Potatoes

Potatoes have been dug and the results weighed. Seventy one pounds.

Last spring I bought three varieties of seed potatoes -- four Cranberry, four Mountain Rose and four Purple Majesty -- a total of twelve potatoes.

All of the potatoes were planted in the same bed and each plant was watered by similar dippers. As they grew Mountain Rose were shortest and Cranberry the tallest. The Cranberry tops looked the healthiest. Rather than heeling them with soil I mulched them with straw and added more straw as they grew taller.



Cranberry Potatoes.

Cranberry did the best. We dug 32 pounds of Cranberry and a combined total of 39 pounds of Purple Majesty and Mountain Rose. Purple Majesty produced the fewest and the smallest. Cranberry was consistently the largest.

It was more enjoyable digging Cranberry and Mountain Rose than Purple Majesty. The purples were almost black, close to the color of the damp soil. The red potatoes stood out in brilliant contrast to the soil and added a sense of excitement and wonder, a touch of the miraculous as I pulled each plant out of the ground.

Next year I'll plant Cranberry and try two new varieties.