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AgriLIFE
Extension -Denton County
306 N. Loop
288, Suite 222
Denton, Texas
76209-4887
February 1,
2008
JOIN THE DENTON
COUNTY FARMERS MARKET ASSOCIATION
Contact: John
N. Cooper, County Extension Agent-Horticulture, 940.349.2883
e-mail:
jn-cooper@tamu.edu
The
Denton County Farmers Market Association (DCFMA) will be conducting
their annual business meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13 in
the Denton County office of Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Anyone
who grows fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in Denton County is
eligible to join the market association for $20 a year and sell their
produce on the Denton County property at corner of Sycamore and Carroll
in Denton for $3 per day at the market. Come to the meeting and learn
all about how you can join.
Although some DCMGA member gardens are 20 acres are more, a three-acre
garden is a big market garden and some are a quarter-acre or less. All
you need is surplus produce from your garden to sell. If you would like
to attend the meeting and learn more about it, you will be welcomed with
open arms. The way the farmers see it, the bigger the market, the
bigger the customer base. For more information or directions to our
office call us at 940-349-2883. A special guest speaker, Dr. Marco
Palma, Extension Horticulture Marketing Specialist with the Texas
AgriLife Extension Service will also be making a presentation on
increasing market sales and profits.
POTATOES
MAKE A DANDY GARDEN CROP
The
Irish potato, is a staple of the American diet with baked potatoes,
French fried potatoes, scalloped potatoes, boiled potatoes, potato soup,
potato salad, mashed potatoes, potato chips, you name it. The typical
American eats l20 pounds of white potatoes every year so it only makes
sense that they make a popular backyard garden crop. Their culture is a
bit more technical than most crops so learning a bit more about them
will increase your gardening success.
The
potato is a cool season crop, favored by temperatures in the 60-65o
range which we get in the spring and fall. The foliage is killed by
freezing temperatures, which we chance by planting too early but since
it takes three or four weeks for the foliage to emerge from the ground
after planting we can start planting as early as mid-February. Floating
row covers provide protection from light frosts, are easy to use, fairly
inexpensive, and can be used multiple times on multiple crops. Order
your’s now so you’ll have them ready just in case.
Getting an early start is important because short days and cool nights
induce tuberization. The foliage senses the day length which triggers
hormones that initiate tuber formation. The larger the plant is during
tuber initiation, the more tubers will be formed and the longer the
tubers will have to develop before the summer heat terminates growth.
Valentine’s Day is the traditional day to plant potatoes but anytime
from the later half of February through the middle of March is fine. In
fact, four staggered weekly plantings spread over that period will help
spread the risk of suffering frost damage while taking advantage of
potentially favorable weather and higher production.
Buy
seed pieces cut, cured, and ready-to-plant, if possible, or cut tubers
into two ounce seed pieces containing at least one, if not two or three
eyes each. Air dry cut pieces for 2-3 days at room temperature and dust
with sulfur in a shaker bag to aide in disease prevention before
planting.
Potatoes grow best in a loose, slightly acid, sandy loam soil but clay
soils grow some mighty fine potatoes. Form raised beds six to eight
inches high, one foot wide, and flat across the top. Space rows three
feet apart. Create three bands of fertilizer by digging three trenches,
five or six inches deep down the length of the raised bed and dropping
one pound of 10-20-10 fertilizer per 30 feet of row in each trench. Add
one inch of soil to the middle trench before inserting the potato seed
pieces about four inches deep and one foot apart. Cover the potato
pieces in the middle trench with shredded leaf mold and/or well-rotted
compost and close all three trenches with soil.
As
plants reach six inches above the ground, heap well-rotted compost
and/or shredded leaf mold around the stems and continue to cover all but
the top six inches of the plants as they grow until the compost and/or
shredded leaf mold is a foot or more deep. This loose soil media along
the subterranean stem is necessary for good tuber development.
For
russets, plant ‘Russet Norkatah’, ‘Norgold M’, or ‘Century Russet’. For
white potatoes, plant “Atlantic’, ‘Gemchip’, ‘Chipeta’, or ‘Kennebec’.
For red potatoes, plant ‘Red Lasoda’, Viking’, ‘Dark Red Norland’, or
‘Sangre’. For yellow, try ‘Yukon Gold’. Use certified, disease-free
stock, if available. Buy them now and store in a cool, dry place until
you’re ready to plant. Learn more about potatoes and how to grow them
at
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.
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The information given herein is for educational purposes only.
Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with
understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by
AgriLife Extension is implied.
______________________________________________________________________________
Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic
level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin. The
Texas A&M University System U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the
County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.
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