Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?

Thanks everyone!

Greg

il Wed, 7 Apr 2004 12:34:59 -0700, "Greg" ha scritto:

Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?

Thanks everyone!

Sounds like he's confusing potatoes with avocado kernals. Put a seed
potato in light, it will start to sprout from the eyes. It can be
subdivided but potatoes are cheap. So when sprouted a bit, plant it
but leave the green bits in the light.

One can also use any old potato to grow from. 'Eyes' are the dark
bits on a potato. Mine sprout if I keep them too long in the
cupboard.

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

In article ,
"Loki" wrote:

il Wed, 7 Apr 2004 12:34:59 -0700, "Greg" ha scritto:

Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?

Thanks everyone!

Sounds like he's confusing potatoes with avocado kernals. Put a seed
potato in light, it will start to sprout from the eyes. It can be
subdivided but potatoes are cheap. So when sprouted a bit, plant it
but leave the green bits in the light.

One can also use any old potato to grow from. 'Eyes' are the dark
bits on a potato. Mine sprout if I keep them too long in the
cupboard.

snicker Same here...
So do my onions.
I keep them in the bottom of the 'frige now.

I never used to buy seed potatoes when I grew them.
I liked the gold and red vareties from the grocery store.

I can't eat potatoes anymore so I don't grow them. :-(
Am considering planting some yams tho' just because the vines
are so pretty!

I've heard that they are in the morning glory family. Is that true?

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?

Thanks everyone!

Greg

FWIW- my new potatoes (red) have just broken ground here in NC.

Craig

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 12:34:59 -0700, "Greg"
wrote:

Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?


That's a sweet potato. It will work with a sweet potato.
It won't work with an Irish (or white, or regular) potato,
as far as I know. Better to buy seed potatoes at a nursery
or garden center.

Sweet potato: suspend a sweet potato in a glass or jar of
water, pointy end up, with about half of the sweet potato in
the water and about half out of the water. You can suspend
it by toothpicks (which tend to break) or nails (which works
well).

The sweet potato will get sprouts - shoots - all over the
half that's not in the water. There will be quite a few of
them. When each shoot has some leaves and is
....oh...[shrugs] maybe six inches long, you can twist it off
the sweet potato and plant it in the ground AFTER ALL DANGER
OF FROST IS PAST AND THE GROUND IS WARM.

Even so, you're not going to know what variety of sweet
potato will be growing and maybe it wouldn't be suited to
your area. You'd be better off to buy small sweet potato
plants - these are called 'slips' - of a variety which might
do well in your area.

Alternatively, you can plant the whole affair in a large pot
and have a pretty vining house plant, or a pretty vine for
your front porch in summer. It wants a sunny location, of
course. And this won't produce you any sweet potatoes.

Pat

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 12:34:59 -0700, "Greg"
wrote:

Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?

PS - you'd be much better off getting a couple of basic
books on gardening at your local library, rather than
listening to the person at Home Depot.

I recommend 'Square Foot Gardening' by Mel Bartholomew. If
you read his book, also see his website for some updates,
one of which is important and makes things much easier.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com

His way of doing things is *not* the only way to do things,
but if you follow his directions carefully, you *will* have
a successful garden, right from the start.

Many many people leap into gardening without learning or
reading about it first, then of course, they usually have
discouraging results and quit. Such a shame! Reading even
ONE basic book about gardening can save you a lot of wasted
time, effort, and money.

Pat

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

Greg Elsasser
wrote in message
...
On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 12:34:59 -0700, "Greg"
wrote:

Hello all: New at starting a garden here. I wanted to plant some
potatoes;
the person at home depot told me to put toothpicks in a potato, wait till
they sprout, and then plant them. Is this true? And if so,

1. Do I take the toothpicks out after I "puncture" them and then the
sprouts grow out of the holes, or do I leave the toothpicks in?

2. Do I bury the whole potato, sprouts and all or do I let the sprouts
stick through the soil?

PS - you'd be much better off getting a couple of basic
books on gardening at your local library, rather than
listening to the person at Home Depot.

I recommend 'Square Foot Gardening' by Mel Bartholomew. If
you read his book, also see his website for some updates,
one of which is important and makes things much easier.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com

His way of doing things is *not* the only way to do things,
but if you follow his directions carefully, you *will* have
a successful garden, right from the start.

Many many people leap into gardening without learning or
reading about it first, then of course, they usually have
discouraging results and quit. Such a shame! Reading even
ONE basic book about gardening can save you a lot of wasted
time, effort, and money.

Pat

il Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:08:36 -0500, Katra ha scritto:

snicker Same here...
So do my onions.
I keep them in the bottom of the 'frige now.

No room in mine for such an easy storer.

I never used to buy seed potatoes when I grew them.
I liked the gold and red vareties from the grocery store.

Yeah, not sure what the difference is between a 'seed' potato and any
old one that's sprouted.

I can't eat potatoes anymore so I don't grow them. :-(
Am considering planting some yams tho' just because the vines
are so pretty!

I've heard that they are in the morning glory family. Is that true?

Not a clue. Morning Glory - isn't that convulvulous? a rampant pesty
weed here.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

il Thu, 08 Apr 2004 11:45:00 -0400, ha scritto:

That's a sweet potato. It will work with a sweet potato.
It won't work with an Irish (or white, or regular) potato,
as far as I know. Better to buy seed potatoes at a nursery
or garden center.

An 'irish' potato?? They come from the americas...

;-)

--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

In article ,
"Loki" wrote:

il Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:08:36 -0500, Katra ha scritto:

snicker Same here...
So do my onions.
I keep them in the bottom of the 'frige now.

No room in mine for such an easy storer.

I've had to keep onions in the 'frige!
Dad tends to forget we have plenty, and buys more.
I just hate throwing food away... :-(


I never used to buy seed potatoes when I grew them.
I liked the gold and red vareties from the grocery store.

Yeah, not sure what the difference is between a 'seed' potato and any
old one that's sprouted.

Same here!


I can't eat potatoes anymore so I don't grow them. :-(
Am considering planting some yams tho' just because the vines
are so pretty!

I've heard that they are in the morning glory family. Is that true?

Not a clue. Morning Glory - isn't that convulvulous? a rampant pesty
weed here.

Hee! Bindweed. Yah, but the wild morning glory seeds have value on ebay.
To those in the know, they contain LSA's.

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

il Fri, 09 Apr 2004 00:01:52 -0500, Katra ha scritto:
I've heard that they are in the morning glory family. Is that true?

Not a clue. Morning Glory - isn't that convulvulous? a rampant pesty
weed here.

Hee! Bindweed. Yah, but the wild morning glory seeds have value on ebay.
To those in the know, they contain LSA's.

K.

LSA's?? I'm obviously not in the know.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

In article ,
"Loki" wrote:

il Fri, 09 Apr 2004 00:01:52 -0500, Katra ha scritto:
I've heard that they are in the morning glory family. Is that true?

Not a clue. Morning Glory - isn't that convulvulous? a rampant pesty
weed here.

Hee! Bindweed. Yah, but the wild morning glory seeds have value on ebay.
To those in the know, they contain LSA's.

K.

LSA's?? I'm obviously not in the know.

Lysergic Acid Amides...

Funny, it was my mom that told me about those many years ago one day
when we were discussing drugs back when I was in high school. She was
teaching me what to avoid. :-) Good mom.

The legislature briefly considered outlawing morning glories in gardens
sometime back in the 70's.

Obviously it was decided that it was impractical. G

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

On 09 Apr 2004 16:53:22 +1200, "Loki"
wrote:

il Thu, 08 Apr 2004 11:45:00 -0400, ha scritto:

That's a sweet potato. It will work with a sweet potato.
It won't work with an Irish (or white, or regular) potato,
as far as I know. Better to buy seed potatoes at a nursery
or garden center.

An 'irish' potato?? They come from the americas...


I know. Nevertheless, we in the USA often call them 'Irish
potatoes' to distinguish them from 'sweet potatoes'
(_Ipomoea batatas_) which are much used here.

After all, the Irish have been known to eat a few potatoes,
just occasionally.

I doubt that what we call 'French toast' actually comes from
France either. It's good though.

[Digression]
My husband (who is British) had never heard of 'French
toast' until moving to the USA. In case you don't know what
it is either, and are curious - it's a breakfast or brunch
food, usually.

Beat an egg or two or three with a fork. Stir in a few
drops of vanilla or almond extract or both, and a couple of
teaspoons of sugar. Pour it into a flat type of pan. Put
slices of white bread in the egg mixture and allow them to
remain there for a few minutes, so some of the egg mixture
soaks into the bread. Saute the bread in oil or melted
butter until nicely golden with brown flecks, turn, and
repeat for the second side.

(I generally eat 100% wholewheat bread, but - to my way of
thinking - it doesn't work for French toast. I use white
bread for French toast - or French bread or Italian bread
sometimes.)

Serve hot. We usually serve it with a little butter and
some maple syrup (a little warmed honey could substitute).

Instead of maple syrup, it's also very nice with a pat or
two of butter, a couple of sprinkles of lemon juice, then
sprinkled with confectioner's sugar (icing sugar).
[End digression]

Pat

wrote in message
...
On 09 Apr 2004 16:53:22 +1200, "Loki"
wrote:

il Thu, 08 Apr 2004 11:45:00 -0400, ha scritto:

I doubt that what we call 'French toast' actually comes from
France either. It's good though.

[Digression]
My husband (who is British) had never heard of 'French
toast' until moving to the USA. In case you don't know what
it is either, and are curious - it's a breakfast or brunch
food, usually.

Beat an egg or two or three with a fork. Stir in a few
drops of vanilla or almond extract or both, and a couple of
teaspoons of sugar. Pour it into a flat type of pan. Put
slices of white bread in the egg mixture and allow them to
remain there for a few minutes, so some of the egg mixture
soaks into the bread. Saute the bread in oil or melted
butter until nicely golden with brown flecks, turn, and
repeat for the second side.

Your husband probably knows it as "eggy bread" That's what we call it.

Steve

On Fri, 9 Apr 2004 21:24:31 +0100, "shazzbat"
wrote:



Your husband probably knows it as "eggy bread" That's what we call it.


Just asked him: Yep.

Pat