Growing Potatoes in Straw: A Labor-Saving/Better Harvest Technique

As a preparedness-minded person (& chief cook / bottle-washer), I often evaluate foods based on their shelf-life, ability to fill the eater up, adaptability in cooking, and how well they can extend the meal. Potatoes really are winners in these ways.

If properly stored (in a cool, dark, somewhat humid place), they can last months and then the remaining ones can be used as seed potatoes for the following year’s planting. A food source for “fresh” eating and a seed crop for the future- pretty good.
Potatoes are well-known for being filling. One of our regular rotations on the meal calendar is stuffed baked potatoes. Any number of things can be “stuffed” inside them, from healthy broccoli to hearty chili.
The humble spud can be cooked in a myriad of ways at any meal. Breakfast hashbrowns, homefries, scalloped, mashed, and on and on. They can take center-stage as the main course or be content to be merely a side-dish.
One of the best aspects of potatoes from a preparedness standpoint is that they really help extend a meal. I’ve heard tales of women “just adding another potato to the stew” when extra hungry mouths showed up during hard times. Not more meat, of course, but another potato to fill another stomach. When we eat stuffed baked potatoes, in the winter we often open just one large can of chili to spread over them and top with some cheese. That’s pretty economical.
Nutritionally, they are pretty good too. With their “jackets” on, they are high in potassium and Vitamin C. They’ve gotten a bad rap in recent decades because of the way most of them are eaten these days- skinless and fried. Of course, we are interested in getting the most nutritional bang for our buck too, so we’d plan to eat them prepared in the healthiest way.
As preppers, we should be giving more consideration to how potatoes may fit in our food plans. That brings me to my present topic- a different way to grow them.

A Primer on the “Traditional Method”

Most of us know that the edible part of the potato plant is the tuber that grows below ground. Traditionally, you put a “seed potato” (a chunk at least 1″ x 1″ with a sprouting “eye”) in the ground and covered it with dirt. As a new plant emerged, you continuously mounded dirt over it, leaving only a bit peaking out. All underground parts would form tubers.
At the end of the season, you had to very carefully dig away the dirt to get the potatoes out of the ground. I found this part to be so aggravating. After months of carefully mounding the dirt and watering, a fair number of the potatoes were always pierced by garden fork or shovel. Some could be washed and used immediately for dinner, but far too few were left to store and save for seed potatoes.

A New and Improved Method

A couple of years ago, I began to see articles about growing potatoes in straw. That was very intriguing. After more doing more research and reading anecdotes from all over, we have decided to try this method ourselves this year. According to many of these folks, you not only don’t have the problem of ruining the potatoes as you dig them up, but the harvests are much better.
We have some sturdy old plastic bins around that we have decided to re-purpose as our potato gardens. Being that this is an experiment, I only purchased a few pounds of organic seed potatoes for this trial. As mentioned in previous posts, we are starting raised beds this year and I am “great with child” again (due in June), so I didn’t want to put too many new irons in the fire.
I first put several sections of non-slick/non-color newspaper on the ground beneath where the potatoes would go. (This was to block out weeds from below.) Then I pinned the paper in place with the plastic boxes. I made mounds of “good dirt” (compost and peat moss) and placed the seed potatoes in them and covered them with more dirt. I sprinkled organic bone meal on the soil also, since it helps in the formation of tubers. (You do not want to add much nitrogen or you’ll get lots of leaves on the plants, but fewer tubers). Then I piled straw over top of them in the bins.
As the plant tops grow through, we will add more straw (rather than covering with dirt). We always had a problem in our traditional row garden with having enough dirt to continue to rake up the mounds


of growing potatoes (and after a certain height, it just wanted to tumble back down or wash off with the next rain). With high-sided bins and lots of old straw around, we hope to address this problem too.We’ve had a pretty bad Colorado potato beetle problem in years past. I think I will try planting marigolds and nasturtiums in the bins with the potatoes. They have helped with bean beetles and squash bugs, so maybe they will deter those ugly brown and yellow potato beetles too.
The only real issue I can see with regards to this method in our fairly warm climate is that the potato plants may get too hot. They are considered a “cool weather” crop, meaning they tolerate cooler temperatures better than hot. That’s why they thrive in places like Idaho. We’ve had good crops in-ground in years past. I’m wondering if they will get too hot this year without soil around them. On the flip side, the straw will be mostly shaded by the high sides of the bin. We’ll have to see how it goes.
At the conclusion of the season, we will tip the bins over and pull the straw away. Hopefully, we will reach right into the straw and harvest a couple hundred pounds of perfect potatoes (at least those are the yields some people claim).
There are some other versions of this method. One is to use old tires and stack them. Plant the seed potatoes in one on the ground. Toss straw over them as the plants grow and add another tire. Keep going until you run out of tires or time. Since all the covered plant is supposed to produce tubers (as long as they get sufficient water), you get a vertical growing space that can produce far more potatoes than a plant limited by the lower height of the dirt mound in the garden.
Another possibility I’ve seen is literally to plant the potatoes in the midst of stacked straw bales, adding as you go (like with the tires).
I’m excited about this less-work method of growing spuds. At the end of the season, I’ll report back about how they turned out.
http://www.bioprepper.com/2014/05/31/growing-potatoes-in-straw-a-labor-savingbetter-harvest-technique/

Dehydrated Food: Testing Dryness And How To Know When It’s Done

May 30, 2014, by Ken Jorgustin

Dehydrated food – dehydrating your own food is a relatively easy way to stock your excess harvest from your garden or to store back vegetables (and meats) which you bought on sale.
During the process, one question is, “How do I know when the food is ‘done’?”


Dehydrated food has been heated at low temperatures to remove most of the water content (moisture) so as to enable a longer shelf life. Since there is no high temperature ‘cooking’ or other process such as boiling, etc., dehydrated food preserves much of the food’s nutrients compared to some other methods.
The process of making dehydrated food is fairly easy. Generally, you slice your food into widths of 1/4″ or less, place them on the dehydrator trays, set the temperature and timer, and wait until they are done. While the low-temperature heating time may take as long as 12 hours or more (or less, depending), the only time you are actually involved with the process is when your are slicing the food and placing on trays.

The question is though, how do you know when it’s done?
Generally, most professional dehydrating processes use the following percentages as a measure of being ‘done’…
Meats at about 20% moisture content or less.
Fruits about 10% moisture.
Vegetables 5%.
Residential dehydrators (compared to professional commercial dehydrators) cannot measure and control the moisture content. Therefore the only method for do-it-yourself is to periodically test the pliability of the food by hand, and with experience you will learn what is ‘right’ for the various foods
.
Fruits should be pliable (almost brittle), but NOT brittle. To test your fruit, take a piece you have dried and cut it in half. There should be no visible moisture. If there is too much moisture remaining, you run the risk of them developing mold. Generally speaking, fruit is considered to be sufficiently dry when, after you cut a piece of dried fruit, you cannot squeeze any water out of the piece.

Vegetables should be brittle when done. For example, a pea should shatter if you hit it with a rolling pin. Only a few vegetables, such as tomatoes or yellow squash will feel somewhat leathery when done (as opposed to easily snapping in half brittle).
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-kitchen/dehydrated-food-testing-dryness/

Relocating Abroad: Is It an Option for You?

“The Land of the Free” is a phrase that’s been heard and used countless times to describe America. The line, of course, originates from the stirring lyrics of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”. But for many of us, the phrase has become imbued with cruel irony – we Americans have seen much of our freedom erode over time, and particularly within the last few years.
No one needs to remind us of how much we have lost. Between the NSA’s snooping activities and the Feds meddling with nearly every aspect of our lives, America has come to resemble a Fascist dictatorship more than the beacon of freedom it once was. So how does America stack up in comparison to other countries in terms of overall freedom? In some ways, that’s a difficult question to answer, simply because the word freedom can be interpreted in so many different ways.
As real freedom continues to evaporate in the US, many have already relocated and many more are thinking about leaving. Would you consider moving abroad – especially if things deteriorate further in the US, or if there were an economic collapse? What would you look for in a new home elsewhere? Let’s see what it’s really like to live in different countries abroad, compared to living in America.
As an American citizen who has lived abroad for most of the last decade, I’ve had a chance to observe first-hand what it’s like to live in several other countries and how they differ from our homeland. And I have met many Americans who have moved to Europe in search of a better environment for themselves and their families.
For instance, I know organic farmers who have settled in various countries to escape the Monsanto-dominated agricultural reality in the States – many European countries are GMO-free.
I also know many who have chosen to raise their families in places where life is safer overall and where the quality of education is much higher. Many of the Americans I know who have resettled abroad are currently happy and thriving. Others decided after months or years that they preferred life back home.
What About Europe?
I’ve visited mainly European countries, both Western and Eastern — Holland, France, Bulgaria, Romania, but many other places in Europe, and have had the chance to get a taste of what daily life is like in at least a dozen different nations.
Although every country has its own laws and customs, there are a few things in common that seem to differ from the States. One of the most surprising – and perhaps most telling – differences I have witnessed is the lack of police presence in most of the places I’ve lived and visited – and I mean that in a good way.
As I was born and raised in US, one thing I can say about Texas – especially after getting a broader perspective from traveling in and out of the US – is that in many ways it resembles a police state. Between the run-for-profit prison system, which rewards those in charge of incarcerating people, and the pervasive presence of local police forces, sheriff’s departments, the Texas Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers and the Border Patrol (not to mention all the other Federal authorities creeping around in the background), Texas has become a somewhat terrifying and oppressive place to live.
The state of Texas is a somewhat extreme example, but from my experience – and I’ve also traveled in at least 40 states – the US has become a nation of cops and criminals. If you’re not a cop, you’re probably a criminal – or at least a potential one – in the authorities’ eyes. And the strange thing is that America is actually a very dangerous place to live compared to almost any European country.
Aside from petty criminals and pickpockets, European cities are much less dangerous than those in America (I was the victim of thieves in a Brussels train station once – these criminals were around ten years old and stole my laptop while I turned my back for a second – but that’s the only time I’ve had a problem in ten years of living and traveling here).


Here’s an example of how different things can feel abroad in terms of relations between the police and the public.
When I first moved to Europe, I lived in Holland, and one of the things I witnessed a few days after arriving in Amsterdam was a local arguing with a cop over a parking ticket he had just put on her car.
It was very interesting to me because the body language of the policeman and the woman was the complete opposite of what you would expect in a similar situation in the States.
It was obvious that the woman had no fear of having her head slammed onto the hood of the car and being handcuffed – as often happens in the US when someone makes the mistake of arguing vehemently with a cop – and it was also obvious that the policeman felt an obligation to listen to what the woman had to say. It was as if the cop understood that he was merely a servant of the people who pay his salary!
In all fairness, Dutch police are among the least corrupt in Europe, but in general, I have been able to live all over Europe without fearing that I will be harassed or intimidated by police on a random and regular basis, which is a lot more than I can say for America – particularly Texas.
If you choose to stay and fight for the rights and liberties that have been stripped from you, I salute you and support your efforts. And, of course, many could never bear to leave their extended families, friends and the way of life they are accustomed to. But I would also ask you to understand those who would prefer to seek a different sort of life elsewhere – in places where children can grow up in a safer environment with better schools, and where personal freedoms still exist, at least in relative terms. And what if your survival actually depended on leaving?
Safer Locations Abroad
Another reason to consider living elsewhere is protection from natural and man-made disasters. The US is subject to extreme weather – tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. Much of the West Coast is in danger of serious damage from earthquakes, not to mention the effects of radiation from the Fukushima disaster.
Many places in Europe and elsewhere offer relative safety from these types of threats compared to the US.
And, as I mentioned above, many would like to escape the poisonous effects of GMOs and other problems modern Americans face, such as the overmedication of children and the influence of Big Pharma, enforced vaccinations, junk food culture, etc.
Let’s start a debate on these and any other aspects of relocating abroad. I welcome your input and look forward to some lively discussions.
http://www.survivopedia.com/

Welcome

Welcome Folks.

This is the place to come and increase your knowledge and allow you to prepare for all those unexpected things that always seem to come along and cause havoc.

Blessings to you,
Suzanne