Potato Trouble!

Have you ever done something that you really regret?  Something that you messed up on and you can't fix it?  There's a saying that goes, "You can't un-ring a bell."  Well, the bell has rung and it's a sad note.  The 2023 potato crop is probably going to be a total crop failure.  Was it due to the weather?  Nope.  Was it because of pest problems?  Nope.

It was because of me.  I planted 122 seed potatoes in the ground in the garden in the side yard.  I dug a hole, put a handful of composed chicken litter in the bottom of the hole,  filled the hole with rich compost and then planted the seed potato and covered it with composted wood chips - a nice medium for potatoes to thrive in.

And thrive, they did.  We achieved a 100% germination rate.  The potato plants grew with vigor for about three weeks.  And then...

They took on this sickly, yellowish hue.  All growth stopped.  Some of the potatoes withered and died.  I hate to even look at what's left of them.  When I walk out that way to check on the bees, I avert my eyes.

Here is a potato plant on the end of the row.  It's unscathed.  It looks lush and green like they are supposed to look.

A Post-mortem:  So what happened?  Here are the unsavory details the best I can figure it.  I got the composted chicken litter from the hen house beneath the roost.  It's good fertilizer, but it's "hot."  You must let it cool down some before using.  That's why I remove the top layer and get the chicken litter that's the oldest.  I put it it a big tub for further composting.  

For whatever reason, I must have picked up some chicken litter that was too hot.  I placed it in the bottom of the hole and then put soil on top and then planted the potato in the soil.  All was good for a while... Until the roots from the potato hit the chicken litter.  What should have caused them to jump up with vigor and turn and blue-green, healthy color, instead was too strong.  Much too strong.  It burned the plant, essentially cooking it.

I'll still dig them up and see what we have.  I was looking so forward to eating fresh Irish potatoes with snap beans.  It's one of my favorite garden duos.  I thought we were going to be harvesting a bumper crop of potatoes and I'd be able to use our new drying wagon to cure them.  I realized the truth to the adage, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."  The Bible says it even better:

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring.

Oh well, there's always next year's crop!