Potatoes, Onions & Garlic

 

 

Seed Potato Planting

 

Tubers should never be exposed to hot sun or drying winds before planting keep them in a cool place. Large tubers may be cut into several pieces, as long as you are careful to leave two or three eyes in each piece. Let cut surfaces dry before planting. Soil should be loose and drain well. Dig as deeply as possible before planting. DO NOT add lime or manure – both encourage scab formation on potatoes. They are planted 4-6” deep, and 15-18” apart, which requires 3-4 lbs per 50-foot row. Fertilizer should not be high in nitrogen, as this promotes excess top growth. Most vegetable fertilizers would be appropriate. Consistent watering is essential as potatoes that become too dry before watering are prone to hollow heart and scab, and tubers will rot in very wet soil. Weeds between rows can be hoed – be careful not to damage roots of potatoes. After harvesting, store them in the dark about 8 degrees C, with good air circulation, and they will keep several months.

 

 

Seed Potato Varieties

 

Early
Carlton: White potato, round, good yield, excellent for chips or frying.
Norland: Red potato, oblong with smooth skin and shallow eyes. Resistant to scab, a good eating potato.

Warba: White potato, earliest cultivar available. Round, deep eyes, good yield, but susceptible to scab.
Purple Potato: Early bluish-purple skin, white flesh, uniform shape; good yielder, hardy.

 

Mid Season
Kennebec: White potato, large with smooth skin. Stores well, good for boiling, baking and frying.
Norgold Russet: White potato, round with pink eyes, excellent yield, resistant to scab but susceptible to hollow heart.
Pontiac: Red potato, round heavy yield, drought resistant, excellent for boiling and mashing, bruises easily.
Yukon Gold: Yellow potato, round, smooth skin, boils and bakes well, good flavor.

 

Late Varieties
Bintje: Yellow potato, one of the most popular in Europe. Good for good for boiling and baking, store well.
Russet Burbank: White potato, large oblong with shallow eyes. Excellent for baking and frying; stores well.

 

 

Garlic

 

Is a member of the onion family but instead of producing one bulb, it produces a group of small bulbs called cloves. They are planted in early spring (or try fall planting, mulching over winter to protect bulbs). Break bulb apart and plant cloves separately in rich soil. Garlic needs ample water over the summer. Insects are not a problem with garlic it is a natural insect repellent. Harvest bulbs when tops die down, and hang to dry in bundles.

 

 

Onions

 

Can be planted from seed started early indoors, but planting “onion sets” (tiny onions from previous year, purchased in packages) outdoors when ground can be worked, is much simpler and more dependable. These are available for multipliers (also called shallots or scallions) bunching onions, cooking onions and spanish onions.

 

Multipliers (or scallions) from clusters of bulblets in the ground. They are usually used as a green onion but can be allowed to mature, to a larger bulb. If they are going to be allowed to mature, thin out or space well.

 

Shallots are larger than multipliers but similar in growth habit.

 

Bunching onions don’t produce an obvious bulb, are used as green onions.

Cooking onions produce a large, single bulb, and are available in yellow, white and red types. They keep well.

 

Spanish onions are mild flavored, often eaten raw but poor keepers. They are available in yellow and white types.

 

Silverskin or pickling onions are started from seed in March or early April.

 

 

Growing Onions

 

Onions need well-drained, cool soil. Onion sets are planted in early spring, about the first of May, transplanted (either purchased or your own grown from seed) are set out a little later. Do not plant too deep the bulb should ½ - 1” below the ground. They must never be allowed to dry out. Keep the soil evenly moist. A fertilizer lower in nitrogen (such as a bulb fertilizer) would be suitable. As the days lengthen and the temperature rises the tops stop growing and the bulb enlarges. Stop watering mid-August. The tops will wilt and fall over naturally, indicating it is time to harvest. Store clean, dry onions in a dry, cool place.

 

Chives

 

A hardy perennial that can be clipped continuously all summer to provide an onion like flavor to salads, dips, sauces, etc. Chives prefer rich, moist soil in full sun but will tolerate partial shade. They can be used fresh, frozen or dried. There are also “garlic chives” like regular chives but tall with a garlic flavor. If not clipped regularly, chives produce pom-poms of lavender flowers.

 

Leeks

 

Are a mild flavored member of the onion family. They do not form bulbs as onions do. To get long, white stems, plant in trenches 4-6 inches deep and hill up as the plant grows. They take 80-90 days to grow from transplants and 140-150 days from seed, so seed must be started indoors by the end of March.