The harvest is in.

Honestly it was in a couple of weeks ago. The potatoes are particularly fine this year.

That's a little over 2 bushels of Red McClure and much to my surprise some PurplePeruvian.

They're in the cellar in baskets with some burlap over them. 

They'll stay nice and cool through the winter and by Spring I'll have lots of sprouting starters.

I sort them by size. Not only is this a good thing for cooking but the smaller ones get soft first so you want to eat those first.

The big ones are great in soup… I'll post that recipe later. I just substitute the potatoes for beans in a minestrone. 

Red McClure rules

In his excellent book How to Not go Broke Ranching Walt Davis writes " It was not the ranch's job to provide what the livestock needed; rather, it was the livestock's job to produce on what the ranch provided.

Let's talk potatoes. As I mentioned in an earlier post  I'm growing Red McClure potatoes. These potatoes were developed in the last century specifically for the soils and climate in this area.

Here's what I'm talkin' about: This is a Yukon Gold which I got from Rock Bottom Ranch last year (they have water, I don't) . I planted it at exactly the same time as the Red McClure with the same mulch and watering. It's been this size for about 2 weeks now.

 Here is a Red McClure, with a Puli for scale.

Okay, with my hand for scale....

I agree with Luv, the Red McClures are nicer.

 ...much nicer.

Mr. McClure knew what he was doing.

One potato, two potato

With no irrigation my crop choices are limited. I need something which can survive with little or no water. I need something which the deer don't like to eat. Fortunately for me that problem was solved in the 19th century with the first farmers in the area.

Loamy soil holds on to moisture for weeks. Our last big rain was May 6th and if you dig down 18" you'll still find damp clay. Of course clay/loamy soil isn't great for wheat, corn, beans or any of the other standard cash crops. Although there is evidence that someone tried to grow wheat up here once that was probably during WWI when wheat prices where insanely high. (The wheat "bubble" ruined a lot of farmers and was one of the big causes of the Dustbowl).

The 19th century homesteaders found a solution. This used to be a big potato growing region. I mean *big* growing more potatoes than Idaho. They even developed a specific type of potato which thrives here: The Red McClure.

Red McClure Potatoes

 

These were planted May 24 and 25th. We haven't had any rain since then but I did give them one good watering out of the cistern on June 10. The mulch you see is chipped sage and juniper. This is a heavier mulch than I normally use and we'll see if it makes any difference. 

I was lucky enough to get some Red McClure starters from our local Slow Food program. I'd tried other varieties of potatoes and the Russets seemed to do the best. I just wasn't prepared for how well the Red McClure's liked their home soil.

There is a lot of talk about how these don't taste great- I'm convinced it's because other farmers are being too nice to their potatoes. There's an old German saying "The worst farmers grow the best potatoes". That would be me, I abuse and neglect the little darlings. This makes for a firm potato with a very earthy flavor. You need to cook them twice (merci M. Escoffier) and don't be shy with the butter. These are great for braising, roasting or just a lovely slow saute.

Here's the great Corgi Hunter Duffmeister waiting for voles. That's really the only problem I've got planting these, the voles. I've tried sonic spikes. I've put raptor perches around the garden. Bottom line, nobody has come up with a better vole deterrent than a Corgi.

I'm not the only one who is growing potatoes again.

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