You may have to dedicate a real veggie garden somewhere! You are beginning to branch out.

I should try some different kinds.

It rained all day yesterday and this morning little icy pellets fell out of the daff blossoms. It is cold!

I bought a bag of blue potatoes at Lowe's and got 11 starts out of them. They were big enough potatoes to cut up. Never tried them before. I hope they don't turn muddy brown when they're cooked.

They fade to a gray blue inside. The potatoes are small and harder to clean. I have roasted some with garlic - not sure I got how to cook them down. They are good like that but the other potatoes make nice big potatoes and make me feel more successful.

I haven't tried them. The color doesn't look appetizing to me. I sure like Yukon Golds. I grew those again last summer but got them out kind of late and they didn't do as well as they should've. It didn't take long to use them up.
I got a recipe for Baked Potato Soup off Allrecipes.com that was really good. Now I'm not sure which one is was. I know it had chicken broth in it. I "baked" the potatoes in the microwave first before adding them to the soup. Sounds good right now with the cold yucky weather outside.

Helenh, why are you trying to keep the tomatoes and potatoes apart? Is there some reason that they aren't compatible?

Tomatoes and potatoes are related plants and potato diseases can affect tomatoes. Potatoes live from year to year in the ground; when you dig them you miss some. That way diseases can live in your garden on the potatoes. I have read this and not experienced it myself. In my garden there is no plan and when I have something to plant, I put it anywhere that is not already occupied.

OK, HelenH....glad to hear that so far, you haven't had any badness come about from having taters and maters close together. My garden plan is like yours.....if I'm in the mood to plant, I just find a place, regardless. Drives hubby nuts as he tries to maintain a drip irrigation system in the veggie bed. And, if I'm not moving something, the coons/possums/some night creature digs up and disconnects some part of the system.

Christe,

You are totally missing out on a delicious and very healthy potato. The more pigment there is, the better it is for you and they are gorgeous! The texture is a wonderful blend between new potatoes and starchy potatoes. I always encourage people to try something new. Just because we're not accustomed to something doesn't mean it's not fantastic. Some vegetables are staples in other countries and many of us have never seen them. Go for it, you may discover that you wondered why you didn't try them sooner and that you've been missing out on them all this time...

; )

Violet

I haven't tried the yellow ones because that color doesn't appeal to me. I tried the blue because the blue pigment is supposed to be good for you. I thought potatoes would be cheaper than blueberries. They are trying to get blue in tomatoes - Indigo Rose - reports of its taste not favorable. Your yellow ones may have some more nutrients because of the pigment, but I haven't read that anywhere. The ordinary potatoes produced big spuds which were a joy to dig. I made French fries with them - not so healthy but good. I don't think the blue ones are pretty boiled but on-line I found how to roast them like fingerling potatoes. Those are expensive in the store. I will plant more of the regular potatoes next year. To me the blue are still interesting but a treat not a mainstay.

I've planted blue potatoes for the past 3 years. My wife loves the color. They are a nice treat, but they don't yield as much as a Pontiac Red, for example. I used to buy the seed potatoes at Lowe's, but this year I'm trying something different to save a few pennies. I bought some blue potatoes at a natural food store and I've put them in a paper bag on my desk. Hopefully by March they will be sprouting, and I'll cut them up and plant them.

The blue potatoes I grew where fingerlings. Recently I visited Harp's grocery store in Airport Drive north of Ozark Nursery (Joplin). I found big purple potatoes and bought some to plant. Hopefully they will sprout; they weren't sold as seed potatoes. It took two tries because with the first batch I got hungry and made french fries.

I haven't bought any seed potatoes yet. I do have a tray full of small ones I saved from last year (I raised them) that have sprouts 6 inches long! They are a mixed bag. I really do love the yellow ones but they aren't very productive for me.

I may go back to some good old reliables this year.

I have a couple of big baking potatoes that have sprouts. They were in an 8 pound bag of jumbo baking potatoes that I bought at Walmart. I don't know what variety they are but they had a better flavor and texture than most russet potatoes I've bought so I'm very tempted to cut them up and stick them in the ground and see what happens. I don't know the best way to do that though. I need to do some research - unless someone is bored and wants to save me the trouble by posting here. : )

I am no expert Christie but I don't think there is much to it. It is too early now.
If they are big potatoes you cut them so that each piece has some eyes. You let them dry a bit and plant them.

Helen, I'm glad you mentioned blue potatoes and fingerlings. This year I have decided to taste everything possible -- all apples, potatoes, different rice, coffees, etc. etc. (It's kinda fun and a good winter thing) and I realized I have prejudices based on nothing at all.

We have a new produce company, run by Joplin Greenhouse at the old Milsap Produce on Gateway Drive. Actually, it's about 1/2 mile from I-44 going south on Range Line at the top of the hill. They have many varieties of stuff I want to try and I can buy one or several. Real sorghum blackstrap molasses, nuts, for instance. So I have many variety of apples to try and they have blues and fingerlings as well. Sliced and fried the blues and put an egg over for breakfast. Delicious! Also, there is a greenhouse attached where they will have vegs to transplant.

I'm re-learning to cook well this winter and there's a whole world out there.
Sunny

Sunny what are the hours of operation for that place? We like to go to the Webb City Farmer's Market in summer but it is opened at odd hours for us and is several miles from my friend 's house. I know the location of the produce co but have not ventured south of the bridge work there on South Range Line lately. It sounds good to me. Blackstrap molasses is supposed to be good for your compost I think. Sweet William made a brew of some sort with it as in gardening magic brew not the other kind.

Milsap is closed on Sunday - I do know that. I think they are open 9-5 every day and Saturday hours may be different. You can call Joplin Greenhouse 417-624-2751.

If you're coming from the south, you won't have to deal with the stoplights, traffic, etc. etc. I wish MODOT hadn't done what they did there -- it seemed to work fine before.

Forgot to mention about three weeks ago they had crated big Rio red grapefruit (36 to the crate) for $5 and their tomatoes look good. Rusty said fruit stores longer if it doesn't touch.
Sunny

I just planted another batch of blue potatoes. Lowe's stopped carrying them, so I went to a natural food store (in regular supermarkets they may be sprayed with a sprout depressant) and bought some blue potatoes a couple of weeks ago and put them in a paper bag. They started to sprout at the eyes, so that's a good sign.

Blue potato salad in July, hopefully.