarecrows deter hawks. Some folks report success, others don't. It seems to help if it's relocated frequently. I reckon time will tell.

[UPDATE: 10/5/10]  Yesterday while we were at Tractor Supply, we found an owl decoy for $10.  These are supposed to help keep hawks away so we figured, why not. The tag said it's hand-painted for realism. Now I ask you, what in the world breed of owl sports huge orange polka dots???

Dan's Hawk Deterrent © October 2010 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Chicken News: the Good, the Scary, the Silly

My most exciting news (or is that eggciting?) is this...

My chickens have finally consented to lay in my 3R nest boxes!!! I almost can't believe it. For three months now they've laid them everywhere but. They still lay eggs elsewhere, but at least I can now have some small sense of satisfaction from the nest boxes I was so proud of.   :)

Speaking of eggs, I got a striped one ...

Or at least this is probably as close as it gets.  It's a Welsummer egg. The interesting thing about Welsummer eggs is that the speckles are completely random. Each egg is different. Like this one...

... which is curious because of the size of those spots.  Or this one ...

... with a pile of speckles at one end.  This egg is also unusual because it is lighter that most Welsummer eggs. These definitely keep egg gathering interesting.

Here's the scary news - we almost lost one of our Welsummer hens. I was out turning the compost pile when I heard a crash and Lord B, our rooster, let out a loud warning squawk. I looked up, expecting to see that a pecan branch had come crashing down near the chickens. What I saw was a hawk, extracting itself from the thicket under the pecan tree where the chickens like to hang out. Fortunately it's talons were chickenless, but I had some panicked pullets, not knowing which way to run. I ran over to see if everyone was okay. The near victim looked like she'd had a few feathers pulled from her back, but other than that was just frightened. She wouldn't let me catch her to look her over, nor would she come out when I scattered some scratch and called "chick, chick." Can't say that I blame her.  I did watch her for a little while to make sure she wasn't injured. She ate the scratch I tossed in the bushes and appears to be getting around just fine.

[UPDATE: Dan's Hawk Deterrent, posted 10/4/2010]

On a more humorous note, here's an observation. Chickens, like most animals, respond best to routine. Because of that, I tried to think ahead about the chores I needed to do and when (and sometimes where) I wanted to do them. Our morning chicken routine is this: I first go into the feed section of the animal shed, greeting everyone. I usually bring yesterday's kitchen scraps with me, and add a scoop of chicken scratch. Then I go around to the chicken yard and open the chicken's door. (Photos of chicken gate and chicken door in this post.) While they're enjoying their scraps and scratch, I go do other things. Awhile later, I come back and open the chicken gate to let them into the goat field.

No problem with that routine. It's all well and good. Until the day I decided to open the gate right after gaving them their scratch. No waiting, I figured they could just go out to free range as soon as they wanted. When I finally went to do a chicken check however, I was surprised to see them clustered in the chicken yard, waiting for me. Apparently, it never occurred to them that the gate to the field was already open! The routine is that I'm supposed to open the gate after they've finished their scratch. They never noticed it was open. They just waited for me to come.

Rain. Of my four breeds, the only one that doesn't seem to mind rain is the Delaware. The others prefer to stay in, but if the rain lets up, are willing to make a dash around the side of the shed to visit the goats. There they can scratch around in the straw and lay eggs in the hay. The goats don't mind the company as they don't like going out in the rain either. (Llamas, on the other hand, don't seem to mind the rain and Charlie comes and goes in it as he pleases.)

The last of my chicken news is that one of our hens caught a small snake. It was a baby black snake (or maybe a rat snake) about 12 to 13 inches long and oh what a fuss she made. She would carry it around proudly until it wiggled a bit, then she would drop it with a squawk and a huge backwards jump. Every time I tried to get a closer look she would run off with it, because chickens aren't inclined to share their prizes. She eventually ate half of it (lovely sight), and later must have gone back to finish it off because it disappeared after that.

And that's it for my chicken news.

Chicken News: the Good, the Scary, the Silly © October 2010
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/