Fall Potatoes - A Review

In This Earlier Post we discussed our first ever Fall potato crop.  We talked about how this was an experiment for us to see if we could get two crops of potatoes.  The problem is, I waited about two weeks too late to get the seed potatoes that I had saved from the Spring crop into the ground.  I knew I was risking it, but also knew that even if we got an early freeze (and we did), I would still be able to harvest some new potatoes.

Well, the early freeze came and our potatoes were burned back by the cold.  They were droopy and the leaves were brown and crispy on the ends.

Freeze-burned potatoes

In hindsight I should have covered them up with a tarp prior to the freeze in order to try to keep them growing,  I didn't do that and so I'll have to dig them up.  Not a big deal.  I only planted a dozen seed potatoes, so this won't take me long at all.  I simply pulled back the hay that I mulched them with and gently pried upward on the plant with my shovel.

Digging up Potato Plants

The hay mulch kept the soil moist and easy to dig.  Each plant had several potatoes on it that averaged the size of a golf ball.  This wasn't the yield that we experienced in the Spring, but we only planted 12 seed potatoes.

Freshly Dug Potatoes

We roasted the potatoes with butter and rosemary alongside a rack of goat meat.  The goat meat melted in your mouth and the potatoes were a perfect accompaniment.

Although the bucket shown above is sort of sad looking, it's okay.  I learned through this experiment that when the planting guide says that the cut-off date for planting is September 10th, they're not joking.  That date is there for a reason.  Planting 13 days after that date was not a wise idea.  Next Fall I will definitely plant potatoes, only I'll plant many, many more and I'll plant a couple of weeks earlier.  This will enable us to eat potatoes until the Spring crop comes in.