Ep 004 - Potatoes, Chitting and Balls of Powder.

In this Episode Bernadette and Averill talk all thing potatoes! From chitting, to eating and everything in-between.  

Transcript

Before we start today, Seedy Chats would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of Nunawal and Ngambri country, the land on which we garden, our land's first gardeners and caretakers. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. Welcome to Seedy Chats, the podcast where imperfect gardeners, Avril, that's me, and Bernadette. Hi, that's me. Chat about our favorite topics, gardening and life. So whether you're new to gardening, a seasoned pro or somewhere in between, join us on our journey to be mindful in gardening and life in general. Do you have a story for me, Bernadette, today? I, I've been thinking about this one. This one's from a long time ago. I was a bridesmaid. at a friend's wedding and she wanted us all to have a fake tan. Now, for anyone listening, I'm a porcelain princess. I have a very ivory complexion. It was not my choice, but you know, whatever the bride wants. So I went to the tanning salon to get this fake tan. I was already pretty mortified at the concept of having to be naked in front of a stranger. I wasn't in big physical condition at the time. Did she not give you a little paper? She gave me the little paper. There's not much of us. And so I put it on, she came in and she started laughing hysterically at me. And I just died inside, I go, oh my God, I'm a monster. And she said, you've put the... Put it on your head. You put the disposable G-string, I thought it was a hairnet. And I tied the little strings under each of my ears. and I extended out the portable G-string and I tied it on my head because I thought it was a hat and then I was just stuck naked. Oh! I've had to remove myself from the microphone. Very funny. Have you ever been fake Ted? I have. I didn't get that wrong though. Welcome to the studio. We've made it to episode four. We've made it. It's exciting. We're getting pretty professional now. We've got cake, we've got coffee. Totes. Totes, we've got headphones. We have a waiter. We have a waiter. Thanks, Andrew. Fred and Ted's husband. So this episode we're talking about. potatoes and we've got our word of the day, which is shitting. Not to be confused with shitting. When you said that, I was like, there, I was like. Shitting, C-H-I-T-T-I-N-G. Ch-ch-ch, chitting. Ch-ch, for all the ASMRers at home. We're also talking today about what's happening in your garden for both of us and going into... a little bit of a sneak peek of some great interviews that we've got on the way just to whet your appetite. So why don't we start off with, well, how word of the day is shitting? Shitting. It's my accent. In America, they call it green sprouting. Oh, well. But in the UK, I think it's commonly called shitting. Shitting, isn't that interesting? I wonder why, because green sprouting is like, it's like when I came to Australia and... There was a few things that were really obvious. So like Tip-X. So Tip-X is white or liquid paper. Oh, and I'm like, Oh, that's really obvious. That's exactly what it is. Like the paper it's Tip-X. It was a few other things as well, but yeah. So the green spreading is one of those words where it's like, Oh, that makes it. You don't have to explain it. Yeah. But cheating. But yeah, cheating. You really. Yeah, it's definitely a Google one. So what is chitting? I understand chitting to be a couple of weeks before you're ready to put your potatoes in the ground, you pull them out of storage. So whether this is when they've just arrived to you from the mail or whether you've had them in a garage or a sort of like controlled temperature, dark environment, you pull them out into the warmth. Usually I put mine on a egg carton on a window sill. Beautiful. And when they get that warmth, that wakes them up. out of hibernation to say, okay, baby, let's go. That's it. And people may have experienced this if they've left potatoes in their, in their cupboard, like something from the supermarket a little bit too long. Haven't we all? Mm hmm. But you pointed out to me the other day that it's a bit more than just the eye of the potato sprouting. Yes. So when you get that little sprout, I had I did a few varieties this year. Some of them I cheated on the windowsill, and then like we all do, some of them came in the mail and put them in the garage, forgot about them. So by the time I opened up that box, I had really long, lanky eyes. So that sprouting is the potato, which they're programmed to do this in the dark because that's where they grow right. They're programmed to send out that sprout and to then leaf up when they reach the sun. If they don't have sun, if they're in the dark. they will just keep growing, growing, trying to find it. So it is difficult, it was difficult for me to then plant those potatoes because those long, lanky sprouts snap off easily. That's right. And you're wasting important vigor. Those sprouts, those first shoots. They've used that energy. Yes. Yeah, which is interesting. So you want, when you're chitting, you want them to be, to kind of show a bit of green, like a little bit of leaf. Yes, so that's why you do it in, that's why often you do it in the sunlight because that sunlight will stop them from searching for the light. They'll- You're tricking them really. You're tricking them. Yeah. Yeah, playing God. Isn't that why we all got- Yeah. I've got my own reasons. Such a gorgeous. Well, you are bathing yourself in a wattle oil now. Have you done that by the way? Not yet. After your suggestion that it might not be. safe for my skin. I thought I might use it in a diffuser instead. It just poisoned the whole family. I was a bit nervous like even when I went away I was like yeah anyway sorry um so yeah so the chitting so so then you yeah put them on I put look again this is what I do I don't know if it's perfect and it might be different for people in different regions in different places but yeah you put them on the window sill if you can remember you'll see them start to grow these sprouts and Fatter and girthy. Yeah. I can't explain it. When you go through that process, and then you don't wanna leave them too long. So this is something I did wrong this year, which I've only learned in retrospect. Some of mine were cheating on the windowsill for so long that they go a bit shrivelly like an old man, right? But- All women. All women. I was thinking of a specific part of an old man. Oh. If they shrivel like that, you've got to imagine when you put that seed potato into the ground, you want apples to recover. When you put them into the ground, you want them to have the most energy, the most vigor. I'm going to go back to our analogy of an old man because I do think it's relevant. Oh my god. Okay, I have to say this, I'd like. Why just old man? Okay. Man. Oh, it doesn't have to be a man. I'm thinking of an old man because of, you know, I'm talking about strength and vigor, but yeah, okay. It could be an old woman. When you put that seed potato in the ground, do you want it to have as much strength and vigor? So you don't wanna be putting, it's like if you're creating. an army, you're not going to choose your grandpa to put on the front line. You're going to choose the young strong men. That's where I'm going with this whole thing, right? Right, okay. I get you. Okay. So the potatoes that you plant are the best strongest at the top of their game. Yes. And in fact seed potatoes that you buy in from someone are harvested before the greens die back when they're at their strongest figure. Right. Which is different than how I, for example, store mine. That's interesting because I wondered the difference between a seed potato. then, you know, and a normal potato. So I wonder because I had kept some of my potatoes in a brown bag. It was a mistake in the bottom of one of my baskets that I have outside. It's a big basket and I put produce in there that I should probably be composting. But I had forgotten about these bag of potatoes and they would have been harvested. with you know later with their um Yeah, they would have flowered, like they would have, say for me, they would have what, sprouted and would have been nice and green and that would have died back. That would have died back and then I would have harvested those as per normal to eat. By the time those greens have died back, they have lost some of that vigour. Yeah, okay. So you need, it's better for the greens to die back if you're storing them for a long time. Yeah. For them to have a better shelf life. Yes. But if you were keeping them for your own seed, then apparently you're better off, yeah, harvesting them more as new potatoes, which is after they've floured, but before they've died back. I'm not there yet. Like I'm still trying to learn how to get the potatoes right that I'm still happy ordering seed potatoes in from a good organic reputable supplier. But I would eventually really like to be able to save my own seed as well. But I don't save seed because it's too many things to negotiate at the moment. Because for me, a potato I love a good potato, but the potatoes in Australia are very different to the potatoes in Ireland. I've heard this from my Scottish friends that our potatoes are pretty lackluster in comparison. Yes. So, I mean, I have talked about this a lot in the 20 years I have been in Australia. And my husband, Craig's like, let it go. A potato. You want to be careful because the emoji of a Not a turd. Anyway, yeah, so the potatoes back in Ireland aren't as wet. So the potatoes in Australia are pretty wet when you open them up. Yes, you mean they're more powdery? So, no, there are, so there, yes, so we, there's a term in Ireland and you'll see it written on the side of the road when farmers are selling their potatoes. And they're called, it's called, it's, we say a new potato is like a ball of flour, balls of flour. And that's a good thing. And that's a good thing in Ireland. That's a good thing. So when you steam them and boil them, the skin breaks open and it's, it's beautiful. It's drooling. In Australia, you never really get that. They're wet and moist and not very... flowery, but they're not balls of flour. So someone sent me a picture. It must have been on social media of, but get your balls of flour. And when I opened it, it was just a sign on the side of the road. And I was like, what's funny about that? That's potatoes. That's genuine. It's very serious. Like I would pull over on the side of the road and I would buy my so many kilo of Oh, like we do with like mangoes or cherries when they're in season. Yes, exactly. Exactly the same. Yeah. So, Brunadon, I'm going home next week. Flying home to Ireland is my first international flight home and I cannot wait to have potatoes. So I wonder, can you find out what the names of those varieties are? I wonder if it comes down to, if I think of Ireland, I think like misty, wetter conditions. Maybe it's the different... growing conditions that mean those varieties don't perform here or maybe you can grow those varieties here? I have been at a few markets where there's been potato growers there, like farmers. So the capital region farmers markets in Canberra are amazing. At Epic? At Epic, yeah. And when they harvest their potatoes, the farmers will bring them there and I've had a few conversations with them. And I suppose the closest ones, I think, that I bought ones were a Sebago that were that little bit drier. He said there are drier, but people's palates in Australia want wet potatoes. They want that wet and it's very strange. And it's a dry potato, especially in restaurant land. For the connoisseur or palette, a dry potato is no good in Australia. It's very strange. I don't understand. Well, I'd love, yeah, if you could research a few names and I might try some. Don't ask me to bring potatoes back home because you know what, I probably won't. Obviously you can't, I know you're not allowed. Sneak them in in your knickers. My balls are flying around my neck. Yeah, look, I will take some of my dabs at the end of the day. Is that a potato or are you just happy to see me? Oh, so my dad said to me the other day, I'm trialling, there's a new potato that there is a farmer that he knows has given me. It's a German potato. A Kipflah? No, it had a very strange name. I'll find the name out. And they're very excited about this. So it's good farming around, farming country around where I live, especially potatoes. It's very flat. and beautiful farming land. So it's on the East Coast. And we have crisps in us in Ireland, similar, I suppose, to Smith's. Is it Smith's or Lay's here in Australia? So we in Ireland, our national crisp is Tato. And there's even a massive park. If anyone ever goes to Ireland and they have children, you need to go to Tato Park and. It's like going to Disneyland in Ireland. It's fantastic. Tato Park. And these crisps are the original is cheese and onion. And most potatoes for those crisps are grown around that that area. And that's how Tato Park started up because the farmer needs to diversify. And it completely changed the Tato brand around. It was awesome. Maybe that's the difference too. I imagine there's potato farmers in Ireland that have been farming potatoes for hundreds of years. Maybe I need to interview one when I go home. Maybe we need to interview one. I wonder, could I interview Tato Mound himself? I'll find out. Or, yeah, and then obviously the very famous potato famine Oh yeah, well, yes. of Ireland, but again, shout out to my Scottish friends. I believe it affected the Scottish very harshly as well and they never get a shout out about it. But yeah, and that, yeah, so that was, yeah, like there's a lot more history, I guess. Oh, there is, yeah, behind the potatoes. And you know, We can still get blight. Like you have to be careful. Like we still get that disease that affects potatoes. We can treat it. And that's why you have to be really careful when you... So those people that have noticed that chitting in their pantries with potatoes that they've left too long in bags of potatoes, that they'll take them and plant them. I mean, it's a great experiment to do. You just have to be prepared that you... can introduce some diseases into your soil. And as an organic gardener, there's very little you can do once blight takes hold. You've pretty much, it's pretty much too late. I think it is sort of airborne, like you say comes from rot. Like if you've got a pile of rotting potatoes, it can even be blown in the wind. And I think that's how it spread in the famous famine. And remembering those potatoes, we don't know the process that that has gone through. The potato has gone through as well. So we don't know what. chemicals have been used or... Or they've put, you know, yeah, those chemicals might be used to increase shelf life or... Yeah, absolutely. Do things that won't help it, that will help them sell to the consumer, but it may not help a gardener in terms of what the properties that we would want for a potato to grow. I would just, as long as there's no, so as far as, you know, storing your potatoes, and if you see them changing in any way, If they start to sprout, you just remove those sprouts. As long as they're not green or kind of withered, you still use them. I still use mine. And the reason for, I believe, the green potatoes, which is an indication that they've been exposed to sunlight, I think. Yeah, yeah. And it's poisonous, right? It is poisonous, yeah. So I was always brought up, even in shops, I see shops in Australia, you'd never see that in Ireland, selling a green potato. So I see shops in Australia and supermarkets. We just cut it off. We just cut it off. You gotta be careful because it does give you flatulence. So it makes you very windy and it can build up in your body and it is a poison. So someone had said to me once, oh, is that not where the potato is just not ripe? And I was like, horrified, no. It's at the end of the day. It's a big no-no. You're probably horrified. You can't believe they're selling these green potatoes. But I still see it now. And if anyone's at the potato section and they're about to buy any, I tell them you can't buy them. They are green potatoes. I will nibble anything and I would not eat those. I would not eat those. So, yeah, you do have to be careful. So the only, when it comes to a potato, if it's still firm... If it's sprouting, I don't care, just remove the sprouts. But if it's green, it's a big no-no. If it's only a little blusher green, you can cut it off. But in general, no, you do need to compost them or yeah. Okay, so according to the Diggers Vegetable Sowing Guide, potatoes in our region, so that's Cool Zone, can be planted anywhere from July, August. September, October, November and December. A Google search that I done for our region was, can you grow potatoes all the time in a hot climate? So they don't seem to do really well with really harsh frosts. And high heat. And high heat. So they do sound really temperamental. I think the high heat, they'll fail to set tubers or the tubers won't grow very much once you get over a certain heat. But you still get a smaller potato. So you can still harvest it really small. And you can actually just out of interest, potato as small as a pea, it doesn't matter how small it is, is edible. Yeah. So yeah, even if they're small, they're still edible. Because last year when we did our harvest in Bernadette, remembering back to it, you were not happy. You thought that we hadn't grown a lot or they weren't very big. I couldn't believe in our first year that we didn't absolutely nail it. And I was like, looking back in the photographs and thinking, we actually had a really, for people that knew nothing, we stuck them in the ground. We did hardly anything. We done nothing. We thought we killed them. All the mulch blew off. We thought we killed them. The frost hit them. Because the frost, we obviously had planted them too early. So the frost, our potato plants had frostbite and a lot of them died back. And we were like, whoa. They re-grew and they were pretty good. So we will post our photographs of our harvest last year. I think because I'd never grown potatoes before. I didn't realize, I thought every tuber was gonna be a big potato. I didn't realize that different tubers would be at different stages of growth at time of harvest. And so I wasn't expecting a lot of the more little ones, but we did actually have a great harvest. And how tasty were they? Yeah, fantastic. And I brought some of them home. And mine stored very well. They stored well. I had some seed potatoes that I'm going to be really interested to see how those seed potatoes do. So did you save some of those? Yeah. Oh, I'd forgotten. I'd forgotten they were in a little bag that I just put aside. Oh, that was the ones that we grew. Yeah. So I took a photograph of those potatoes. So we planted those potatoes last year in August, whereas this year we waited until September. So hopefully we won't have that same frost issue. Yeah. that we had, but you're right, if it's too hot or it's too cold, I think the other issue with it being too hot is you can get other issues like rot, black spot, bruising, that kind of thing in those hotter temperatures. So for us, that means, so the digger's guide is saying we can plant potatoes anywhere from September to December. Yeah. What you need to know as a grower, when you're looking at that is there are the three different types of potatoes, early potatoes, mid potatoes, late potatoes. Yeah. Early potatoes have 60 to 80 days to maturity, mids have 80 to 100 days to maturity and late have 100 to 130. What does days to maturity mean? For an early potato, that means you've got from the day that you put it in the ground, you've got 60 to 80 days until you harvest. So if you were in an area or if you were planning them late, for example, if you are listening to this podcast right now and you haven't planted your potatoes, It's not too late for you. No. Just pick an early variety that has a shorter days to maturity and then hopefully it won't get smashed with the high heat in the summer and you won't have those issues. Yeah, yeah. My dad always, anytime I talk about planting potatoes, he does say to me, try and get an early potato. Because obviously there's less time to worry about them and having them in the ground. I didn't know about early, mid and late. Yeah, okay. I ordered... ones for taste. It was called a chef selection. And then I ordered the purple, I think this year I'm doing purple congos, nickelers, Dutch creams and a bag from the supermarket that started growing eyes that I thought, oh well I'll chuck it in the ground and see what happens. Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's going to be, that's an interesting one. They're going really well because I chitted them and they've got quite a head start. Yeah right. I didn't know when I picked all those that they had different days to maturity and so that's something else to consider as a gardener. When try and keep the earlys together, the mids together, the late together, because you don't want to mix, for example, early potatoes and late potatoes, because that will take the whole bed up until the late potatoes are ready. Until they're ready. Obviously you want to harvest all of your early potatoes together, all of your mids together, et cetera. I have planted mine. Mine are Nikola, King Edward, Desiree and Star. Now. Oh, I think I've made a huge mistake. Oh, and then my seed potatoes. So I don't know what my seed potatoes are, if they're early, late. Yeah, I don't know. We weren't. So with all of these, the packet didn't tell me if they were early. I mean, how dare they? I didn't. Did it say days to maturity? Oh, oh, it possibly could have. You know what, as a novice gardener, Brindette, that complicates it for me. Yeah. You know. So it probably did, I didn't look at that. So the potatoes that I have in the ground, it's potluck now. I agree that it does complicate, but also as a novice gardener, I think it's important to know, you don't have to know everything and you don't, but like you say, if you just stick to earlys, Yeah, if you have just to- that's a safe and easy rule to remember. Yes, I will go back and look at. look at these, it's a fantastic way of looking at it because even though in my head it overcomplicates it, the more times I plant a potato and I think about it, it gets simpler, it gets easier. So yeah. At the end of the day, because of where your potatoes are planted, so you've got like a separate mound. I do, yeah. Separate to everything else and you've got it. You're not going to be really keen to free up that space to plant anything else. And actually, even if your earlies finish flowering and die back, I believe... I could pull them up. Well, I believe you can leave them in the ground for like six to eight weeks. Oh, that's right. Well, last year, because of all the wet that we had, so the La Nina... a lot of my local growers that I would buy produce from, they had to, it was a bit heartbreaking for them. They had to dig up all the potatoes to save them. And some of them, it was the first time that they ever saved their potatoes, their produce externally. They normally would leave them in the ground longer. So it was a huge experiment for them and they saved. pretty well actually, I think, looking at their socials and following them. But it was a huge experiment just because of the wet, the rain. So let's talk about how you planted your potatoes. So do you wanna talk through from when you get that bag in the mail or the bag that you've left in the kitchen? Yeah, so I just picked mine up at a local garden store. So I do have, I had them a while, they sat in my garage in just a laundry tub and I'd walk past them and look at them and think, oh, I'm so excited. And I had an area, so where I have my growing area where I have four high rise beds and it's covered in. Yes. At the back of that, I very lazily left a mound of soil. It was the soil that I had brought in for filling my beds and it had grassed over, completely grassed over. And in my head, I was thinking I'm going to do the Hessian bags again. So I went to my local coffee place. and they gave me their Hessian bags. So last year at the community garden, Avril did some of her potatoes. We did a shared raised bed and then Avril did some of hers in the Hessian bags and layered them and then topped them off. And that was really quite successful too. Yeah, like for harvesting them, it was great. I enjoyed that you just lifted the bag and that bottom of it completely composted. Like it was great for... And then you dig for your buried treasure. That's right, yeah. You weren't too convinced with the Hessian bags though. You were... Because I didn't understand how it worked. Oh, with the tubers. Yes, I couldn't get my head around the topping up. And see, to me, that's where it's ironic, because to me, I thought, gosh, that's such a lot of work topping up. Yeah. But it made sense. So putting them in the bags or anything that, you could use wire, some people use bins. Bails of straw. Just bales of straw, absolutely, yeah. So, and when you see the green shoots come through, You just keep mounding as soil on top and then they, the tubers, it's really encouraging tubers. So you'll get more potatoes. So we got probably more potatoes, but they weren't very big. They were small. So yeah. So this year I've gone completely the opposite. So that mound of soil at the back of where I grow and my four raised beds, it completely grassed over and it was annoying me. I know it was annoying my husband as well. Probably my neighbour as well. Apology. It was just a nice little mound, grassed over, so I got in there and I dug it all up. And someone said to me, well, it's got to be easier than filling the Hessian Sacks. Want it? No, because the grass had really the roots. So I kind of, I've taken some videos of it. So I was digging it up and had all these magpies come and join me. I was hand feeding them all the growth. I burned a few calories that day. I burned a good few calories that day. Just leveled it out and I made little lines. Trenches. Trenches. Yeah, so I made trenches and I've put my potato in. So I'm gonna try and make them round. How far down? I wanna talk about this trench. Yeah, how far down? Because I think I did this wrong. So what did you do? I just put them in, I didn't measure it, Bernadette. I over-yarned. That's my measuring tape out. Well obviously I did. And mine were four and a half inches. But when I was talking, actually, if you're over at the airport, Bunnings, Axel, a wealth of knowledge. Knows everything. His dad's 93, he's been gardening for over 50 years and he's unbelievable. If you ask him anything, he'll be able to help you. There's another guy there called Jim and he's Irish. Well you talk to Jim and I'll talk to Axel. So Axel was telling me that you dig the trenches. So this is where I got confused. I thought you dug a trench, say, from the tip of your fingers to your elbow, that sort of depth, we're saying maybe 40 centimeters. And then you put the potatoes in and you just filled it in. No, no, you don't plant them that deep. You dig the trench, you plant the potatoes anywhere from two to four inches, depending basically on how cold or hot your climate is, I understand. Yeah. And then as those sprouts grow up, you backfill the trench. Hmm. With the soil. With the soil. So for me, I've planted my tubers four and a half inches in a raised bed and my raised bed's really full so there's not much room to pack it. I get it. And mine have already sprouted so now I've got nowhere, because I thought, oh that backfilling sounds like a bloody lot of work, but it gives you, like you were saying, more tubers. It does give you more tubers, definitely. But maybe mine will be... bigger and less of them, I don't know. Well, let's see. I mean, and if you do it once, you can only improve on it. Yes. I mean, it's awesome that you've done it and you're growing your own potatoes. Yeah. So you got to learn, you got to start somewhere and you've got to learn. So I, that's awesome. I never knew that either. So I have mine in the high part. I just mounted it up and then I got my potato in my hand and I just pushed it in And with yours being a bit more open, you can mound straw and things over the top as they grow. I kind of put a half bale of straw all over the top. One of the best parts of growing potatoes as a home gardener is you can just stick your hand in the ground and pull a few tubes out without disturbing everything else and let the others keep growing and just pull dinner out. I did a sneaky one of that last year. You are a sneaky little potato pincher when I went up because some of the community garden some of the green had completely died back and I was like, were they dead or? And it was COVID as well. Yes. And it was- So we couldn't all get there. We couldn't all kind of congregate there. So yeah, I pulled a few out and they were spectacular. Well, new potatoes are the gardener's privilege, aren't they? So new potatoes, because they're younger, the skin will be a lot. So you'll find even if you pull them out, you can almost like rub it off with your finger. That's right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And that's why growing potatoes in a hot country, they won't get really big. Like you can still grow them, but they'll only get little small smallies and you pull them up and they've got that beautiful skin. They're still delicious. Yeah. You've just got to, you know, you've probably got a week or so having them in the fridge that you've got to consume them. Whereas you leave them in the ground. So basically you've got the greens, then they flower, they're beautiful flowers, then those greens die back. Once they've died back, the skin of that potato will then start to cure and then of course you put them in a dry, cool, dark place depending on where you are and depending, for example, I've got quite wet soil here so I do need to cure them. for at least four weeks here. And that really preps them for long-term storage. And different varieties will store for different lengths of time as well. I think that's what a lot of my growers, what I noticed last year, they were struggling with because they would normally leave them in the ground longer. Yes. Oh, yes. But pulling them up earlier, it was an experiment for them because they never had to do that before. So they saved the potatoes. But they didn't have as long as of a time to cure. That's right. So for mine, I've got mine in raised beds. And very interestingly recently, I did something that I did a soil test, which I don't know if I'd recommend. I'm glad that I did it. It was very labor intensive, time consuming, and you really would have to be interested in what you're doing. Did you post that? I've filmed it and I will post it for our audience. Okay. So I was testing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, which is our NPK, and pH. And I've got four beds, and that consisted of me taking a soil sample from each bed, mixing it one to five parts water, shaking it up, leaving it for 24 hours. This is what I mean, it was a bit of a thing, right? And so was that different to what we had done before we planted our garlic, the pH testing? The pH testing is the same, and that's the easiest test, and that develops, I guess the difference, was when we did our garlic, it was a bit more of a surface test, whereas I tested six inches down into my soil. And I did that because I've got two new raised beds with brand new soil. I've got a really old bed, and then I've got sort of one in between. And I have found that the longer my beds go, the better they get, because I'm adding all this organic material, and I thought those two new beds, they're probably gonna be deficient and need a bit of help as they're starting off. Because when you order in compost and soil like that, it's pretty neutral. It doesn't have a lot in it. So I found that all of my beds were deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus, but they were all fine in potassium. But the ones with the least phosphorus were the two beds where the potatoes are and the potatoes are heavy feeders of phosphorus. So it was quite important, I guess, that I figured that out. So I then bought some organic, I just got a bag from Bunnings again, with the help of Axel, a bag there of organic phosphorus that I can amend that soil to help them feed on it. And with that, so you're just going to sprinkle it on top? Yep, that's a dry one that I, a dry sort of one that I got, which I think it's like 50 grams per square meter and you sprinkle that on top. And then for the nitrogen, very interesting. I said, oh, all my beds are deficient in nitrogen axle, but I don't know how, because I'm adding sea salt all the time. Yeah, right. And he said, sea salt is not a fertilizer. It is a soil. Not an improver. Yes, it is a soil improver. Yeah, okay. and it doesn't actually fertilize red nitrogen. So I'm just totally misunderstood. The whole seaweed concept. So what did he recommend for nitrogen? So he recommended Power Feed, which is from the makers of a sea salt. Yes. And it's basically a dynamic fertilizer as well as soil improver. I went with the liquid because he said, you can use this with your sea salt. So if you're already doing sea salt, don't do a whole nother thing. Just add this to the same container and do it at the same time. Yeah, right. And again, like... with the soil testing, if you don't have a problem with your garden, I wouldn't be testing your soil. Yeah. But I had problems in my first years because I ended up getting soil that had been treated and I didn't know about it. Of course. Yeah. And I think as well, I, since I have looked at my soil a lot more, like adding in obviously things like a seaweed solution and sheep poo and... my worm wee, putting anything back into the soil like I love banana skins. Potassium? Yeah, so banana skins steeped in water for 24 hours and then you just pour it on. When I started doing that I noticed more results obviously because yeah, your plants need that food and they've worked with it. So when will you harvest your potatoes? Haven't got a clue. So I'm a little bit worried. because obviously I'm going away. So I go away next Wednesday and I'm gone for nearly three weeks. So I still have a lot of my winter vegetables in there because of my broccoli being a late flourisher and producing. Mine's a late bloomer too, don't you worry, but yours is ahead of mine. But it's doing really well. So I've kind of been just cutting the florets off and hoping that more will just come along. So I don't even mind if I keep them in there until I come back. I'll see how I go time wise if I can pull some of them out. Because if I pull them out, weeds are just going to grow there anyway. Yes. So do I wait till I come back to do it and they'll have died off a little bit. They probably have gone to seed and attract the bees. I had some tomato seeds pop up actually, some tomato seedlings. I saw that and you put a lovely little cloche on them. I did. Your little babies. Yes, yeah. So we've still got a few weeks where we might get a frost. Yeah, they have self seeded. So I popped a clash. I have to think, write a little list for Craig, just because if he can water, if there's none, I think there'll be enough rain in fairness, but I just be scared with my potatoes that they would dry out a little bit too much. So watering them, making sure that they're okay. I'll just have to keep it simple and making sure the clash doesn't blow off, even though I have fixed it into the ground. So for me, it's a matter of just maintaining. And then when I come back, it'll be all, I'll probably be a little bit behind. So yeah, you're gonna be way ahead of me. I think my seedlings, yeah. I'll have to just- Don't stress, I'll have extras. Yeah, you've only planted a hundred varieties of tomatoes. The only difference that I'll be doing is because I did plant mine, I separated the early, the mid and the late potatoes. I'll harvest them. in that order as well. Yeah. And then I'll free up that part of the bed. Like as soon as I harvest the early potatoes, I can free that all up and get another good crop of something in here before. I'm going to be very interested to see how that goes early mid late. That's going to be really interesting, I think, as opposed to mine where I've just flung them all in and hope for the best. But as you said, I don't need to free up that space so I can probably harvest them and still keep them in that area. even if they're mixed up, like it doesn't really matter. Yeah, what's happening in your garden, Brenna? Besides... Apart from the potatoes? Besides babying all of my seedlings, so I'm just keeping a very close eye on them every single day at the moment because they are in tiny little cells which can dry up very quickly and you don't want them too moist either, so it's a bit of a balancing act there, keeping them away from Charlotte so that they have a chance of survival. I was thinning carrots recently this week, so there was a photo that I posted on our... Instagram, which is Seedy chats, Instagram. We've also got a Facebook now, guys. Can you believe it? We do, we do. We've got four followers. We felt the need. Do we have four? We've got four, I think. You and I have two of them. Hop over, ends to people. If you're not an Instagram person, but you do have Facebook, it's another option available to you. So, and if you wanna ask any interactive questions that you think other people would benefit from. That's a good forum too because even though I would love for someone to slide into our direct messages, that's what a DM is by the way people, you might think oh maybe other people are thinking about this question, you could post it on the Facebook and then everyone will have that history too. Yeah and if you're thinking it, other people will be thinking it too, I'm one of those people that will be like oh I can't ask that because I've come across as a bit silly. But you know what, the time I do ask it, people are like, I was thinking the same thing. Absolutely. So and we're kind of learning this together, aren't we? Like that's the reason why we started this podcast was to, yeah, grow together. But yes, sorry, you're thinning of tomato and carrots. So I'm thinning the carrots. So I've not done this before. I'm terrible at thinning in general. So once I've once the seeds germinated, I get it. and a disproportionate emotional connection to zed seedling. And I have a lot of trouble, but this time with the carrots, I mean, they germinated fantastically, which is great, but they really should have an inch, they say, an inch between them. Otherwise you're going to get really tiny little carrots, which is what I've had in the past. So I went through and literally thinned them, which was actually very therapeutic and relaxing and a nice job to do. Can you sew them better? Oh, definitely. Yeah. I just did a bit. Look, I had heaps of carrot seeds that I'd saved. I had an easy method. I was using, I was doing it with Charlotte. So of course, Charlotte's not going to be as, you know, she's not going to be able to space them. So we just sprinkled them together. Yeah. If you use that method, then you importantly have to come back and thin them. Yeah. Because I remember growing up in a garden store and my dad, people would come into my dad, there's a fly that attacks carrots. Yes, carrot fly. Carrot fly. And my dad would sell them a chemical that would kill the kill the fly and maybe think prevent it from coming back. And he would always talk to them about how they plant and how they thin their carrots. Because there's one way of preventing that carot fly. And that is the space. So carot fly can't jump. So count jump if it's spaced correctly from one carrot to another. Do we get carrot fly? I'm not too sure. I have got all these tiny little flies in those carrots. Do you think it's carrot fly? Oh, I don't know. Me? I thought it was fungus gnats. Because of the outside. I've been STI for this. Awesome. Right, well, so thinning carrots, what else was on there? I think we've covered everything. Excitingly, I just wanted to let all of our listeners know. that we've got some great interviews coming up. So we're really getting some momentum with reaching out to people and getting some specialist interviews. But I also wanted to put it out there for our listeners. If there's something that you wanna know about or questions that you've got or something that you'd, and it could be something, I would just say on this great episode on potatoes, but Avril and I were saying earlier, wouldn't it be great to contact a major potato producer in Australia and talk to them about what they do and how they do it? And... So is there anything else out there like that that our listeners would like to know about? Maybe you grow potatoes at home yourself and you do them really, really well. Come and chat to us about it. Yeah, it'd be awesome. So yeah, we've got some great interviews coming on the way. You will have seen it in episode three. We had our first live interview with Wildly Abigail, so there's more of that content coming. And I just want to tell a story, Bernadette, tell me when you use your mulch or you were saying you're pushing things into it and then you're... Really nervous. I got this new mulcher. It's fab. I did a little quick video on it, but you just shove everything in. It's got this tool, but when you shove everything down the hole, you meant to use the tool. And I always shove it in with my hand and I think, well, that's what we're doing. You shouldn't do that. So I have a story. My mom lost the top of her finger, the same finger twice. So the first time was with the lawnmower. Oh! How? Yeah, well there was obviously, so remember I said when I was mowing the grass, I have a little bit of grass, I was mowing it, I took the, we normally have, we have a ride on lawnmower, being on six acres, however, there's little areas that I mow that I just use a push mower and when I take the box off it's the memory of my mum, so I don't want anything to get caught in the blades or anything because she left the lawnmower. going and tried to and the top of her finger came off. And the second time? She picked the finger up and brought it to hospital and then it was sewn back on again. Oh my gosh. So it wasn't the tip, it was her actual finger. It was the tip of her finger. And then she cut it off again. The tip of her finger. And so that was the lawnmower story. And then another day, a few years later, I came home from school And I noticed that mom wasn't there, but I noticed there was a trail of blood. Oh my gosh. On the ground. And straight up, first thought, mom's done it again. She's got her finger up. And lo and behold, she had been cutting wood and she took it off with the hat, whatever it's called, the axe. Not the same finger. Same finger. And did they sew it back on or they said... They picked it up. Two stripes and you're out. Off we go and yeah. So her nail on that finger was always a bit gummy, like a bit strange, grew a bit strange, but twice the same finger. So you're doing the right thing by, they give you that tool to push. Use it. Use the tool, don't be a tool. Oh, don't be a tool. That was great today talking about spuds. A passion of yours as a true. Salt of the Earth Irish woman. And you've taught me a lot about potatoes, but we've got a lot to learn and we learned a lot today. We have a lot to learn, yeah. Like it's early, mid, late. I'm telling you, we're underage. I want powdery potatoes. That's what I want. Maybe we could aim to have a potato farm. Imagine. Well, I'd be so fat. In all seriousness, Avril, I read a newspaper article that said the price of potatoes is going up by 30% if I can't get chips. Half of my diet is out the window. So it has never been a better year for us to grow potatoes. You know that during dinner, I have been known to have mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, potato bake, chips. Come on, come baby. It's serious. Oh chip buddy. Oh my lord. With tomato sauce and butter. And butter hot, like the hot chips melting the butter. Well thanks everyone for listening and slon laugh. Slon laugh. Go for my curse. Ready to die? Have a good time. Bye.