Gardening as intellectual activity

[Alex Linder]

You can test different theories and see how they fit the results. For instance, you can plant carrots and radishes in same row, see if radishes break up the soil and make for better carrots, vs control row of carrots alone. So far this year, I'd say carrots alone works better. With potatoes, this year I'm mounding mine up to record heights such as would turn an African termite green with jealousy. I exaggerate for effect, but in fact I have mounded them up as high as they can go without what they call "suffocating" the plant, when the plant is a strawberry and you bury it above the crown. I accidentally unearthed five potatoes. Normally they aren't harvestable until sometime in August when the vines turn completely brown with death, but these five were already nice, normal-sized potatoes, so I ate them. I wonder if it were possible to dig up all 41 hills, collect the potatoes, then replant -- and get a second crop? I suspect I could, but crop #2 would be smaller because about this time is when it stops raining, and so round two would face much harsher conditions, and so the potatoes would likely be shriveled by comparison. But you never know. That speculation is based on averages. And this has been an odd year so far: the spring/summer have been considerably cooler and wetter than average, at least here in Kirksville. We've only had about two days approaching ninety in 2004. If the comparatively cool wet weather continued, one probably could collect two good crops.

Now, the interesting thing is to imagine you were a potato farmer and you needed the money. Imagine you had not three rows but 3 fields riding on the outcome. Would you sit in your farmhouse and calculate, "Ok, first crop potatoes are at 80% of growth. If I leave them in and harvest them august 15, they'll be full growth, but I'll only get one crop. Whereas, if I harves them today, I'll get one crop -20%, plus whatever I can make in second crop."

Very interesting stuff, I think you'll agree. This is what's so wonderful about farming; it takes all your abilities, not just your brains or your brawn, but the whole person -- kind of like being a mother is to women. But of course, I'm speculating. If anybody out there is a real potato farmer or knows the kind of calculations they actually go through, I'd be interested to hear it. I suppose I could google up the facts, but that would deprive me of the strengthening of figuring these things out with my own lobes. That is the difference between the excessive reliance on the bank of tradition, as recommended by Burke, and manliness, which means thinking, and not being afraid to. The real conservatism, if I may correct Burke, lies not in relying at all times on the bank of human wisdom, but in checking your thoughts against reality. This is not only how technical progress is made, but how men become men, rather than footnits. Paraphrase Wilde: all influence is evil, because it prevents self-development. He exaggerates, as usual, but the germ of the idea is sound. You can learn from others, but only to an extent. You must think and figure many things out on your own.

I think what I'm going to do is dig up five hills on the last day of June. Leaving 36 hills. Then I will see how many potatoes each of the hills I dig up actually has, and the average size of the potatoes. Then I will replant the five hills on July 1, more or less the beginning of the super-hot season, which generally runs through july and most of August.

Last year my small garden produced some giant potatoes, almost as big as as full-grown softball; potatoes so big they really should have been transported via veggiecopter or ambulance with lights blaring to a state fair post-haste. Do I brag? I do! But they were quite big. Not all of them, but about 10 out of a couple bushels were genuinely huge. The question is why they were so big, and I can't answer it. My attempt in termite-mounding these this year is to see if mound size has something to do with it.

Anything is fascinating if you look into it; I see garden as a more leisurely form of sports, which is also more interesting as an intellectual activity than a physical one.

[Gott]

What do you do about pest control? I've got voles (I think) eating the roots of some of my plants - onions, beets, radicchio and even bush beans. They either tunnel along underneath the rows, eat the roots and sometimes pull the entire plant down through the hole, or use previously dug mole tunnels. I dealt with the woodchuck and rabbit problems pretty well so far by putting up a tall fence (about 5 ft), but can't figure out how to beat the voles yet.

So far, it's been a great year for most vegetables here on the east coast (except for the voles). I've been eating lettuce, peas, broccoli, radishes and even a few tomatoes so far and the beets and carrots the voles have left alone, and lots of cabbage, is almost ready.

As to the intellectual, problem-solving side, I try to write down what I do and when I do it so there will be some record of what works and what doesn't. The notes are not precise enough yet though. Thomas Jefferson was a super farmer who was really into it - had his own experimental station for farming and tried every new variety he could get having friends from all over the world send him seeds and plants. He took very careful, precise notes on everything to determine what worked best. He's quite the inspiration for any farmer or prospective farmer just like he is on subjects like....food for the soul. Me, I just go out there and muck around, then later try to remember what I did and write it down. Often forgetting things, unfortunately. When I'm actually mucking, I relax and sometimes listen to operas on a walkman. It's nice to listen to the birds singing too though. Need to cut down a lot of big trees for more light - always the major problem, I think, for small-scale farmers in the east where trees have colonized so many small properties.

I got a drip irrigation system this year as my gardens are each about 50 by 50 feet and it takes hours to water by hand. The systems are terrific, work very well, use way less water than just using a hose or sprinkler and are not expensive: www.dripworks.com (http://www.dripworks.com/)

Here is the address of a super potatoe source - they sell 65 varieties of potatoes and probably know a lot about all the issues that pertain to growing them. I'm sending for their catalog for next year: www.ronnigers.com (http://www.ronnigers.com/)
My pea plants grew about twice as big as they were supposed to and I don't have any idea why. What was supposed to be about 30" high was instead about 70." I got plenty of peas, but don't know if I got more or less than if the vines had grown the way the packet said they would. With growing anything, you probably have to do it for a number of years so that you can factor in all the variables like the weather over a season, the rainfall, temperature, number of sunny days, and the nutrients in and ph of the soil, of course. I have not yet started to write down the rainfall and temperature stuff. Maybe next year.

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

One learns how different garden events can be from year to year depending on climatic conditions.
We had a summer, here in Germany, last year, that was the hottest on record. I tried to grow canteloupes starting with the 2 years prior. I only got 1, maximum 2 that were no bigger than between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball. Last year, I produced numerous almost the size of Snoop Dog’s head with the same pattern and in orange.
Tomatoes and peppers were outstanding. That was the 1 year in which I didn’t plant them, because of the bad experience the previous 2 years. This year I am fighting a full scale war against gophers. In this Mickey Mouse plan economy in this nanny country, it hasn’t been easy to find the major ingredients for my fumigator. I got a tip from a drug store as to where I can get them. If I can’t put this together within a reasonable time, I’m giving up the garden.
I’ve only been able to find these “Sirco” potatoes in Spain thanks to the “open European market” and am watching these things getting eaten up before my very peepers. That’s the frustrating thing about gardening. One thinks on times of serfdom when people had it damn hard. They had no easy time fighting pests, lived a short life (40 was old) and had to share their harvest with their feudal lords. Whoever gardens is indeed in touch with reality

[Alex Linder]

What do you do about pest control? I've got voles (I think) eating the roots of some of my plants - onions, beets, radicchio and even bush beans. They either tunnel along underneath the rows, eat the roots and sometimes pull the entire plant down through the hole, or use previously dug mole tunnels. I dealt with the woodchuck and rabbit problems pretty well so far by putting up a tall fence (about 5 ft), but can't figure out how to beat the voles yet.

That stinks. We don't have any moles or voles around. Problems come from rabbits and birds. I put out some milk cartons and sticks with plastic to blow around, but it doesn't really scare them. The rabbits ate the tops off half my beets. The birds ripped up a lot of the berries, but I washed them off and ate them anyway. The patch is just getting started, once it takes over completely, they won't be able to get to all the berries. I could put up a fence, but I don't care that much if the rabbits eat some. I have no idea how you'd get rid of voles. Moles there are traps, but voles, maybe put some poison in their holes.


So far, it's been a great year for most vegetables here on the east coast (except for the voles). I've been eating lettuce, peas, broccoli, radishes and even a few tomatoes so far and the beets and carrots the voles have left alone, and lots of cabbage, is almost ready.

That's good, sounds like around here, plenty of water, cool temps. Makes for lush growth. We've eaten all kinds of radishes, and some beets. The cauliflower are up and big, but I don't see any heads yet. First year growing them. I was told there would be worms but haven't seen any yet. I've never tried peas, that sounds interesting. Have carrots growing pretty well, I don't know when they're supposed to be ready, but the greens are high.



As to the intellectual, problem-solving side, I try to write down what I do and when I do it so there will be some record of what works and what doesn't. The notes are not precise enough yet though.
[/quotee]

I'm the same way. I started a couple years ago just doing tomatoes. I keep some notes in a notebook, more on when planted and layout and harvest. But not scientifically precise.


Thomas Jefferson was a super farmer who was really into it - had his own experimental station for farming and tried every new variety he could get having friends from all over the world send him seeds and plants. He took very careful, precise notes on everything to determine what worked best. He's quite the inspiration for any farmer or prospective farmer just like he is on subjects like....food for the soul. Me, I just go out there and muck around, then later try to remember what I did and write it down. Often forgetting things, unfortunately. When I'm actually mucking, I relax and sometimes listen to operas on a walkman. It's nice to listen to the birds singing too though. Need to cut down a lot of big trees for more light - always the major problem, I think, for small-scale farmers in the east where trees have colonized so many small properties.


It really is fascinating stuff.


I got a drip irrigation system this year as my gardens are each about 50 by 50 feet and it takes hours to water by hand. The systems are terrific, work very well, use way less water than just using a hose or sprinkler and are not expensive: www.dripworks.com (http://www.dripworks.com/)




Here is the address of a super potatoe source - they sell 65 varieties of potatoes and probably know a lot about all the issues that pertain to growing them. I'm sending for their catalog for next year: www.ronnigers.com (http://www.ronnigers.com/)
My pea plants grew about twice as big as they were supposed to and I don't have any idea why. What was supposed to be about 30" high was instead about 70." I got plenty of peas, but don't know if I got more or less than if the vines had grown the way the packet said they would. With growing anything, you probably have to do it for a number of years so that you can factor in all the variables like the weather over a season, the rainfall, temperature, number of sunny days, and the nutrients in and ph of the soil, of course. I have not yet started to write down the rainfall and temperature stuff. Maybe next year.

Thanks for the links.

[Alex Linder]

One learns how different garden events can be from year to year depending on climatic conditions.
We had a summer, here in Germany, last year, that was the hottest on record. I tried to grow canteloupes starting with the 2 years prior. I only got 1, maximum 2 that were no bigger than between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball. Last year, I produced numerous almost the size of Snoop Dog’s head with the same pattern and in orange.

Higher IQ too. Melons are fun. I had 110 die on the vine last year, harvested about 10-15. But they all come ready when I'm on the road on August. But you get a few. We had six weeks of no rain last year, and it baked them. But you may be growing different from what we are. You may have true canteloupes, whereas here they call them that but they aren't. They're fun though, the vines grow wild and take over everything when there's water. Rabbits will eat the end of them.


Tomatoes and peppers were outstanding. That was the 1 year in which I didn’t plant them, because of the bad experience the previous 2 years. This year I am fighting a full scale war against gophers. In this Mickey Mouse plan economy in this nanny country, it hasn’t been easy to find the major ingredients for my fumigator. I got a tip from a drug store as to where I can get them. If I can’t put this together within a reasonable time, I’m giving up the garden.

Yeah, this is unfortunately true everywhere these days: for anything effective, you need a professional license. Termite poison is a good example. Gun control by another name. Adults are just veal for the state tax farmers.

I’ve only been able to find these “Sirco” potatoes in Spain thanks to the “open European market” and am watching these things getting eaten up before my very peepers. That’s the frustrating thing about gardening. One thinks on times of serfdom when people had it damn hard. They had no easy time fighting pests, lived a short life (40 was old) and had to share their harvest with their feudal lords. Whoever gardens is indeed in touch with reality[/QUOTE]

That sucks. I haven't had it bad for pests. When I was growing up, we'd come here in the summer. This place was far more out in the country, now it's all filling in. My grandparents had barn, chicken house, horses, fruit trees. Now all that's gone, and all that's left is a small garden plot on several acres used for hay. So there aren't so many insects around as in the '70s. Used to be these huge yellow and black garden spiders, now you never see them out here. This place is becoming a suburb.

[Alex Linder]

I gotta pay more attention to varieties. I didn't note what kind of strawberry I got. They're a good deal taller and bigger than I would have expected for a groundcover. I got some cobbler potatoes, but they were red. I was trying to get brown not red. Not sure how that happened. But they came out quite large on average, so no problem. I'm still not sure if I made a mistake or they had them mislabeled. Potatoes are probably the most fun. It's great fun to dig them up. I have to get developed my pic of the biggest ones from last year, get that scanned and posted.

Strawberries I planted sometime in May, and they've already gone through a whole cycle. They took off out of the box, and bloomed, fruited, and put out runners. I expect them to breed pod people before the end of the summer.

But I am going to dig up a few hills on June 30 and replant July 1, and see if I can get two crops. I wish we had some fruit trees left here. Some friends have one that has the best apples I've ever tasted. You can grow pears this far north, too. We harvest walnuts and hickory nuts in the fall, too.

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

I gotta pay more attention to varieties. I didn't note what kind of strawberry I got. They're a good deal taller and bigger than I would have expected for a groundcover. I got some cobbler potatoes, but they were red. I was trying to get brown not red. Not sure how that happened. But they came out quite large on average, so no problem. I'm still not sure if I made a mistake or they had them mislabeled.......

I heard the soil has alot to do with coloring of certain races of potatoes.


Potatoes are probably the most fun. It's great fun to dig them up. I have to get developed my pic of the biggest ones from last year, get that scanned and posted. ......

The gophers are taking the fun out of it for me. I ended up dropping Calcium Carbide nuggets into the tunnels and covering them with stones, for now, until I can put together my smoke powder

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

What do you do about pest control? I've got voles (I think) eating the roots of some of my plants - onions, beets, radicchio and even bush beans. They either tunnel along underneath the rows, eat the roots and sometimes pull the entire plant down through the hole, or use previously dug mole tunnels. .............
Sounds like gophers. Unfortunately, they share the same tunneling as the beneficial moles do, whoever dug the tunnel. This means to effectively destroy the gopher, you have to take the mole with it. What puzzles me is the raddichio eating thing. It hasn't happened to me yet that I know of. I'll go and check tonight. They either have to be smoked out or driven out with Cadmium Chloride nuggets.
See my Napalm thread for a recipe for smoke powder

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

.......When I was growing up, we'd come here in the summer. This place was far more out in the country, now it's all filling in. My grandparents had barn, chicken house, horses, fruit trees. Now all that's gone, and all that's left is a small garden plot on several acres used for hay. So there aren't so many insects around as in the '70s. Used to be these huge yellow and black garden spiders, now you never see them out here. This place is becoming a suburb.

My parents bought one of those modestly priced post-war, 3 bedroom shacks for family starters in the early 50’s, after having escaped from downtown Detroit. This was in one of those new neighborhoods which were attached to older ones. There was a farmhouse, across the road, where our pet cat used to bring piles of field mice to my mother on the doorstep, so she told me. I hadn’t reached the point where I could remember things, if I was even born, at the time. What I do remember is that my parents would drive a couple miles to a farmer where we could get fresh eggs and poultry. The milk man used to deliver every morning. Well anyway, I used to go with the kids on the block over to where they haven’t layed a hand on nature yet. There, we would find those spiders you mentioned as well as crayfish and all kinds of beetles and inch long ants that are not to be found here. Then they built apartments there. Those spiders stared to disappear at the same time the crayfish did, which marks the beginning of the end. Then someone sells a house to a Nigger, letting the 1st domino of White flight fall. A house that once costed $40,000, peaks out at $160,000, takes a plunge, because of the 1st Nigger neighboor, making the surrounding homes affordable for the next Niggers

......

Strawberries I planted sometime in May, and they've already gone through a whole cycle. They took off out of the box, and bloomed, fruited, and put out runners. I expect them to breed pod people before the end of the summer.

But I am going to dig up a few hills on June 30 and replant July 1, and see if I can get two crops. I wish we had some fruit trees left here. Some friends have one that has the best apples I've ever tasted. You can grow pears this far north, too. We harvest walnuts and hickory nuts in the fall, too.

They proliferate well, especially if you don’t pick them all. They dry up and fall leaving seed for next year. Their tentacles reach out to root. Where they grow, weeds have a hard time holding them back Once you cull that nasty crab grass and dandelions out of the way, the strawberries move in. Your way of starting weed flight. People used to laugh at me when I drank Boone’s Farm strawberry wine as a minor. The other kids drank malt liquor or that high percentage Mogen David nasty sweet wine. I used to make apple wine, because you could get a few gallons from a good sized tree. I’d prefer trying strawberries, but need at least a couple hectars for it to be worth the trouble

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

Oh,......so big I have to cut them in two with a chain saw to get them to fit in the bed of my pick up truck. ........ And bring A.E.'s and Chain's asses with you when you come.

If they show up, get your chainsaw ready

[Antiochus Epiphanes]

It took me about a year of hearing about this to want to start a garden, and now it is taking me another year just to get my beds prepared. I will plant next year. You guys and Rob are the pro gardeners. I admire successful gardeners.

[Dasyurus Maculatus]

Anyone tried 'Companion planting' where two (or more) plant species are deliberately planted together to bring benefits to the ecosystem in your garden or smallholding.

Plants have natural substances in their system that can attract or repel (anti-feedents) depending on your needs. In some situations they can also help enhance the growth rate and flavor of other varieties. Experience shows that using companion planting throughout the landscape can be used to get away from dependence on chemical pesticides in an integrated pest management programme.

Combinations of companion planting for the vegetable garden that work well are:

*Potato plants, with Marigolds grown between the rows. Host to predatory ground beetles that kills potato pests and marigold roots deter ground worms from attacking the potato tubers.

*Chrysanthemum species grown near cabbage, sprouts or Broccoli. (The chemicals in Crysanthemum are repellent to cabbage pests).

*Berberis grown near Melons , Squash, and 'soft' ground crops (The Berberis leaves act as a spikybarrier to slugs and snail pests.). Holly leaves scattered around the growing rop also keeps the invertebrates and small pests away.

*Amaranth (A tropical annual that needs hot conditions)grown with sweet corn. It's leaves provide shade giving the corn a rich moist root run. . Eat the young leaves in salads.

*'Golden Rod' is popular with leaf-hoppers and LadyBugs that will eat kilos of pesky aphids .A good companion plant for near ornamental Roses.

*Bay Tree. Bay leaves will deter weevils and moths.A good plant to have near capsicum peppers, and tomatoes.

*Bergamot and Anise. Two herbs good host for encouraging insect-predatory wasps which prey on aphids and it is also said to repel aphids. Deters pests from cabbages by camouflaging their odour.

*Bergamot leaves good for 'Earl Grey Tea'. A good general 'companion plant' Improves the vigour of any plants growing near it. Used in ointments to protect against bug stings and bites. Good to plant with coriander and marjoram.

Holistic gardening is an intellectual challenge - can you beat the bugs without poisoning your land with hazardous additives or resorting to chemicals?. :)

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

Anyone tried 'Companion planting' where two (or more) plant species are deliberately planted together to bring benefits to the ecosystem in your garden or smallholding......:)
How dare you promote multi-apecies gardening in a racist forum :D ?
Seriously, there are disadvantages in planting identicle crop breeds, because of the possibility of spreading diseases.
Planting garlic between other non-related plants has the advantage of repelling certain pests

[SuperTapir]

My parents bought one of those modestly priced post-war, 3 bedroom shacks for family starters in the early 50’s, after having escaped from downtown Detroit. This was in one of those new neighborhoods which were attached to older ones. There was a farmhouse, across the road, where our pet cat used to bring piles of field mice to my mother on the doorstep, so she told me. I hadn’t reached the point where I could remember things, if I was even born, at the time. What I do remember is that my parents would drive a couple miles to a farmer where we could get fresh eggs and poultry. The milk man used to deliver every morning. Well anyway, I used to go with the kids on the block over to where they haven’t layed a hand on nature yet. There, we would find those spiders you mentioned as well as crayfish and all kinds of beetles and inch long ants that are not to be found here. Then they built apartments there. Those spiders stared to disappear at the same time the crayfish did, which marks the beginning of the end. Then someone sells a house to a Nigger, letting the 1st domino of White flight fall. A house that once costed $40,000, peaks out at $160,000, takes a plunge, because of the 1st Nigger neighboor, making the surrounding homes affordable for the next Niggers



They proliferate well, especially if you don’t pick them all. They dry up and fall leaving seed for next year. Their tentacles reach out to root. Where they grow, weeds have a hard time holding them back Once you cull that nasty crab grass and dandelions out of the way, the strawberries move in. Your way of starting weed flight. People used to laugh at me when I drank Boone’s Farm strawberry wine as a minor. The other kids drank malt liquor or that high percentage Mogen David nasty sweet wine. I used to make apple wine, because you could get a few gallons from a good sized tree. I’d prefer trying strawberries, but need at least a couple hectars for it to be worth the trouble

Man, that Nolte thing cracks me up. We Aryans have fallen a long way, haven't we? Ah well, make the trek up that much sweeter.

I've learned some respect for the sberry, those bitches are the bull goose loonies of the garden plot. They spread out and take no prisoners. They do allow soem crap grasss in where they light, but they spread remarkably fast. They grew right into my potatoes. They took advantage of my road trip to steal a march. Faintly I heard them singing "Tomorrow the World" while I weeded.

Speaking of potatoes, I got some monstahs. I took some photos of with my six biggest, they're fucking heeeooooooge. I will post the pics. Unlike the Holocaust, these potatoes Actually Happened. I have verifiable evidence, that is, of the ones I haven't yet turned into poo.

The one problem with hitting the road in August,w hich is a horrible month in Missouri, is everything comes ripe then. I got shit for cantaloupes this year. No idea why, my grandmother's squash went apeshit, all kinds of nice ones. I grew a bunch of cauliflower, but it came out mediocre. A few heads, ok after boiling them 1.5 hours. They get this purple shit on top, which is some kind of spoliation I suppose, but very dark tasting. Got to boil it dead. Kill the wild taste.

Anyway, the upshot of the garden is many potatoes, many tomatoes, first crop of strawberries, very very tasty if few, crap for musk melons, not much for caulflower, impressive leaves but not much of heads, good carrots at long last, good radishes, a few beets.

perhaps the most fun thing about gardening is testing different theories. trying to figure the operative variable, requires real thought and consideration. next year i'm going to basically do fewer types: more strawberries, about the same potatoes (41), carrots, but spaced differently. maybe just a few melons, they always piss me off.

let me tell you nons how great fun it is to sup on a big plate of meat and your own potatoes and carrots, with some real butter. life is better when you do it. gardening really is the perfect mix of mental and physical. it's a quintessential aryan peace activity, like warring is quintessential aryan quest activity. let me tell you i ate all my strawberries. i did not want them to feel theyd grown in vain. i don't care if ants and birds got parts. if there were ripe flesh, i ate it, with a little dirt thrown in to set of the sweet.

here's to all our great gardening success in 2005.

[Dasyurus Maculatus]

Some years back I grew Hops in the garden as I wanted to use 'real ingredients' in my Home Brewed beers .

The Green Hop (used for classic dark Ales) and the Golden Hop (light green leaf, flowers with a sharper flavoured set of aromatic oils than the traditional green hop).

Beer wise it was a great success. From a gardening point of view itwas a disaster. In peak growing weather, hop vines seem to be able to grow at the rate of several foot a day. My cimbing frames for vertical Roses and apple trees , even the front of the house got covere with Hop Vines.

Even the solution of vigorous pruning had no effect - they grow back again rapidly and the only answer was to take the root out as the stuff was killing and strangling all other species. :eek:

Ive had to hop back to using brewing ingredients (Hop oils) instead of using the real thing for my industrial-scale Home Beer production.

Anyone have a manageable species of Hop they can recommend for 'controlled beer making' where the ingredients to a good recipe, won't sprout forth and take over the garden?

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

...
Anyone have a manageable species of Hop they can recommend for 'controlled beer making' where the ingredients to a good recipe, won't sprout forth and take over the garden?
My ex pointed out a sizable bushing of hops while we were in Italy. They were planted remote from any useful plants, now that you mention it. She recognised the hops, because her 1st job in England consisted of harvesting these things. I'm sure that hops aren't fussy as to where they are planted and depending where you are, nobody should take notice of these plants for their value as ingredients for beer making

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

These are examples of rare potatoes which are worthwhile planting. Money could be made by selling these exotic crops to gourmet restaurants :cool:
http://tinypic.com/ohdn9
The article auf Deutsch:
Alte und seltene Kartoffelsorten (von links): Big Blue Star, Bamberger Hörnle, Roseval, Vitelotte.
Ostbote und Rotkehlchen
Viele alte, wenig ertragreiche Kartoffelsorten sind vom Aussterben bedroht
Von Katharina Fraunhofer
Es gibt unzählige Kartoffelsorten: blaue, rosafarbene, gebogene und knollige. Doch im Handel sind nur solche vertreten, die besonders ertragreich und widerstandsfähig sind. Alte Sorten, wie das „Bamberger Hörnle", findet der Kunde allenfalls zu horrenden Preisen im Delikatessengeschäft. Oder in den Parzellen von Hobbygärtnern.
Sie heißen „Linzer Blaue", „Ostbote" oder „Rotkehlchen" und landeten noch in den Kochtöpfen unserer Großmütter. Mittlerweile sind diese alten Kartoffelsorten vom Aussterben bedroht. Sie wurden verdrängt von ertragreichen sowie leicht sortier- und waschbaren Kartoffelsorten wie der länglich-ovalen „Agria" mit flacher Augentiefe oder der eher runden „Quarta".
Das Bundessortenamt in Hannover wacht darüber, dass nur das Saatgut bestimmter Sorten, die den gängigen Industrie und Handelsnormen entsprechen, in Verkehr gebracht wird. Derzeit sind deutschlandweit rund 210 Sorten zugelassen. Doch in großem Stil vermehrt, angebaut und geerntet werden nur rund 25 Sorten. Solche, die vor allem den vier oder fünf großen Abpackbetrieben in die Tüte passen: Leicht waschbar sollen die Knollen sein, mit flachen Augen und wegen der Sortierarbeit möglichst gleich groß. Darunter leidet die Artenvielfalt.
Wenn ein Hobbygärtner wie der Freiburger Wolf-Dieter Bauer, der alte und seltene Sorten anbaut und die geernteten Kartoffeln verschenkt, verstößt er genau genommen - gegen das Saatgutverkehrsgesetz.
Verbotenes Ernteglück
Hobbygärtner Bauer schätzt die violette Farbe seiner „Vitelotte", den zarten Geschmack seiner rosafarbenen „Roseval" und die länglich-gebogene Form seiner „Bamberger Hörnle". Etwa einen Zentner Kartoffeln holt er pro Ernte aus seinem Boden, für den Eigenverbrauch und als Kostprobe für seine Freunde. Weil diese Sorten nicht auf der Liste des Bundessortenamts stehen, könnte dieses Ernteglück als Ordnungswidrigkeit geahndet werden. Doch daran hat das Bundessortenamt kein Interesse:
„Was ein Hobbygärtner anbaut, ist eigentlich seine Privatsache, aber ich würde keinem aktiven Landwirt empfehlen, nicht zugelassene Sorten anzubauen", sagt Ludwig Käppeler, Diplom-Agrar-Ingenieur und Leiter des Saatbauamts in Donaueschingen. Die alten, nicht mehr zugelassenen Sorten, seien aufgrund ihrer Nischenexistenz nur noch selten sortenrein und oftmals von Krankheiten befallen. Die Erträge sind vergleichsweise niedrig. Außerdem bestimmen die Abpackbetriebe und Handelsketten, was auf dem Tisch des Verbrauchers landet: Einheitsware, deren Sortenreinheit das Saatbauamt überwacht. Abnehmer für Kartoffelsorten, die wegen ihrer knubbeligen Form schwer von Maschinen waschbar sind, finden kaum noch Abnehmer.
Dieses Jahr wird eine Rekord Kartoffelernte von 12,6 Millionen Tonnen bundesweit erwartet. Damit wird der Ertrag des vergangenen Jahres um 27 Prozent und der Sechsjahresdurchschnitt um rund 10 Prozent übertroffen. Da fällt der Zentner des Hobbygärtners Bauer nicht ins Gewicht. Doch derjenige, der einmal die „Bamberger Hörnle" und die „Vitelotte" probiert hat, der wird sie künftig im Supermarktregal vermissen.
»» Buchtipp; „Tartuffli - Alte \
Kartoffelsorten neu entdeckt", Heidi Lorcy, Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster; 12,95 Euro

[COTW]

The article on German: Old and rare potato sorts (from left): Big Blue star, Bamberger Hoernle, Roseval, Vitelotte. East messenger and robin many old, little productive potato sorts are threatened by becoming extinct of Katharina Fraunhofer it give innumerable potato sorts: blue, rosafarbene, curved and knollige. But in the trade only such are represented, which are particularly productive and resistant. Old sorts, like the "Bamberger Hoernle", the customer finds if necessary at horrenden prices in the delicate meal business. Or in the plots of hobby gardners. They are called "Linzer Blaue", "Ostbote" or "Rotkehlchen" and still landed in the pots of our grandmothers. Meanwhile these old potato sorts of becoming extinct are threatened. It displaced of productive as well as easily sort and washable potato sorts like the oblong-oval "Agria" with flat eye depth or that rather "Quarta" round;. The office for federal sort in Hanover is awake over the fact that only the seeds of certain sorts, which correspond the usual industry and commercial standards are brought in traffic. At present Germany far approximately 210 sorts are certified. But to be on a large scale increased, cultivated and harvested only approximately 25 sorts. Such, which above all the four or five large packaging enterprises fit into the bag: Easily washable the tubers are to be, with flat eyes and because of the sortierarbeit as equivalent as possible largely. Among them the diversity of species suffers. If a hobby gardner like the Freiburger wolf Dieter farmer, who cultivates old and rare sorts and which gives away harvested potatoes, it offends exactly taken - against the seeds traffic law. Forbidden harvest luck hobby gardner farmer estimates the violet color of its "Vitelotte", the tender taste of its rosafarbenen "Roseval" and the oblong-curved form of its "Bamberger Hoernle". About it gets a hundredweight potatoes per harvest from its soil, for the power consumption and as sample for its friends. Because these sorts do not stand on the list of the federal sort office, this harvest luck could be punished as irregularity. But to it the office for federal sort does not have interest: "which a hobby gardner cultivates, is actually its private thing, but I no active farmer to recommend, not certified sorts anzubauen", Ludwig Kaeppeler, diploma agricultural engineer and director/conductor of the seed board of works in Donaueschingen says. The old, no longer certified sorts, are often diseases stricken due to their niche existence only rarely sort clean and. The yields are comparatively low. In addition the packaging enterprises and chains determine, what lands on the table of the consumer: Unit commodity, whose sort purity supervises the seed board of works. Customers for potato sorts, which are with difficulty washable by machines because of their knubbeligen form, find hardly still customers. This year is country widely expected record a crop of potatoes by 12.6 million tons. Thus the yield of the past yearly by 27 per cent and the six-annual average are exceeded around approximately 10 per cent. There the hundredweight of the hobby gardner farmer does not fall in the weight. But that, that once the "Bamberger Hoernle" and the "Vitelotte" tried, which will miss in the future it in the supermarket shelf "" book-taps; "Tartuffli - old person \ potato sorts entdeckt" again;, Heidi Lorcy, agriculture publishing house cathedral; 12.95 euro

[Antiochus Epiphanes]

"il faut cultiver notre jardin."

-Voltaire, Candide

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

These are examples of rare potatoes which are worthwhile planting. Money could be made by selling these exotic crops to gourmet restaurants :cool:
....[/I]
Here are better pictures of some other gourmet potatoes:
http://tinypic.com/wicn8

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

A- Here’s one of the “Polish Tomato” plants which I seeded in early Spring.
It took several weeks to show up, after I gave up on them. I accidentally stumbled onto them, while weeding. They smelled strong, giving me the indication that tomato plants were growing. So, I took great care in weeding, as not to clumsily destroy other plants. Perhaps, because of moisture retention through weed growth, were the tomato plants able to sprout. July and August were comparitively cool months, so since then, the plants haven’t progressed much and 1 crapped out. This month started out warmer than usual, giving the Zucchinis (not yet existant, at the time the garden was photographed) a boost.
B- Grafted grass patch where a patio block used to be
C- The beginning of a Birdhouse Gourd vine. Now proliferated to an epidemic

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/Tuerkenjaeger/arecent.jpg

[Kind Lampshade Maker]

A- An artichoke bud at ist very last stage of harvestability. This one is ready to bud and will be a little tough. It would be ideal to harvest, when the buds are lighter in color
B- A cardoon cluster which is visually very similar to the artichoke. Whereas, the artichoke bud is to be eaten, the cardoon bud isn’t edible. Instead, the cardoon stems are to be harvested, defoliated and cooked like artichokes. Both taste almost alike and are classified as digestive-aiding disthels
C- A blooming cardoon, resembling a burr-headed Negroe. The bud remains at this stage. Thus, never develops into a full blue Afro. Artichokes bloom in an identical manner, incuding sharing like-colored flowering. One could even harvest the blooming cardoon clusters, for their fragrance, which would enhance one’s home environment

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/Tuerkenjaeger/acardoon.jpg