The Rural Voice, 2002-04, Page 50Spring Planting
Specials
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• Laneway Tree Specials
• Mature Tree Specials
• Naturalization Specials
Please call for prices
Maitland Manor Nursery
& Landscaping
Hwy 86 East of Bluevale
519-335-3240
website - maitlandmanornursery.com
41164-1`',
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BERNIE McGLYNN
LUMBER LTD.
BUYER OF HARDWOOD BUSHLOTS
Wholesaler - Hardwood Lumber
Box 385, R.R. 2,
(} Wmgham. Ont NOG 2W0 BERNIE McGLYNN
Ph/Fax (5191357-1430
SAWMILL
R.R. #5, Mildmay, Ont
(5191367-57
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
IN THE GREENHOUSE
They are filling up fast with the
area's largest selection of annuals,
geraniums, hanging baskets, etc.
Lots of new colours & varieties
including proven winners
and the "Waves"!
We have
everything you
need for
spring
planting including perennials
& ground covers
Ted's Tasty Tomatoes Ready Soon
TE -EM FARM
77688 Orchard Line
R. R. #1 Bayfield
482-3020
46 THE RURAL VOICE
Gardening
Potatoes for mashing
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
It all started with mashed potatoes
for Thanksgiving. I make mashed
potatoes with sour cream, milk, butter
and either chopped green onions or a
quick dash of nutmeg. They are light
and tluffy. mounding easily and
perfectly adorned with gravy welled
in the centre and cascading dreamily
down the sides.
With that anticipation on our taste
buds it was with real panic that the
more I mashed the potatoes on that
fateful Thanksgiving, they weren't
doing what they had always done.
The lump stage was taking too long
to cream out. Instead, I was
producing this glutinous mess. It was
horrible.
I know there are potatoes grown
for baking and then there are -those
that are best mashed. But deep in my
heart I was under the delusion that if
just boiled like mad all potatoes could
be mashed. Wrong. I'd met my
match.
The potatoes were supposed to be
Yukon Gold, known for keeping their
form but also good for mashing. I
have since come to the conclusion we
were sold a bag'ot something else.
Potatoes used to be brown skinned
and white inside and you ate them
every night of the week. Not so now.
Yes potatoes are browned skinned,
but they are also red or blue and the
flesh ranges from the traditional
white, to yellow and even blue tones.
You really need to experiment with
some of the new varieties as well as
try some of the older traditional ones
that are resurfacing on the market
today.
Don't buy from the supermarket
but look for seed potatoes from mail
order houses or your local garden
centre. Seed potatoes are cut into
chunks with one or two eyes or
dormant buds on each piece. The
pieces are then left out in the open to
dry or heal the cut edges and reduce
the chance of rotting. Some potatoes
are purchased from seedhouses as
marble sized plugs cut from whole
tubers and you plant them whole.
You can pre -sprout potatoes
before planting, a process known as
chitting. This will speed up the
rooting period and the plants will
mature earlier. Two or three weeks
before planting, spread the potatoes
in a single layer on a tray in a bright
indoor location. Mist lightly with
water if they start to shrivel.
Eventually they start to turn green
and stubby shoots will appear. If you
have potatoes that have started
sending up weak shoots, cut the
shoots back to one or two inches (2.5
cms) and follow the same process.
Plant in a sunny, well -drained
location with loose humus -rich,
slightly acidic soil. Add lots of
compost or well -aged manure. Don't
be too ambitious with the manure. If
it is too fresh it will promote rot and
diseases. You can get them planted
about two or three weeks before the
last hard frost as long as the soil has
warmed up to at least 50 degrees F.
or 10 degrees C. If too cold they will
just sit there and rot. Plant cut side
down in trenches and carefully fill in
as the plants grow. You should see
shoots in two weeks.
Since potatoes need a steady
supply of regular moisture over the
growing season, you have to be
careful with the hilling. If planted on
top of the ground they are more likely
to dry out or become exposed to the
sun. Don't eat green potatoes as they
contain the toxic alkaloid solanine
and are poisonous.
The effects of irregular watering
shows up with: (a) Hollow heart,
caused by feast and famine fertilizing
or watering; (b) Scab, or irregular
brown lesions on the tubers' surface
which can be peeled off leaving the
potato still edible, caused by
inadequate moisture and more
organic material needed in the soil;
(c) Black scurf forms on the potato