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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-04-29, Page 44Page 10 One potato, two potato, three potato.. • Sixty-six pounds of top • quality" Insh potatoes from. four plants in a single potato barrel is the amazing ac- complishment of a Scottish home gardener, Duncan Currie. What's more, . he produced this amazing yield after his first attempt, using a special plastic potato barrel available to Canadian gar- deners, Featuring sliding panels, the Rotocrop potato barrel allows access to early potatoes at the bottom of the barrel, while the upper roots' are still producing tubers . • After purchasing the potato barrel in April as a kit, Mr. Currie assembled it on a concrete patio and lined the bottom , with drainage materials, such as broken clay pots and stones. He then added a mixture of equal parts garden topsoil and compost find, an application_ of general purpose vegetable fertilizer, planting four potato tubers into this soil mix. As the potato Study at home By Harold Crawford Independent Study University of Guelph The University of •Guelph offers a wide range of in- dependent study courses of interest to home gardeners. These courses are supported by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The Ontario Diploma in Horticulture is a three-year program that consists of a core of required courses 'and elective courses to allow the -student to pursilp a particular area of interest, However, you don't have to enrol in a diploma program to take courses. Each course is available separately and there are many subject areas from which to choose-. The out- standing feature of these courses is that you can study y the entire course in your home. Independent Study recently developed Creative •Self - Learning' kits which include printed text, several 17.5 millimetre filmstrips, a hand viewer, and commentary cassette tapes. Courses available in this format are "Plant Use in the Home Garden" ($70) ; "Flower Arranging" ($50); and "Plant Propagation for the Home Gardener" ($50). Four condensed mini - package courses are also available. This series was developed to provide ab- breviated coverage of • the subject areas. These mini kits are ideal for individuals or for group training. Each package contains a text, a series of at least four filmstrips and a hand viewer. The filmstrips representing more than SO Color slides are overviewed in a cassette tape commentary. Mini -package courses available now are Deciduous Trees ($20): Indoor Plants ($20); Propagation of Tropical Plants ($20) ; and Flower Arranging ($24.50). "Plant Care in the Home Garden" is the title of a new course • expected to be available later this spring. This course, designed specifically for the home gardener, provides detailed information about plants and their care in the home garden. The course was written by Pat Tucker, an' outstanding hor- ticulturist from the University of Guelph. The course consists of .two study outlines and filmstrips featuring 550 color slides. Students may complete the assignments for course credit ($100) or use the course for reference only for $75. Qualified Plantsman is a course from the diploma program, but it is also valuable for the home gar- dener. The content covers plant materials and use, soils, lawns, pest control, ar- boriculture, plants for patio and indoor use, flowers, herbs, vegetables, rose gardens and organic gardens. Assignments are to be completed and the course is credited toward an Ontario Diploma in Hor- ticulture. Cost of the course is $125, For more information about any of these courses write Independent Study, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1. stems, grew he kept adding more soil and compost, en- couraging the stems to grow extra tall and to sprout extra roots along the section covered with soil. He kept adding soil around the stems until the soil level was within 2 inches of the top of the barrel and the stems were still growing upwards. To protect the stems and foliage from damage by wind,or rain he pushed four stout stakes into the soil and tied the stems to them . The plants were watered regularly to keep the soil evenly moist at all times but without waterlogging, and every three weeks at time of watering he added 4 oz. of general purpose fertilizer. By easing up the sliding panels of the barrel Mr. Currie could not only check that sufficient water was reaching the soil base, but, also admire the progress of his potato crop. lh early August he raised the panels about six inches and removed 26 lbs. of top quality, clean, blemish -free potatoes, and two weeks later, at the end of August, he harvested a further' 231-2 lbs. By the first week of October the stems and foliage had completely died down and so he dismantled the barrel and finally harvested an additional 1612 lbs., giving him a total yield of 66 lbs. from the original four plants - an average of 16L,2 lbsper plant compared to 4-6 lbs. normally expected. MR. DUNCAN CURRIE HOME GARDEN POTATO CHAMPI©NI 4Rebuilding? Remodelling? Repairing? Look to the people helping people All Credit Union - Loans Feature: LOWER INTEREST RATES Shop and Compare!. REASONABLE TERMS Designed to fit your budget! LIFE INSURED at NO extra charge! These are just a few of the many advantages you'll find when dealing with your Community Credit Union. No one like to borrow, but when the need i9 there we urge you to check us out, We are people just like you, working for you! Together we help each other create the better terms and better, rates we feature. When it's time to borrow, come to where you'll find... 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