In this informal, on‑site video John, Rebecca, and a third participant walk through a busy morning on their small farm, showing how they double potato yields by re‑using harvested potatoes as seed. They start by clearing weeds and dealing with stray cat litter, then calculate how many seed potatoes are needed for a 50‑foot row using a simple inches‑per‑potato rule (12 in × 12 in ÷ 9 in). They demonstrate cutting potatoes, leaving an eye on each piece, and planting them 6 in deep, noting that the same harvest can be split into two plantings for a second crop. The crew also tends to a cabbage patch for sauerkraut, discusses using large cabbage leaves as mulch, and prepares a coleslaw from a brined cabbage core. Throughout, they reference a “Never‑Sink Gritter” for marking rows, manage weeds (including briar‑laden ones) without feeding chickens, and use an old soldier‑fly bin as a makeshift tarp. The segment ends with a brief reflection on milking as a calming routine that punctuates the hectic garden work, and a hopeful timeline that the potatoes will be ready by October 14, even if a frost occurs.
Chapters
What in the world, Teddy? 2, 3, 3 diarrheas.
Come on, Mr.
Henry. Yep, let's go outside. Oh my word, look at this cabbage! Oh my gosh, pretty sure Rebecca wants to make sauerkraut with this. If I pull this other one off —can I use these gigantic leaves as mulch? Look at that, protects that one. We got a new plant coming up. Plus the cats are pooping in here and we gotta figure that out. They're using that as a kitty litter. That looks good, doesn't it? Can you hear me over the mower? That's our goal. Sure, it's been the third day in a row goal. But every day, every day we're moving forward. I don't see why— we have these beds shaped— I don't see why we won't be able to get to planting the potatoes. Before we do the potatoes though, Rebecca's got her own project going on over here. I got a little time before milking. Could we pull up these crazy— look at these crazy weeds that have come up beside the garden. I believe we've made a mistake and let them go to seed. The beautiful one is my first priority. We have 30 minutes till milking. My idea is to help her as much as we can. I see these obnoxious weeds next to the high tunnel, and I don't want to have to pull them. They've got briars on them. It's going to be hard work, unpleasant. So that's what I'm going to do. The problem is we don't want to throw those to the chickens because seeds will get into the chickens and maybe not compost, and then we just put that on our garden. And then— so my idea is a tarp but I couldn't find a tarp. I did find that— an old soldier fly bin that we could pile these in and take them to the dumpster. You got me some gloves? Are you gonna use them? Okay. Ah, that comes up nice with gloves. I feel hella overwhelmed. 9:20. Wanted to be here at 9. Come on. We got it a little more under control down there in the garden, so I'm happy about that. Come on. Hey, it's always nice to end up at milking after some, you know, unpredictable project, perhaps a little stressful. Milking is rather consistent and serene. This is my sanctuary. We're actually catching up. It's, it's just 10 o'clock now, so everything went very smooth out there. Rebecca, if you want, we could roll this and then count how many plants we're gonna need, or seed potatoes, and then we'll know whether we need to cut more out of the potatoes we have or if we have enough. 50 feet, so 50 times 12 inches times 12 is what? And that's how many inches are in this, and then divide it by 9, and that's how many seed potatoes you need. You take a potato like this and you cut it leaving an eye, and there you go. And so this is neat because we harvested potatoes, we just set aside the ones we pierce or rotten, and we can just plant again and have two potato harvests. How excited are you about that?
I mean, well, it's good. Well, we learned this from Paul Gauci. That's what he did. Yep.
Paul Gauci pulls up his potatoes it from back to Eden and then plants right back in its hole. And then we had to do a little different because we're not, we're not mulch gardeners. First, mark our spots with our Never-Sink Gritter. You got trowels? Yep. You planting already? Yep. It was going great till your trowel got bent. I know, right? That one's already eyeing, man. We got a head start on that one. Heck yeah. This is gonna be— oh, the air it got and stirring, this is just gonna explode with weeds. Plus it rained. We're burying these potatoes safe, 6 inches under the ground, right? I'm trying. We're gonna let these weeds just explode and then we're gonna just burn them. How's the potato cutting going? We did one bed in 20 minutes. Rebecca just went and grabbed it, grabbed it and grabbing it and ground, getting on the other bed. Let's get with it. Because we only have 20 more minutes anyway. John, I think you got enough. 15 after and we are done almost-ish. A few more potatoes going in. That's what it looks like. Something real good about planting potatoes. The family loves potatoes. This is a good starch for them. They last in storage, don't they, Beck? Good, what, 6 months? 4. How do you feel getting these potatoes in the ground? It's great. So if all goes well, these will be fully ready October 14th, and we wouldn't have had a frost. Yeah, and even, I guess, if we have a frost, we'll still have potatoes in the ground.
It's not gonna kill— they may not be huge.
If it's a little light, it's not going to kill. Well, the potato plant's going to be on its way out anyway. Yeah, we're good. Oh boy, you're going to dare to process this thing? I am. Look how big! It's huge. Is this your bowl from Layman's?
It is my bowl from Layman's.
Does real food make you happy? It does. Then you're real happy right now because you're about to make you a lot of real food.
Yeah, I'm gonna make some coleslaw. Oh!
Oh no, it's like rotten in the middle.
Are you gonna save it? I'm gonna see.
Yeah, 2 fives. Okay, it's just the core.
This one's even bigger. Try this one just for curiosity. All right, the big boy. Same, same. You're gonna have to— my fault— you have to salvage it. What was that from?
I guess it's from—
I should have picked them a long time ago. Waiting too long.
There it is.
She put it in a saltwater brine. She's covered it up. She put some weights on it to keep it buried. How long do you keep that, Rebecca?
