05/31/2026
Hometown Gardener 5/31/26 One potato, two potato, three potato, more… Five potato, six potato, seven potato, o’er. So now while most of you are harvesting potatoes why would I write about it? I have a bunch of potatoes I have not planted yet. Health issues have robbed my strength. I just have not had the energy or the time. I know I can still plant them at any time as long as they are not rotten. I want you to know that. They will not come up in The Heat. They will show up in fall when it cools again. Always leave some small potatoes in ground to regenerate and get bigger. The old Irish folk knew you could survive with a milk cow or three and a stand of potatoes. Potatoes come from the mountains of Mexico… Not Ireland.
In the old days the ancient tribes would lift the plant with a forked stick. A small person would reach underneath and pull a few tubers. The plant was then let back in the ground. A prayer/incantation was said and water was poured on the plant to seal the soil once again. They never dug the whole plant and took all like we do. Such is the wasteful agriculture of North America these days. In this ancient fashion potatoes would last for many years. Maybe forever.
They say the famous floating gardens of the Aztecs are still there around Mexico City. This was done by using water lillies that were raked upon top the mounds when potatoes were dormant in the ground. I think this fascinating and would like to see it someday. Would be an awesome road trip for retired persons interested in history and agriculture. This is true sustainable agriculture that has lasted for centuries. None of our so-called “modern” farming can even come close to touching this. The lillies or lotus would decompose and fertilize the crop. Beats the heck out of planting new crops and spending money on fertilizers every year. The Aztec, Inca, Toltec, etc. numbered in the hundreds of thousands and were very sophisticated with their larger cities and cultures. They were not “ignorant savages.”
To make my own version of this I use leaves. After I have planted I will heap a foot or more of leaves atop my ‘tater patch. When I do my spring harvest I leave some smaller spuds on the roots and place roots and all back in the ground. Sometimes I get a fall crop. Sometimes I don’t according to the vagaries of Texoma weather. This is not the misty, cool Sierras of Mexico by any stretch.
I practice a similar culture with onions. I harvest only the larger ones leaving the smaller ones in ground to grow. Like potatoes, onions will go dormant during our typical hot, dry summers. They will not die unless too much irrigation causes them to rot. So potatoes and onions last forever at least in theory given normal weather. Garlic, chives, and leeks will do the same as onions.
By studying agriculture and history we can find the key to sustainable gardening. How do we get away from wasteful modern practices? Go back and don’t rely on “new” practices to come and save the day. What did your grandparents do? What did the Native Americans do? What are the Amish still doing? There lies the answer. We have been farming sustainable, staple crops for at least ten thousand years. NPK fertilizers were not available until after WWI and not widely used until after WWII. You say now we cannot feed 8 billion+ without it? We have only been doing it for a very short period while our populations have been steadily growing the whole time. I say look to the past if you want a sustainable future.
What’s eating my (fill in the blank)? Here’s another tidbit for the future gardener. If something is NOT eating your plants you have a sterile environment caused by chemical use. Nothing natural about that. Plants evolved to sustain Life by being the food source. Perfectly natural. Also, the plants evolved to feed and associate with the animal Kingdom. Not humans. We have not been around very long either in the evolutionary time line. This is so powerful and shocking to so many of you I’m going to stop now and allow you to think on this.
Maybe I’ll get around to planting those ‘taters soon. My health is improving. I have always understood why I am still here. My public needs me now. Ya’ll enjoy what you have accomplished. Let’s go low tech instead of high tech. My world does not need AI and data centers. I’m old fashioned and will stay that way. Eat well, sleep well, be well.
