By John Moody
As a kid , I always enjoyed tinkering with toys and other things . Many did n’t last my dangerous undertaking of disassembly . As a homesteader , both urban and rural , I have continued in that gearing . louse compost in the cellar of our apartment building . IBC tote bag plough into animate being transporters inside our mini - van . Container get on the corners I could convert landlord to allow me expend .
Often , people say you ca n’t grow sealed thing sure ways . So , when last summertime I decide to leave a single leftover sweet-smelling white potato that I was using to create slips for field planting in the starting holdall , I knew I was going against the grain . The holdall was about half full already with a smorgasbord of our homemade compost , coir , and worm casting – a nice , rich , water retentive mixture that we use as our go to for seed start and other such purposes .
Can you believe this all came from one sweet potato?
I filled the tote about a one-fourth of the mode more , gave it water every few days , and at the end of the season , this is what I find !
So , how did we stumble into such achiever ?
It All Started With Some Free Mineral Tubs
In rural areas , farms with large animals use afair number of these each calendar month , especially if the farm operation is large and has lots of fauna . alternatively of a one - way trip to the landfill , we pull in them and apply them for all variety of farm projects – storage , worm composting , soil blockage mixture , and container ontogenesis , among many other options .
All you demand to do to make use of goods and services of these totes ( also known as mineral tubs ) for growing is ensure they run out properly . A drill with a modest - diam bit ( ¼-inch or slightly larger ) will allow you to put 20 or so hollow in the bottom , providing adequate drain and air exchange . Do n’t make the hole too large – the growing medium will fall out the bottom . It is honest to layer the bottom two or so inches of the tote bag with rotted wood chips or like compaction - tolerant stuff to ensure that the hole do n’t become clotted .
You do n’t have to practice mineral totes . I dislike purchase new plastic , especially when so much used material is already around . So feel free to repurpose almost any sort of plastic tote or container . I do commend that you go with a tote with at least 2 cubic feet of volume or a bit more for any source crop . I care the mineral totes because the surface area to depth proportion is about perfect for dulcet potatoes ( about 18 inch deep ) . Much deeper and you are spending money filling blank space that probably wo n’t ameliorate your yields much . Too shallow and your yields will sustain from deficient space .
Can you believe this all came from one sweet potato?
Also note , depending on how long and where you place these , first the grass underneath will die . But , not only did I find a carryall full of unfermented Solanum tuberosum , I found another 15 or so underneath the tote to boot ! Second , you could use this apparatus to develop on a terrace , deck , or similar structure , but you would call for to be careful about excess water causing damage . You do n’t have to worry about the roots – they will ventilate prune or otherwise give way back in most situations . you’re able to also make a ego - lacrimation case design of two totes nest together where the bottom attend as a water reservoir for the top tote bag .
The Big Two For Sweet Potato Success – Fertility and Water
Unlike study growing , containers present two unequaled challenges . First , they require subsidiary water , especially for a pee hungry crop like sweetened potatoes . Now , when the plants are small , the totes do n’t involve nearly as much water as they will use in late July and August , when you are dealing with a dozen or more square feet of leaves all demand liquid state to change that sunshine into sweet Irish potato .
It was not rare for us to water the carryall two times per 24-hour interval , and when temperature reached into the eminent XC or low 100s , on full Dominicus end of summer day , three times . Note , mellisonant Irish potato do n’t like to be waterlogged , though . So ensure the growing commixture is moist , but do n’t water to the point you are get leakage from the bottom if possible ( that leakage is also possibly washing out valuable nutrients , another reason to water more often more lightly if possible ) . If it take place on social occasion , nothing too disastrous will happen . But if the mix is always overly moist , rot and other problems will set on your Henry Sweet .
In the future tense , if I do sweets in tote again , I will use some sort of semi - machine-driven or automated approach to watering the totes , especially if I do a telephone number of them . This will make the labor less mussy and less meter consuming , specially for multiple holdall .
How’s that for a harvest?
Second , we provide some supplemental richness in the shape of constitutive approved fish photographic emulsion , a spoonful or so about every four weeks diluted in a few gallons of body of water and then swarm into the bank identification number . If you think about how much nutrition is in 30 - 40 pounds of sweet Solanum tuberosum , you could see why such an access was necessary . I care fish emulsion , since it comes with a full range of shadow minerals along with a solid NPK visibility . The cost was miniscule – probably fifty cents to a dollar per tote is my guess .
A few other things are worth mentioning . First , the sweet white potato leaf will spread far beyond the container . you may use this for amazing landscape gardening effect – sweet potatoes vines and flowers are beautiful ( and the foliage are eatable ! ) . If you have a raised deck , fence , wall , or similar spot , the vines would serve as a endearing seasonal palm as they broadcast and farm . secondly , fresh potatoes need harvested before freeze !
Second , do n’t overfill the totes . I lead about two inch of space between the back talk and the grow medium . This help ensure that the culture medium does n’t spill out and over as the odoriferous murphy expand . When it comes time to harvest , take a place you do n’t bear in mind dumping out the dog-tired medium . I care recharge the material by running it back through one of my IBC tote bag sized worm bins .
You can often get these empty mineral tubs for free from local cattle farming operations, where they go through a lot of them.
Last , realize that once full , these are fairly dense , especially when the soil is moist . So render to make certain you wo n’t ’ have to move them . If you have a number of them up on a deck or like structure , check that it can take the extra weight unit .
Get John Moody’s new book: The Frugal Homesteader Handbook
The Frugal Homesteader Handbookis a Mother Earth News Wiser Living award victor and recommended pick , and is full of useful information for any type , accomplishment level , or position of homesteading – urban , rural , and beyond . Dozens of labor outlines and ideas , along with lot of other time and money saving information make this Quran a “ must read . ”
Joel Salatin had this to say about the FHH,“To say I enjoy John Moody ’s Holy Scripture would be the understatement of the year . I smiled all the way through it , wonder at the ingenious money - saving projects and reminiscing about my own growing up on a frugal farmstead . This Holy Scripture is wedge - full of clever ways to do it cheaper , more efficiently , and perhaps most significant of all , more tyke friendly .
you could order a transcript right away from John by visitingwww.homesteaderhandbook.com , or view him at one of the many Mother Earth News Fairs , such as the forthcoming Seven Springs , PA , or Topeka , KS event .
I found another 15 or so more sweet potatoes underneath the tote!
Related
Here’s what the tubs look like when the sweet potatoes are growing.
