Kitchen Garden
Varieties
In kitchen gardens often cultivars are grown with a special good cooking quality which are not so easily found in the market.
Selected cultivars
Cultivation methodes used in kitchen garden.
Seed selection and seed preparation
In cases seed of desired cultivars are not readily available at the market, own seed is selected (positive selection) from the previous crop.
The seed is stored in a cellar until the end of the winter and than desprouted an placed in diffuse light until planting early spring.
Seed sprouting
Seedbed preparation
In spring the soil in the row is loosened with a hand cultivator to a depth of 8 cm.
Seedbed preparation
A furrow of 6 cm depth is made and the fertilizer is placed on the bottom of this furrow. Before planting the tubers the fertilizer is mixed with the soil.
The distance between rows is about 80 cm and the distance between the seed in the row is 25 cm.
Fertilization and planting
Fertilization and planting
Directly after planting the furrows are closed and the tubers are covered with soil
Closing furrow
Ridging
At emergence first only a shallow ridge is made. The final ridge is either made at emergence or when plants are 15-20 cm high.
Ridging and Re-Ridging
Irrigation
Occasionally sprinkler irrigation is applied (if dry spells occur).
Irrigation
Harvest
For reasons of maintaining tuber quality the tubers are harvested when the crop is still not mature.
Harvest
Drying and storage of the potatoes
After digging the potatoes the tubers are left in the field for a few hours and than placed in crates for 24 hours in order to dry the surface of the tubers.
Harvest and drying and Drying of tubers
Storage
After drying the tubers are taken to a cellar where the temperature is 10-15 oC
Cellar storage and Kitchen container