Gather round #potato nerds, I’ve got a little update on my quest to save and replant #TruePotatoSeed. (Gonna try to use this hashtag for later reference!)
This evening I harvested the berries from the potatoes growing in the meadow terraces. Those are the ones in the jar on the left! The jar on the right is all the berries from the two much larger patches in the garden. I don’t know what the difference is, but potatoes seem to absolutely love the terrace, so that’s where I’ll grow them next year.
The jar on the right was picked over the last several weeks, as the little green berries started coming loose from the plants. Some of them are starting to ripen! Second shot is a comparison photo of some just picked green berries next to some half ripe berries.
For this project, I’ve picked Cultivariable and Joseph Lofthouse as my two experts.
https://www.cultivariable.com/instructions/potatoes/how-to-grow-true-potato-seeds-tps/
https://lofthouse.com/botanical-potato-seed.phtml
Lofthouse has simpler, more down to earth explanations, and CV gives a much more comprehensive overlook of the process. What I’m gonna do next is leave them out until they get gross and squishy, squish out the insides, rinse off the pulp, and then ferment the slimy seed-water with a pinch of yeast and sugar.
At that point I’ll need to decide if I’ve done enough, like rough’n’ready Lofthouse, or if I want to do the optional bleach sterilization CV offers. I think at that point it becomes a philosophical decision: am I trying to grow out a bunch of plants to pick the best tubers to grow a whole crop from? Or am I just going to grow them out and harvest each year’s berries, to work on the whole genepool?
I don’t know! Any thoughts?
Ps Cultivariable says I should have upwards of 10,000 seeds there. I’m a little daunted!
#Gardening #SeedSaving
