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Enjoying the Harvest

July 22nd, 2010

Yesterday I went to my mom’s and we harvested a row of ‘Yukon Gold’ potatoes. These were potatoes that she grew last year and she didn’t get around to eating and found them sprouting in her root cellar this spring. We figured we may as well use them, so we planted them earlier this spring when we planted my sampler pack. They produced over 50lbs of potatoes!

When you spend an hour harvesting potatoes you get really hungry, so we came in and enjoyed a few of those potatoes fried up with some onions and you can’t eat potatoes without a fried egg on the side. This is my most favorite way to eat potatoes, simple and delicious! Off course they have to be fried in a cast iron skillet with bacon grease or butter!

You sure can’t get a fresher or tastier potato anywhere. This is one of the reasons I garden. I love being able to decide what to make for dinner based on what’s ready to harvest in the garden.

Have you harvested any potatoes yet? What’s your favorite way to eat potatoes?

39 Comments to “Enjoying the Harvest”
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by mark mile, Susy Morris. Susy Morris said: Enjoying the #Harvest http://goo.gl/fb/82xeH #edible #potatoes […]

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  2. Rose on July 22, 2010 at 7:03 am

    My potato harvest has been meagre – we couldn’t get Yukon Golds here this year due to frosts and flight issues with eruptions so I am JEALOUS. I had to stick with a rare heirloom variety which doesn’t give very good yields even if it is a nice spud.

    I eat mine as you do but I embellish a lot; sometimes a bit of bacon and sausage, or some leeks, salt and pepper with a bit of grated oak smoked cheddar and scrambled egg. Naturally, cast iron skillet!

    Reply to Rose's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 7:16 am

      MMM, we too love bacon (usually I’m frying mine in bacon grease if I’m lucky enough to have some).

      Oak Smoked cheddar sounds wonderful!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  3. pam on July 22, 2010 at 7:04 am

    How do you store your potatoes?

    Reply to pam's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 7:18 am

      I store mine in a cardboard box in the basement. It seems to work well for me. I eat the shorter storing varieties first and keep the longer storing varieties for later in the winter. I’m growing Kennebecs and a Purple Viking for long storage.

      Some people store them in their garages in straw. I have a bilco (basement door) that I’m considering turning into a root cellar for storing crops like potatoes, but I don’t know if that will happen this year or not.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. Kjirsti on July 22, 2010 at 7:30 am

    I’m so envious that your parents’ garden is nearby. My parents also have a large garden, and I would love to help plant, weed, and harvest from it, but they live far far away in Washington State. My Dad grows an incredible garden each year, and the yield is always way more than they can handle. Unfortunately, since I’m too far, the neighbors benefit!

    Reply to Kjirsti's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 7:37 am

      I wish it were closer, it’s only an hour away, but still far enough to be not as convenient as I wish it were.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Corrie Carswell on July 22, 2010 at 7:50 am

    I harvested some Yukon Golds yesterday. I grew them in a “potato growing bag”. It was a disappointing yield, but I took every one of them to our family dinner. We just boiled them and put them in a bowl with butter and milk. They were delicious!

    What was your planting technique? Did you hill them?

    Reply to Corrie Carswell's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 8:03 am

      We also grew Yukons last year in a bin, but we too disappointed with yields. This year we made a hill in the garden and planted the potatoes in them. Then we mulched with straw and that was it, no further hilling.

      Yukons are a less productive potato that other varieties. My favorite kind of potato is Kennebec by far, good yield, good storing qualities and the best fried potatoes you’ll ever eat!

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Corrie Carswell on July 22, 2010 at 11:25 am

        I’m just confused. Some people say to plant them shallowly, and hill as you go through the season. The potatoes will form in the new soil as you add it. Some people say the potatoes grow downward into the soil, so there is no need to hill. I haven’t had luck either way! I am growing a bag of Kennebec too, so we’ll see how they do.

        I never met a fried potato I didn’t like!

        to Corrie Carswell's comment

      • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 11:33 am

        I know, you hear all kinds of things about how to grow potatoes. I guess if you can find what works for you that’s all that matters! You sound like you’re experimenting so eventually you’ll figure out what works best in your garden.

        to Susy's comment

  6. Amy on July 22, 2010 at 7:59 am

    We grow a couple kinds of potatoes……the Yukon Gold being one of them…..which we haven’t harvested any of yet……the other a red…….which we have been enjoying tremendously……My all time favorite way to eat potatoes like everybody else that has posted thus far is fried with onion in bacon grease with lots of fresh pepper and salt in a big ol iron skillet….I usually brown my potatoes first then finish cooking them in an oven so they don’t dry out:)

    Reply to Amy's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 8:05 am

      I often boil mine first, then cut and fry to crisp up. This makes for a nice soft fluffy potato inside and browned and crispy on the outside.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  7. kristin @ going country on July 22, 2010 at 8:09 am

    The MiL pulled out some of our Chieftans (a NY variety of red-skinned boiling potato) for potato salad the other day. I was very pleased to see how big they are already, and how many she got out of just a couple of hills. She re-planted the plants, too, so they should keep producing.

    The main potato harvest is still a couple of months away. I can’t wait for those tarps of potatoes. Because then I can make french fries. MY favorite way to eat potatoes, although pretty much ANY way is okay by me.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  8. Ken Toney on July 22, 2010 at 8:39 am

    I fixed up some yukon gold last night for dinner. I put them in the crockpot all day with a pound of fresh green beans and a ham bone. They were delicious. Homegrown potatoes beat store bought ones hands down. I’ll be pulling all of my potatoes this weekend.

    Reply to Ken Toney's comment

  9. Melanie J. on July 22, 2010 at 9:21 am

    OK, seriously? You’re killin’ me…I’m ready to eat that picture. What a great haul, and Yukon Golds…oy, can’t wait to have my own real garden.

    Reply to Melanie J.'s comment

  10. Seren Dippity on July 22, 2010 at 9:29 am

    I’m so jealous. I have had no luck with potatoes. I’ve tried yukon, kennebec and red lasoda. zip. nada. nothing. Plants start growing… maybe even start blooming and then dry up and die. Sweet potatoes I can do. Had a huge harvest of sweet potatoes last year. So we had tons of sweet potato fries all winter.

    Potatoes are my new challenge. It took three years to get a decent tomato crop, I am now about to turn my whole focus on what’s up with my potatoes.

    Reply to Seren Dippity's comment

  11. Shannon on July 22, 2010 at 9:37 am

    Yum. This is what we planted and are hoping to harvest in the coming months. We got a few little ones in thinning a few weeks ago and boy howdy are those good with butter. Really, potatoes + good butter + coarse sea salt can not go wrong.

    Reply to Shannon's comment

  12. Missy on July 22, 2010 at 9:48 am

    Best way to eat them–smashed with a potato masher (not whipped) with salt, pepper, butter, and several kinds of hard shredded cheeses blended in. Mmmmmmmmmmmm….

    Reply to Missy's comment

  13. Annie on July 22, 2010 at 10:01 am

    How do you know when they are ready? This is my first year with potatoes (not even sure which kind, a neighbor bought some potato seed from a local garden store). I did the potato pit method. First planted in 6 inches of soil and when the tops were 8 inches, added a loose soil to the top until I had no more room to add! A couple of days ago, I decided to dig out the plant that looked the weakest and I had about 6 baby potatoes (a little bigger than a golf ball) and then one at the bottom about the size of a softball! That was exciting! So, since the plants still look healthy and could still use some growth I am at a point where I have no experience! Also, I am in Northern California near Sacramento! Thanks for any advice!

    Reply to Annie's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 10:15 am

      I always wait until the plants die back to harvest.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Annie on July 22, 2010 at 10:28 am

        Thanks!

        to Annie's comment

  14. Chandelle on July 22, 2010 at 11:11 am

    You mentioned that you planted the Golds from your parents’ harvest…does that mean you didn’t bother with certified seed potatoes? I’d love to know that I don’t have to go out of my way to find seed potatoes! But everything I’ve read says that regular potatoes aren’t appropriate for planting. Have you not found that to be true?

    Reply to Chandelle's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 11:23 am

      Yes, we simply planted the potatoes from last year’s harvest that sprouted. They weren’t certified seed potatoes. If you think about it, back in the days people couldn’t buy certified seed potatoes. They simply saved the best potatoes from their harvest for planting the next year.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  15. Sustainable Eats on July 22, 2010 at 11:21 am

    I just harvested my first round this week. The stick I had marked read “russets” but they are really small and were the first to die back so I think I must have put the wrong stick in the wrong coffee bag. I never bothered to hill that bag so there was only about 5″ of soil covering them but I still got 6 pounds from a pretty small area. I meant to be more scientific about it this year so I could compare the benefit of numerous hillings but things just got away from me this spring. Someday when the kids are older I’ll study every dang thing in the garden.

    Reply to Sustainable Eats's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 11:24 am

      I never hill, I grew some in a box last year and was good at adding more soil every couple weeks and I found that all the potatoes grew in the bottom box. Since they I figured it wasn’t worth all the extra effort to hill. I do mulch them heavily with straw to keep any of the potatoes growing near the top of the soil from getting green.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  16. lee on July 22, 2010 at 11:58 am

    Those potatoes look so yummy. I like mashed potatoes with lots of butter. A few months ago I had a potato that was sprouting so I planted it in a pot and about a month later there was another one sprouting, so I planted that one too in a pot. I don’t know what’s wrong with them but they both look rather pathetic. Somebody told me I have to wait until they flower before harvesting the potatoes but so far they have not bloomed.

    Reply to lee's comment

    • Susy on July 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm

      I have had potatoes that have never bloomed. When it looks like the vines die all the way back you can harvest them.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • lee on July 23, 2010 at 11:12 am

        Good to know, thanks for the advice Susy.

        to lee's comment

  17. MAYBELLINE on July 22, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    Cut the potatoes lengthwise.
    Drizzle olive oil and garlic.
    Salt, pepper, onion powder, cayenne.
    Grill until soft.
    Flip floppin’ delicious.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  18. Morgan G on July 22, 2010 at 1:31 pm

    Nice! Yukon golds are by far my most favorite potato. I love them mashed, skins on, of course, with chives and buttermilk – simple and delicious!

    Reply to Morgan G's comment

  19. Lee on July 22, 2010 at 6:19 pm

    Favorite way is boiled then butter and whatever herbs I feel like throwing in.

    Reply to Lee's comment

  20. Debbie on July 22, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    Yep! We just harvested our yukons this week. I thought they were goners – but turns out we had just over 6 pounds. This was our first year doing potatoes and so we did them in containers…to get a feel for it. (Plus, our soil is all clay and I was worried about them rotting.)

    Last night we ate ours fried as well – with garlic, parsley and green onions. I could eat potatoes any ol’ way…but fried is my favourite.

    Reply to Debbie's comment

  21. the inadvertent farmer on July 22, 2010 at 7:09 pm

    Tossed with olive oil and herbs and roasted in foil on the BBQ…heavenly! Kim

    Reply to the inadvertent farmer's comment

  22. mamaraby on July 22, 2010 at 8:41 pm

    We’ve harvested a couple of pounds, but haven’t eaten any yet. My vote is on a green bean/potato salad with bacon whereas my husband’s is on some sort of potato soup. My response? Has he forgotten what season it is? :0)

    Reply to mamaraby's comment

  23. Issa on July 22, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    I’ve gotten some russets this year, but lots more Yukon Golds. I don’t think there’s any way to cook a potato that I don’t like, but my favorite is fried in cast iron with some bacon grease and Italian seasoning. Sometimes I dice them, sometimes sliced into coins, sometime hash browns, but always yummy!

    Reply to Issa's comment

  24. Totaling Car on July 23, 2010 at 6:11 am

    How do you know when they are ready? This is my first year with potatoes (not even sure which kind, a neighbor bought some potato seed from a local garden store). I did the potato pit method. First planted in 6 inches of soil and when the tops were 8 inches, added a loose soil to the top until I had no more room to add! A couple of days ago, I decided to dig out the plant that looked the weakest and I had about 6 baby potatoes (a little bigger than a golf ball) and then one at the bottom about the size of a softball! That was exciting! So, since the plants still look healthy and could still use some growth I am at a point where I have no experience! Also, I am in Northern California near Sacramento! Thanks for any advice!
    +1

    Reply to Totaling Car's comment

    • Susy on July 25, 2010 at 10:13 am

      You can start harvesting as soon as the plants start to bloom. Usually I wait until the plants die back fully, then I harvest. As long as the plants are green and growing the potatoes are still growing.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  25. Stephanie Suesan Smith on July 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm

    Potatoes do not grow well in our heavy clay soil, so I grow other things. I love to eat them best just as you describe, though. I usually omit the egg and just make fried potatoes and onions.

    Reply to Stephanie Suesan Smith's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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