Thursday 28 April 2016

In go the Spuds

It's time for the seed potatoes to be planted again. They are actually later going in this year than some years. The very cold Spring has caused a bit of a delay. The field preparation takes a lot of time forming a suitable bed for the potatoes to grow in. There is ploughing, power harrowing, drying out and then tilling. Alternative rows are tilled.




This is slow work where a little bit of company is appreciated.


The next stage is another slow job.


This machine is a stone separator which throws all the stones to the sides. It allows the potatoes to grow more evenly and makes harvesting much easier.


The ground is then ready for planting the seed potatoes. These are loaded into the planter.



We always grow a variety called Wilja that suits our ground and conditions.


No pictures of planting but here you can see on the right where some are planted and a ridge formed round them.


They are all planted now so we won't be sorry to see some rain in the next day or two.









5 comments:

  1. all my gardening friends are mentioning potatoe planting at the moment - I enjoyed seeing the farm version too. I love how Sky always looks enthusiastic and ready to help

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  2. Such a busy time. A wonderful photo journal. A lot of our local farmers are out preparing the fields for corn, oats or soy. Not a lot of potato farmers in our direct region. When I look at your beautiful red tilled fields I think of our potato "kings" in the red soil province of Prince Edward Island - they grow the best for Canada.

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  3. Great she is such a steady driver, no wonky lines! Amazing that you can buy a stone separator but I can imagine it must make such a difference.

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  4. It hardly seems five minutes since you were last planting tatties! I must say the tilling looks like fun. I'd quite fancy myself having a go at that. (The plough looks nice and shiny too!) Don't tell my Dad about the destoning machine - he'll be wanting one for his garden ;o)

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