New potatoes for the new year

I harvested these tasty treats from one pot. Not much, for sure, but just enough to accompany a small meal.

Potato flowering in winter

Our winter, that is. We have fairly mild winters although it's way too cold for subtropicals like tomatoes, basil, and chili peppers.

Over the years, I have not had the greatest luck with growing potatoes. I would described it as meh.

But then I had always grown potatoes in our summers when it was warmer.

These took off over the last few months and finally flowered. Lesson learned. In the winter, here in southern California, you can grow potatoes.

First toadflax bloom

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878~

It has been unnaturally colder than normal the last week, with the lows in the mid 30s, F, a lovely visit from the jet stream which normally doesn't traverse our way. I am not used to cold like this. Amazingly, I still have green plants in my garden, and these include fava beans, peas, chard, parsley, potato plants and cilantro.

Not surprisingly, weeds continue to do well despite our cold spell, and right now, the toadflax is just coming up. I keep toadflax around for the dainty Easter egg colored flowers. Family Plantaginaceace, species Linaria. They were originally in the Scrophulariaceae family, which was my first guess. I don't think they do well as a cut flower because they only seem to last a day in the vase, after which the tiny flowers fall off and form a mess both on the table and in the water. Still, I occassionally bring them home for the table, if only for a day.

The good, the bad and the ugly: my potatoes

I simply do not have a showcase garden. My veggie garden can look quite ragged at times especially when the tomato plants begin to senesce about midway through their cycle. I find tomato plants age quickly and basically look just terrible by the time they are giving up the last tomato.

However, by far the worst offenders are the potatoes. I grow them in containers in my garden, and they start out fine early on.

Towards the end, they look like this.

Not pretty, are they. Even worse, I like to keep them in the containers for a bit longer so that they can mature a bit. Sorry, neighbors. But freshly harvested potatoes for dinner is a rare treat and well worth the ugly.

Potato plant flowering

I came upon the potato flowers early in the morning, lit up by the sun rising. I really don't know what the ant is doing on it but I have ants all over my plot so this is par for the course.

Lately, I plant potatoes in containers. This plant is now flowering, which does not always happen, and I don't know why. In the past, I have used 15 gallon containers for potatoes, and it is quite the mystery to me why I have not had good luck with that size. Since downgrading to a smaller size container, I have found the plants to be much happier. They grow tall and overflow the container.

This flower reminds me of its relation to tomatoes and eggplants as they are all in the same family, Solanaceae.

my potatoes in pots

I am finding better luck growing potatoes in 5-10 gallon size pots. These are smaller than the 15 gallon pots I had been using with mostly poor results. It may be that we are too cold and foggy, here by the beach.

I add a layer of good organic potting soil in the bottom of the pot then add the potatoes. These are Yukon gold. I moundup as they grow taller. I harvest after the plants die. I like to wait as long as possible though I worry I may get cited for unsightliness.

Funny, with veggie gardening, the esthetics take last place at times.

Here, you'll see the blackberry vines forming a wall behind the potatoes. In the foreground, there is a solitary hollyhock, which I allow to grow wild in my plot.

Flowers and fruit from my potato plant

Funny how hardy volunteers do so well with so little care. My volunteer potato plants have flowered and are now fruiting. The fruit look so much like tomatoes, but of course, a they both hail from the same family, Solanaceae.