A Red, White and Blue 4th of July

Sack of Potatoes-Bird Back 40

It's getting to be about that time in the summer gardening year, where the yard is yielding entire meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Instead of heading for the pantry or refrigerator for our evening meal? Venus and I find ourselves in the Bird Back 40 first -- because one never knows what the garden is going to yield from one day to another.

Who needs a normal Saturday morning breakfast of turkey bacon and eggs, when you can treat yourself instead to five or six tree-ripened June Pride peaches instead? June Pride peach season is going to be short and sweet this year due to a couple of factors. One, the crop isn't all that big. Secondly, I'm choosing not to net the tree because of an explosion of branch growth that I'd rather not see bent to the ground. What happens when you fail to net a treasure like the June Pride peach? Can you say "Bird Buffet?" And I'm not talking about Bill or Venus Bird either -- but rather -- our fine feathered friends.

But that's the price we'll pay -- at least for this year. I'm willing to sacrifice the harvest in hopes of a much larger crop next year thanks to the exponential growth on both Bird Back 40 peach trees.

Yukon Gold Potatoes

But peaches aren't the only thing popping this July in the Bird Back 40. The multitude of crops that the wife that is Venus and I planted with care during the early spring months of March and April are now coming of age. In other words, the grand summer harvest is now underway. As you can probably guess by now, some of this harvest involves some of the best potatoes you will ever dig out of a backyard plot.

I have swooned before about potato harvests like this in past blog postings, and while there's not much more to say, there certainly is a lot to eat. Potatoes like these, which you'll now find in some stores (at a premium price I might add), bring special meals. Who wants a normal potato salad on the 4th of July when you can dress it up instead with nature's colors of red, white and blue?

All Blue Potato Monsters

This year's harvest once again involved a variety called "All Blue," featuring potatoes that are a dark purple-blue on the outside and just as purple and blue on the inside. Like many of these special hybrids, the color never fades, not even after steaming, frying or baking. We've also come to discover that you're not going to pull a lot of fat, baked-potato-size All Blues from the garden plot, unless you benefit from some heavy and sustained rainfall during the late spring months.

We didn't get that jolt of late spring rainfall this year. Instead, Mother Nature greeted us with a blast of furnace heat.

But not to worry! Because the garden plot contains more than just All Blue potatoes! There are Colorado Rose potatoes in this 4X8 raised beds. Does a fat Yukon Gold strike your fancy? Yellow banana fingerling potatoes? Bite size spuds? Whoppers the size of your outstretched hand? You'll find that and more in this bed in yet another successful year for spud production.

Colorado Rose and Yukon Gold Potatoes

Venus and I have already put the harvest to work in a number of dishes. There's more than just that Red, White and Blue potato salad to sample. How about some home-crafted vegetable beef soup that features not just potatoes, but carrots, squash, onions, green onions, tomatoes and mounds of fresh herbs procured from the backyard garden?

If that doesn't make the proverbial mouth water, then this recipe for traditional Nicaraguan Pollo Tapado most certainly will. Venus and sampled this dish a decade ago when we traveled to the home of the Sandinista Revolution, Esteli, Nicaragua, for the marriage of Venus' brother. While we have tried to duplicate this dish through the years, we have always fallen just short. But the recipe link above, which we stumbled upon just a day or two ago, nearly nails what we had at that Esteli dinner table all those years ago.

You'll notice that this recipe calls for both potatoes and rice. Nicaragua is the only nation that I know of that can get away with two starch products in one meal creation. They break the rules and make it work.

Raised Bed Potato Farming

My thanks once again for the fine potato seed providers at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply located in picturesque Nevada City. They have never once let me down, but it's best to order early, as demand almost always outpaces supply. That's why I must admit that additional seed potatoes were supplied by the Big Box store known as Lowes.

It's time for lunch, kids. Forget the fast food and the pantry. Let's see what tasty garden treat that backyard garden has to offer, shall we?

The Life of a Potato Farmer

All Blue Potato Flower

It's been said -- by those who are much smarter than me -- that once you grow potatoes, you will always grow potatoes.

This also includes the caveat of: Whether you want them or not.

I'm here to tell you that the old saying is indeed truth. Potato plants are literally popping up in different raised beds around the Bird Back 40, even though I'd swear that I didn't plant seed potatoes there.

Ultimate Digging Machine & Cohort at Rest

Of course I didn't. They are springing up from what remains from last year's crop. OR -- they got moved by some critter from one bed to another. This I can believe, especially upon watching the Ultimate Digging Machine derive great pleasure from flipping plums and other produce she finds on the ground straight into the air.

It's not a plum or a potato. It's a dog play toy. Sometimes those leftover potatoes wind up in the strangest places, which begs the question of, "how did THAT get THERE?"

Lush, Green Potato Plants in Raised Bed

I'll admit -- the wife that is Venus really went to town on potato planting efforts this year. Seed potatoes were procured from a variety of places -- including the standby Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. But we also found a nice selection of reds and fingerlings at our nearby Big Box Lowes in West Sacramento.

Venus planted all varieties in early March, while the weather was somewhat cold and rainy, but the less-than-stellar weather conditions didn't hurt growth conditions much. The reds and fingerlings were the first to break the soil line, but have also been the last to flower.

Fingerling Potato Flower

The "All Blue" and "Colorado Rose" varieties purchased at Peaceful Valley got off to a somewhat later start, but the All Blue is putting on quite the show at the moment with a bevy of blue flower clusters in the garden.

I have discovered -- not completely by accident mind you -- that raised beds are perfect for growing a large, healthy and lush potato crop. The loose soil conditions that exist in these beds are perfect for root crops like potatoes, carrots, even radishes. When you begin to notice that the soil line begins to crack in numerous places and also appears to rise by an inch or more -- it's good news.

That's a LOT of French Fries!

Something very good is taking place underneath that soil line. One begins to dare to dream of home-grown french fries -- which are like none other.

While the honeybees that grace our backyard mostly ignore the potato flowers of white, blue and purple -- the same can't be said of the native pollinators. I've come to discover that carpenter bees -- those giant black and yellow bees that one can hear coming from 100-yards away -- have particular liking for these flowers. And they always make sure to pollinate the nearby flowers hanging from tomato plants after they've drilled into the potatoes.

This isn't a bad thing, people.

Potato Flowers: Signs of Spring

If all goes according to plan? In the next week or two, the plants themselves will begin to die back slowly. The flowers will wither and drop. Spuds will literally be forced above the soil line by potato monsters that lurk and continue to grow below.

Red, White and Blue potato salad for the 4th of July? Sounds good to me! A serving or two of french fries is almost certainly on the menu. Roasted red potatoes with garlic? Bring it on!

But -- I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. For now -- let's enjoy that annual potato flower show.

A Class You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

Two blog postings in one day? Egads. There must be something wrong with me. Those who know me well would say "I wholeheartedly agree." But -- I digress. We'll discuss mental matters on another day.

There used to be a time when "bare root" season started in February. Not anymore kids. Visit any big box store like Home Depot or Lowes -- and you'll be greeted with bin after bin of bare root fruit trees, grapevines, roses, you name it.

I should know since I ran out and bought the wife a Weigela just the other day. Sorry -- but I just couldn't resist.

I'll keep this short and sweet. There's an upcoming class for us Home Orchardist types called "Planning, planting and managing your Home Orchard" that will take place in Folsom. The first will be this upcoming Wednesday -- January 6th -- from 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the Folsom Community Room Activity Center in Folsom. A repeat of that class will take place on Saturday, January 9th -- from 9:00 to 11:30 AM at the same location.

Your course instructor is a Mr. Ken Menzer, who serves as the Arborist for the City of Folsom. But Ken's true love -- so it seems -- is all things fruit and citrus trees. He's only got 76 of them. And that doesn't include the grapes, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, etc.

Yeah -- Ken is into fruit. But I'm guessing that Ken knows his fruit trees and how to trim them -- which is kind of an important subject to a young orchardist like myself. And I use the word "young," in jest.

But -- should you have an interest in growing one or fifty varieties of fruit in your own backyard -- I highly suggest that you make your way out to Folsom next week. The wife that is Venus and I will be attending the Saturday course as a matter of fact -- because I know I need to prune this June Pride peach tree located to your immediate left. I just don't know what to prune -- and with my luck? I'll probably wind up cutting the wrong branch(es).

Ken's class comes just in time for the start of bare root season -- which is already underway and continues through February.

What is bare root season? Well -- it's that special time of year that comes only once a year -- and it's really the best time to plant fruit trees, rosebushes or most other plants in the backyard. First and foremost -- it's an easy hit on the wallet -- the easiest you'll find all season. Secondly, bare root trees and bushes are in their "dormant season," which means they're easier to ship and even easier to carry from the trunk of your Ford Exploder to the backyard.

Finally? If your backyard is anything like mine -- it's a swamp. This means holes are easier to dig. Digging trenches for irrigation is much easier. And some plants -- especially some fruit trees -- adapt to their new homes much more quickly if planted during bare root season. If you're lucky? You might even get fruit production in the very first year!

According to the class flyer: The course will "cover orchard layout, species & cultivars, solar orientation, chilling requirements, pollination, pruning, planting, flowering & fall color, fertilization, thinning, minimizing and/or maximizing fruit production, irrigation & IPM (integrated pest management). It will also cover: troubleshooting, soil testing and drainage..."

Be advised that there is a cost for this event. It will set you back some $15 -- but you will also earn fruit tree coupons to help recoup that small fee.

Early signup is a MUST. Don't just show up on the night or day of -- because there might not be room. You can contact Ken Menzer directly at kmenzer@folsom.ca.us or (916) 220-3016.

While we're on the subject of fruit trees -- check out this guy in Davis. 575 varieties of fruit grafted onto just 40 trees? I can see now that I'm just getting started.

See you on Saturday in Folsom!