Diversity in potatoes

I was intrigued by this photo showing potatoe varieties from Peru on a facebook group. I traced back the origin of the photo. It goes back to the CIP, the International Potatoe Centre  http://www.isgtw.org/feature/conserving-bio-diversity-perus-cip in Peru which seeks to ensure the genetic diversity of this staple food crop.

The picture comes with the following subtitle:

A few of the many varieties of potatoes. CIP maintains the world’s largest genetic bank of potatoes, including 1500 samples of 100 wild species collected in eight Latin American countries, as well as samples of 3800 traditional Andean cultivated potatoes. The collection is maintained under the auspices of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, and is available to plant breeders worldwide free upon request.

Here are more pretty pictures about potatoes. Unfortunately in Western Australia the marketing of potatoes is limited through the Marketing Potatoes Act 1946. But the limitations in what kind of potatoes you can grow and sell in WA only apply to commercial producers. These are people who grow more than 100 square meters of potatoes. Luckily this is a lot bigger than my garden. Sadly the problem remains how to get the potatoes through quarantine. Also the Perth weather would probably not be suitable to grow any of these successfully anyway.

But they are so pretty!

From http://www.livescience.com/16539-plant-genomes-buell-sl-nsf.html

From http://www.oired.vt.edu/sanremcrsp/public/news/2008/fighting-poverty-with-potatoes-and-paintings.php

Growing potatoes on top of lawn

Perth's climate is dry and hot in summer, but we have been getting good winter rains. The average rainfall in 2011 even topped the average rainfall mark by a few mm.

I am intrigued by this simple method of growing potatoes above ground, just on top of the lawn. I put it into my bucket list of methods to try.

Accident free new gardening year 2011

I wonder whether there is such as thing as "new gardening year"? Anyway, 2010 has been and gone and 2011 has commenced. I was in bed by midnight and it felt just right. Unfortunately I stabbed the top of my right foot on Christmas day on a dead branch of my lavender bush when using my leftover washing machine water to water my favourite and only rose "fragrant cloud".

A piece of the dry twig penetrated the skin, broke off and got stuck. A 50cent-size area of the foot blew up like a blister. I had difficulties pulling the piece out and the swelling went down soon after I did. Still, I copped a major infection and the foot got worse by the minute, swelled up and around the wound it got a red halo. I applied my "magic oil -NeoBallistol Oil" that I have brought over from Germany regularly with friends. But it did not bring the swelling down and the red halo around the would grew. Christmas Day, Boxing Day and then two public holidays only saw me getting to the doctor on Thursday. He said it was possibly a staph infection and he put me on a high dose of pennicilin which I have to take four times a day, four times 500mg for five days. Not only bad for my stomach, but he also jabbed me against tetanus and the arm is sore still...

What did I learn from that? I am wearing gloves and gardening shoes now each time I go out! Sometimes learning is painful. More tips on safety precautions while gardening from Victorian Health Authorities.

It has been hot for a while and now at night time the temperatures stay up over 20 degrees, challenging times for the garden.

But all is well. I took out a few pumpkin seedlings for a friend yesterday and found the earth in good shape, moist and looking like earth should. I have been watering twice a day, small amounts only. Seems to be the right amount to keep the earth moist. The straw is doing a good job as mulch no matter what people say.

The first patch is looking great, lots of fruit has set and the two pumpkin plants in front are doing fine. They have sent their shoots in all directions and I am guiding them around the garden bed for further protection against the sun. Some tomatoe plants have climbed as high as the shade cloth and we need to adjust it accordingly, probably changing the direction of the cloth as well as using higher bamboo stakes to accommodate the plants.

The beans in the fourth bed are doing well.  All 24 beans came up (four varieties of six beans, half climbers half not). Eight were planted in toilet rolls, they had more difficulties getting up from their confinement but seem to grow  healthier looking leaves. Three beans had their young shoots eaten by some creature, possibly slugs. Slaters are busy working especially next to the water tank but they seem to leave the plants alone. First tentacles appeared on the climbing beans pointing towards the poles.

The third bed has been dedicated to the growing of pumpkins. I tried to plant spring onions, beans and capsicum without success. All disappeared within a week, most plants were eaten. I guess this was due to shredded but uncomposted  newspaper that we added after wetting only to increase organic matter in the patch.

The pumpkins are more hardy. They came up from compost and are doing fine.

They are shading the feet of the grape vine, good service on our hot summer days. The grape harvest is coming along beautifully. Grapes look fine! They ripen slow by slow. Every day plenty of ripe ones and lots of green ones on the vine too. The variety is quite loose and allows enough sun onto each grape to make it sweet and juicy.

Unfortunately a small number of grapes have split open, may be due to too much water. So I am a bit more careful with watering the stock.

The rock melon has embraced the climbing frame and made attempts to attach to the peppermint tree close by. No fruit has set yet, might need more bees to do the job. A friend of mine shared her story that recently a rockmelon plant in her garden came and went without setting any fruit at all.

There are plenty of flowers, although I am not sure how to distinguish the males from the females. Should be a similar issue to pumpkins and if need be I will become the fertility angel.

I am relaxed about it at the moment but will watch this space. I think it might have something to do with the variety of plants involved. The three plants that grow in the second patch were bought in a garden centre. I am not sure about what variety they are but promise myself to grow more heirloom varieties next season to ensure they are hardy and fertile!

My latest potatoe experiment is doing well. I put more compost on the heap recently and shaded it with a swim suit of my boy on an old clothes rack. Better to be in the ground than in the bin. They are making a start in my new raised garden bed. See how it goes.

All is well and my foot is nearly healed. Hope the weather will cool down soon. Today it is overcast and 32degrees, 50% chance of rain. My watertank is still half full, but could take a top-up.

Potatoe blight?

The potatoes are not looking as good any more, suspected late blight. Probably caused by the humid weather last week and my watering of the leaves with the watering can.  Late blight only affecte potatoes and tomatoes. Lucky so far it is only on the potatoes and the tomatoes are planted about 20m away. I cut off the most affected stems and added more compost and straw manure. Will stop watering from the top, but only target the roots of the plants. I also pulled out the pumpkins and added them to the compost, some I even put directly under the straw mulch on top of the potatoe heap.

I found out that potatoes only grow above the seed potatoes that you planted. So I added a lot more compost around the base of the plant. The potatoes were struggling in the hot wind. Good that our compost is getting ready quickly, I even used a bit of the compost that I only put on a week ago, it had already turned into earth, smelled fine and was no longer hot, but that might have been a bit early.

Both compost barrows now share the mixture that was too heavy for one. I also added a lot more leaves to balance the veggie scraps from the market. Looking better and no longer smelly too.

The other day I put some more potatoes into my new garden bed just because I had them, and they were no longer eadible. They are already showing leaves. I have put an old bathing skivy from my boy on an old clothes rack over the leaves to protect from the sun. Re-use, reduce and recycle! It's amazing how far you can go with what you have.

I also noticed more yellow leaves on my tomatoes patch and gave them a magnesium mixture this morning, just a few spoonful of epsom salt or magnesium sulfate mixed with rainwater in the watering can. I also cut the yellow leaves off generously. There is plenty of green and I want them to put their effort into making fruit. The dead leaves went straight into my rubbish bin, no good for the compost.

When there is enough water the growth is just phenomenal at the moment. I water a small amount twice a day.

I have pulled out more pumpkins and have removed all but one that have come up from compost near the potatoes as I read that pumpkins and potatoes do not go well together.

Also the rock melons need more space. Two plants grow in the front left of the picture in a stand that my good friend Dick made some years back out of an old garden hose, some wire and four stakes.

The third rockmelon plant grows close to the fence on a thin bamboo stake. I hope the plant likes the lofty spot, so far no fruit has set, but they are in full flowers now.
I decided to make the second patch a dedicated pumpkin patch. But I also put in a tomatoe that needed a home as its pot was invade by slaters.

Looking at the garden in a holistic way, I would like to make it more attractive to good insects, this means planting a few flowers. I have been reading about companion planting recently. Marigold as is one of them. I also want to seed some chamomille and still have a few dodgy red potatoes left. Where shall I put them?

Tomorrow we will put the garden beds into the proper spots and screw bother sides together for good. We will use bitumen paint to seal the side that has been cut. I am thinking about making one bed a no dig garden bed and filling the other one in a more conventional way. There is plenty of time until summer is over.