If you have friends or family who want to place an order but don’t have internet access, call Terry Howie at 613-858-8309 and he will make sure they are on the list for pickup!
We would like to invite you to participate in our Homecraft Showcase this July.
It will run the same as our normal fair competitions, just smaller and with covid protocols. We will do drop off Thursday July 15th, judging will take place on Friday July 16th, and pick up will be Saturday July 17th. Unfortunantly we wont be able to have spectators, but we will take lots of pictures to display for everyone to see on social media.
I am attaching the prizebook for you to go through and start your creations. It’s excellent timing as the stores are finally open and we can now buy our craft materials.
I hope this excites you as much as it does us and we are very excited to be able to put this event on for you this year.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Cathy Gayton at 613-862-3750 or nlashomecraft@gmail.com.
Planting potatoes is a tradition dating back to the first settlers here-whether Irish or Scotch because it was a staple of their diet and could be stored all winter in a cool cellar. It’s amazing when the census in 1861 would record a family harvesting 250 bushels of potatoes but it happened.
Today unless you have a large garden 5-10 pound of seed potatoes would be plenty to buy. The ACE store on Highway 29 has a good selection of half a dozen varieties that you can buy by the pound(or kg). If you plant ones from the grocery store, they may have not have been stored properly to allow good germination.
Cut the potatoes into pieces, leaving at least 2 eyes (or sprouts) on each piece. Plant in rows wide enough for a rototiller or only a foot apart if you are hand weeding. Dig a hole 6” deep and 12”-18” apart . Drop a piece in. Here comes the debate- my husband’s family swore the eyes had to face up – mine said it didn’t matter. It was the first big argument in our marriage. However if a machine is dropping them in, I doubt the eyes are all up.
Fill in the hole and heap up extra earth. It takes 2-3 weeks for the leaves to peek up, so be patient. Mulch can be used to keep down the weeds.
It’s important to inspect under the leaves for the orange clusters of eggs laid by the Potato Bug so you can destroy them before they hatch. Of course you never get them all so as a child my job was to take a can filled with coal oil and pick them off and drown them. However now I just squash them -gives you short live satisfaction! You may be lucky and have no bugs. Never plant potatoes in the same place next year or after tomatoes either since the same diseases attack both.
You should pull more earth around the hill as it grows because if the sun hits the young potatoes, they burn and the green flesh is not good to eat.
Shortly after the flowers appear, there will be tiny potatoes underneath but it takes 2-3 months for the leaves to dry off and be mature, ready to dig up. Pull the plant and check with your hands for more tubers. It’s a sinking feeling when you hear the “Scrunch” if your fork spears one.
Let them dry on top for a few hours and bag them up. They should be stored in a cool dry place like a wooden bin in a cellar, if you have one.
It sounds like a lot of work but they do taste good right out of the garden!
PHOTO: George,Marilyn & Rosalyn Robertson planting potatoes. This photo appeared on the cover of the Farmer’s Advocate in the late 1940’s
