So how did the potatoes in the grow bags work out?

Last fall I conducted a little experiment on growing potatoes in fifteen-gallon grow bags. It was enough of a success for us to give it a try this past spring. I got a couple of Kenebeck seed potatoes and planted them in a big green bag - and they grew! 

Unfortunately, be it due to the weather or my inexperience with grow bags, the tops of the potato plants browned over the past two weeks. That meant the growing spuds were probably done growing because their source of nutrients had died. I wasn't quite ready to call it quits, but logic and common sense do sometimes prevail here on the manor. I emptied the bags to harvest the potatoes - and there were potatoes.

It wasn't the harvest I hoped for, but it's got potential. These can be used as seed potatoes now. There is no reason at all I can't allow a few of them to sprout and replant the bags for this fall. I even wonder if the plants will survive in the greenhouse over the winter. 

Half the fun of gardening is just planting and standing back to see what Mother Nature will do, and what she can do. 

We'll keep you posted.

Oh, and those really small potatoes? We'll boil them, butter 'em up, and enjoy!

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Pepper's last bud

last bloom on the bell pepper

The ability to grow peppers has eluded me all my life- until this year. My family has a long tradition of gardening but I got short-changed on the gene. I've tried and tried to grow decent green bell peppers but it's been to no avail. But this year, I did it. 

I planted two different varieties of peppers side-by-side in grow bags. Was that the trick?  Who knows? But I did get a small pepper harvest, enough to freeze several ziploc bags for use in cooking. I couldn't do it today, but I hope to make up several batches of Potatoes O'Brien for in the freezer. It's nice to know I have the peppers ready to go. 

The peppers didn't grow to a large size, but size was not my measure of success. The fact the plants produced at all was a victory. Maybe the young doe eating the top out of the one was a factor in the pepper size, too. I've got a few ideas on how to improve the pepper harvest for next summer. I've even gone as far as to save some seeds to see if I can get them to sprout in the spring. 

Peppers were not a crop my grandfather grew. Oh, he had a plant or two so my grandmother could add fresh pepper to her rather famous potato salad, but that was about it. I'd be willing to bet my mother never cooked with a pepper her entire life. I certainly do not remember them being in the house when I lived with my parents. Where my love of peppers came from is a mystery. 

I thought the peppers were finished but then today I noticed one more bloom. Does it have time to form a pepper? I doubt it, but I'll let the plant work and see what happens. 

So we shall see if the summer of 2021 will be a good year for green peppers. Maybe I can build on the success of this year and raise a pepper worthy of stuffing. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor