The Soul Patch
Nourishing Community Through GardeningSupport a Local Farm
Campbell’s Soup is holding a contest in which the winner will have a barn renovated at Campbell’s expense. One of the finalists is a family owned farm called The Farm on St. Mathias, a CSA (community supported agriculture) venture located near Brainerd, MN. I encourage everyone to go to Campbell’s and vote for The Farm on St. Mathias.Vote early, vote often (once per day I believe).
The potato tower worked…..sort of….
The experiment with the potato tower to increase production worked….sort of. The theory is that by raising the growing bed as the plant itself grows the box in which the bed is raised will fill with potatoes. Well, when we disassembled the tower we did in fact find more spuds than we expected. While the rest of the potatoes in The Soul Patch averaged about 3-4 pounds of spuds per plant, the two in the tower produced about 14 pounds, or 7 pounds each.
While this may seem like a success, we realized that when we dug there were extra spuds a few inches above ground but not throughout the box as we had anticipated. The top two thirds of the box were empty. It appears that whatever it is we did was no more successful than the old method of mounding the spuds. We will try the towers next year (after a little more research) to see if we can do better.
Picking spuds
On Monday, September 21, the crew at The Soul Patch, along with a couple of our most dedicated volunteers, embarked on an adventure….we picked spuds. Now that may not seem like much of an adventure to some but, for us, it was. We had heard that some of the area potato farms would allow folks to glean the fields after the farm was finished harvesting with their machinery. We called Royal Farm, in Royalton, MN, and recieved permission to pick whatever we could for the Morrison County Food Shelf.
When I imagined picking the left-overs from a field that had been harvested by commercial equipment I figured we would be picking potatoes that were rather small, perhaps new potato size. Well, I was wrong. Some of the spuds we found quite possibly could be in the running to be considered newly discovered moons.
Part of the reason we wanted to pick from these fields was to discover whether or not it is worth devoting garden space in The Soul Patch to tuber growth. After picking approximately 600 pounds of potatoes in just one afternoon, we have decided to plant something else in The Soul Patch next year.
We extend a hearty Thank You to all at Royal Farm for allowing us in their fields and for so graciously giving us all the spuds we could haul. Their generosity is greatly appreciated.
A few of the medium sized potatoes harvested from Royal farm, Royalton, MN.
So we were a little off in our estimates…
When The Soul Patch was conceptualized Erik Warner, garden founder, figured the garden would produce about 200 pounds of food for the Morrison County Food Shelf. Well, it has become quite apparent that he has a bit to learn about gardening. To date, The Soul Patch has produced 517 pounds of garden fresh vegetables, all of which has been donated to the food shelf, and we have yet to harvest tomatoes from over 80 plants, pumpkins, squash, and all the peppers and cucumbers that just keep coming.
When the garden was started there was some concern that, once members of the community heard the food shelf had its very own garden, contributions of fresh produce would decrease. According to Gloria Thomes, Morrison County Food Shelf Director, the garden can actually be credited with increasing contributions from the community. Many people, according to Gloria, may not have been aware that the food shelf was able to accept fresh produce. The Soul Patch has heightened awareness in the community that those who have gardens can, indeed, donate their surplus to those in need.
Spuds, Spuds, Spuds.
Much of today was spent harvesting potatoes in The Soul Patch. There was much consternation about the decision to pluck these little starch balls from their earthy home. Some folks advised us to wait until the vines all dried down, others said we needed to wait until a couple of weeks after the first frost. One person said “Reds?? dig ‘em up now. All the commercial farms are starting already.”
We had, at various times these last couple of weeks, dug into the mounds to assess the progress of the potatoes and determined that they were of sufficient size for harvest. So…….we dug ‘em up. About 158 pounds worth.
Harvesting potatoes in The Soul Patch.
A representative example of the potatoes harvested from The Soul Patch.
While digging potatoes we came across one that bore a striking resemblance to a classic cartoon character but we couldn’t decide which one. What do you think? Does it look like Mickey Mouse or Piglet? Whichever…do you think we could sell it on ebay?
Mickey Mouse or Piglet?
15 Minutes for The Soul Patch
This afternoon Megan Brown, from television station KSAX, stopped by The Soul Patch to interview a few of the people involved in the garden project. She expects the story to be put together and ready for broadcast in a couple of days. If possible, we at The Soul Patch will post a link to the story when it becomes available.
Potato Tower Update.
The experiment with the potato tower is working out very well; above ground at least. The two plants in the tower are growing larger, taller, and are much more lush and green than their non-boxed neighbors. We are waiting rather impatiently to see whether the increased foliage means more spuds underground.
Potato tower in The Soul Patch.
And We’re Just Getting Started.
Things have been going well in The Soul Patch. Actually, much better than anyone had anticipated. The garden is producing rather well, as evidenced by the 58 pounds of produce harvested on Tuesday, August 11, 2009. We brought in over 20 pounds of garden fresh green beans, about 19 pounds of zucchini and several pounds of peas, in addition to onions, peppers, and cucumbers. To date The Soul Patch has produced 135 pounds of fresh produce for the Morrison County Food Shelf.
Some of this week's produce.
Potato Tower.
We are trying something new (or old, depending on who you are) in The Soul Patch; a potato tower. Erik Warner, founder of The Soul Patch, was inspired to include a potato tower in The Soul Patch after seeing one installed in the community garden on the campus of St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN.
The concept of a potato tower is that as the plant grows, successive levels of a box built around the plant are added. Each level adds soil in a vertical tower, allowing potatoes to grow above ground. Not only does this method allow for above ground harvest, it is supposed to increase production. This is being done as an experiment around two potato plants which may produce an average yield, an increased yield, or we may have just killed two potato plants….we’ll wait and see.
Potato Tower in The Soul Patch.
The Plants are Growing….Bigger!
As time passes the plants in The Soul Patch are growing bigger. The pea plants have peas, the pepper plants have peppers, the potatoes are doing well, and most pleasing, it looks like the tomato crop should be bountiful.
Purple Beauty Pepper in The Soul Patch.
Zucchini In The Soul Patch.
Tomatoes in The Soul Patch.
Onions in The Soul Patch.
