pictured left to right: large Yukon Gem, Red Norland, and Satina (yellow meated like the Yukon–smoother skin and texture as shown).
I always have this tendency to want to underprice our potatoes–say $.60/# to at least get in there with what I see other folks selling theirs for. Who doesn’t like cheap potatoes? After all, they eat the same! But there is an old saying that says you get what you pay for–and the other side of that is you can’t sell it for less than it costs you to produce…well not for long…
So, here’s what you need to know about our potatoes compared to the ones you buy at the store.
- Ours are organically raised…Chicken manure fertilizer like the rest of the garden. No pesticides, herbicides, or artificial additives. Plastic mulch with drip irrigation for weed control and water delivery. No chemicals to kill the plant so the potatoes will set as usually done in commercial production. (The tuber in the ground will store whatever the plant is exposed to.)
- We are not completely automated–ours are planted with a two row transplanter: two folks riding on seats pulled behind the garden tractor stuffing the seed potatoes or seed potato pieces into the hole made in the plastic by the machine and filled with water. We add a little fish emulsion to the water to give the spuds a boost, much like the New England Indians in the 1600’s would throw a fish in the hole with the corn seed.
- Ours are harvested either by hand (during the CSA season) or with the potato digger that Eric built for us (fall harvest). The digger brings them out of the ground and lays them on the top of the bed, then we come along and pick them up, sorting them as we go.
- We do not get 100% harvest of all that is planted. This year we left the All Blue’s in the ground–the sample 30 feet we harvested had 70% scab. They were not pretty and they would not have stored. Same with half the fingerling potatoes planted–
- We do not normally wash the regular potatoes. This is a time and cost consideration. We are usually racing with the incoming Winter to get EVERYTHING out of the garden and into the coolers. This year we washed the fingerlings, but time did not allow for the regular potatoes. If the potatoes are not washed you get an extra 2# to compensate for the added soil. So, you are really getting 22# –the price is based on 20#.
- We sorted the potatoes between Medium to Large (20# bag) and “C” size, smaller than your fist (10# bag).
- We store the potatoes into the spring–so you can buy some now and then buy some later. (We’ll use our potatoes in the Buyer’s Group this year which starts up in January and runs through May. 10# bags will be available for sale at Bee Healthy. Our potatoes and Fingerlings go into the Fall Friday Sales.)
Pricing– Satina (20# bag)………………..$25 (10# bag)……………………….$10
Red Norland (20# bag)……….$22 (10# bag)………………………..$12
Yukon Gem (20# bag)…………$19 (10# bag)………………………..$10
Hope you’ll consider buying locally! It’s our desire to feed our community the best food possible! The Farmer’s Wife