This year I grew potatoes in three places. The first was up on the hill using soil I've composted over the years. It's pretty dry up there, but I do get quite a few spuds if I am diligent about watering. My potato success story is growing them in barrels on the cabin deck. This year I grew two types, Norland red potatoes in one barrel and Yukon Gold potatoes in another.
This week I dug up my potatoes to store for later use. Here are the Yukon Golds. I dried them outdoors before wiping them clean with a dry paper towel. Rather than keep them wrapped in newspaper in a bucket like last year, I bought plastic baskets at the Dollar Store that fits nicely under the bed downstairs. That is the coolest place in the cabin, so I use it as "root cellar."In winter, I cook potatoes inside the fire box of my wood stove. But now that it's summer, the BBQ is the quickest and coolest place. Here's my summer version of Pouch Potatoes.
Pouch PotatoesThe ingredients can vary, but my staples are potatoes, onions, green peppers and herbs. Start with a large rectangle of aluminum foil. Using a paper towel, spread about one teaspoon of margarine up to about one inch of the edge. Slice potatoes (enough for two servings) and place them on the foil. Top with sliced onions and green peppers. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. I like Rosemary, Thyme, Basil and Sage, but you can use whatever you like.
Pull the foil up and seal the edges by folding them over several times. This makes a cooking pouch that should not leak. Sometimes I use a second piece of foil to double the pouch, especially when I'm going to cook them in my wood stove. But on the BBQ, a little dripping doesn't hurt a thing. Cook for about 15-20 minutes over low heat on each side to get them crispy good.Open the pouch and dig in. This time we used them as a side dish to go with Wayne's BBQ roast. Yum! -- Margy
The pouch potatoes sound great and I cannot wait to try them. Just got to wait for the rain to stop so that we can get the bbq out.
ReplyDeleteI will be right over for dinner! :-))
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice potato harvest and I love having grilled potatoes!
ReplyDeleteBeen making those since I was in the boyscouts and that has been a few years.. My garden is finally starting to slowdown. Been a lot of work but we have a lot of food put up
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the comments.
ReplyDeleteYes Joe, I remember something similar from my youth camping days. We made a stew as I remember in the pouch. When it was done we just slit open the top and scooped it out. I was a Camp Fire Girl (back when it was only girls) so we learned lots of outdoors stuff even though we were city girls.
Margy
Your potatoes look great. I have never had much luck with them, and did not even try this year. But I have not given up and you have inspired me to try buckets or boxes next year. The Scotch/Irish in me just adores those spuds.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks great!
I've been catching up on your prolific writing, Margy!! Your garden produce looks lovely...I hope to have my potato bed ready for next year.
ReplyDeleteMy garden didn't do well this year...and that's quite an understatement! The odd weather has certainly had an impact...things bloomed out very early. Tomatoes are still very green and small and the harvest will be tiny, as compared to other years.
Oh well, there's always next year...
Lorie - I've always had success with the Norland red potatoes, both in the ground and in barrels. My only problem has been leaving them in the ground too long for the bugs to get them. They are fairly good keepers, about three months in a cool place wrapped in newspaper.
ReplyDeleteMarion - I know what you mean about the weird growing season this year. Some of my things have done fine, and other have been a real bust. But I hate to complain about the nice weather right now.
Margy
I should try growing potatoes in a container like you did. I never thought about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Marie