The Shed

The Shed
The Shed

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

AGNES TO THE RESCUE

Howdy! Aunt Agnes here. You know, here at the Garden Shed we are always ready to extend the cooperative if not loving hand of helpful friendship to our fellow man in his hour of need.* So it was that when the rudimentary life forms who infest the "Unnatural Foods" cooking blog came to us requesting aid and succor**, we hesitated not, but leaped into the metaphorical breach.***

EXTENDING THE METAPHORICAL LONE STAR OF DRUNKENNESS

It seems they needed fresh potatoes, onions and rutabagas to prepare something called a "Potatabaga Pattie", which I was happy to supply, once kindly old Uncle Mac had driven me from the comfort of the shed at the point of a shovel.****


MIDDLIN' SIZED RUTABAGI
 I found some 'baga's for them, not Mr. Big of course but some nice softball sized examples.


EVEN AFTER DIGGING THE POTATOES YOU CAN ALWAYS FIND MORE

Dug up some spuds we had missed the first time through.



ONIONS!

Of course we pulled the onions a month or more ago but since we still have them up the gagootz***** we gave them some of those as well.

They are making a couple of side dishes out of these and other ingredients and threate, er, promised to send some over. I expect we'll try a bit on Mr. Bear first and see what happens.

Well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by!


* FETCH THE WADERS ITS GETTING DEEP! 

** ACTUALLY, THEY WANTED SPUDS AND RUTABAGAS

***  "RUDIMENTARY LIFE FORMS"? "METAPHORICAL BREACH"? WHO ARE YOU, BLOG POSTING PERSON, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH AGGIE? (AND THANKS FOR DOING IT, WHATEVER IT WAS.) 

**** WHICH IS HAPPENING MORE AND MORE OFTEN THESE DAYS AS THE WEATHER COOLS.

***** IMAGINE OUR DISCOMFORT!

8 comments:

Raymond Alexander Kukkee said...

Uncle Mac, which variety of red spuds are you displaying in that photo?
Better watch out for Aunt Aggie, she might want Mr. Big, since you conned her out of all of the smaller rutabagas for unnatural research purposes...

Glorygarden@msn.com said...

I love that you have so much produce. I'm determined to grow food stuff even if I have to remove flowers to do it. I already have plans for the cukes and Hubbard squash!

Mac Pike said...

No idea Raymond I bought the culls from an Asian produce market - the ones with pronounced eyes starting. They could be any variety. (The woman at the cash register wanted to take them away from me and get me "good" potatoes!)

Raymond Alexander Kukkee said...

Mac, they look a lot like my heritage "Pimpernel" potatoes. Check'em and see the flesh is just BARELY tinted yellow, and if it 'almost' looks like they have two skins on them. If you scuff the outside skin, it looks like there's a second, thinner one. If they are, save them for seed-they store VERY well--great keepers and are a 'hard' potato when boiled, not mushy. Check'em out, this is the second year I grew them, saving my own seed, and they're pretty prolific producers even if a bit later.

Mac Pike said...

What I notice about these potatoes is that the skin is extraordinarily thin, and there is only one layer. Flesh is very white, don't know how I'd characterize the texture when cooked because I deliberately cooked 'em to be mashed. My guess is russets but I can't be sure. I would grow them again along with my Yukons but of course I don't really know what they are.

Its great when you have a spud like yours that becomes "part of the family" so to speak, I'm doing a lot more of that this year than I ever have.

Raymond Alexander Kukkee said...

Mac, those are probably not the Pimpernel then, These DO have a very SLIGHTLY yellow flesh, barely noticeable, and 'almost' a second, or layered skin. There are actually quite a few red-skinned potatoes. These were fairly prolific, avg. 4-5 potatoes under each plant.
I like the concept of a heritage or heirloom seed--if you avoid commercial potatoes you avoid their 'creative' cross-hybridization and all of their virus defects.
WE have run into a potato virus of some kind previously that left the interior flesh of some white potatoes with sections of 'gray'.

We took supposedly "good" seed from that commercial farm, and planted it, and guess what-some of those potatoes have that 'gray' look-inside-brand new potatoes.
Needless to say, I am VERY VERY glad I planted those FEW test seeds (a pound or two of seed) in a remote location on my property this last season--no where near my main potato field. "Live and learn". My "heritage potatoes" came out virtually flawless and I will be saving seed to plant in the spring again of both types, "Pimpernel" and "Gold rush" (a white potato)

Mac Pike said...

I've never had real problems with potatoes, but perhaps 3 years ago I had some kind of viral smutz that destroyed every tomato plant completely, turned them into black mush, leaves, vines, flowers and fruit. It was disgusting and I thought it would come back year after year but fortunately it has not.

Raymond Alexander Kukkee said...

Mac, there is a black blight of some kind caused by planting some type of plants or others-too close to tomatoes. I have to research that a bit more. Tomatoes and potatoes are related, so it's possible it could even be the same problem ? Thanks for reminding me of that one.