A New Garden Part 4: The Potatoes

The garden is coming along nicely and it's time to plant the spuds.
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[@RubenKelevra]

To run straight lines with a tractor: Put two pin on the hood of your tractor and a pin at the center of the row you like to make. Then just align all 3 pin's while driving. If you're "drifting" on the soil (meaning your traveling a bit sidewards) the pins on the hood will "twist" around the center pin but you will still aim for the end of the row.

[@mattamner8895]

The Robin stole the show! (Haven’t seen one in years since moving to Australia )

[@wallyverbeck1454]

American Indians planted Corn, Squash, and Beans together. The corn was the trellis for the beans, and the squash was ground cover to keep the weeds under some control. See if you can get a pipe for the back of your lift, and mount a couple, or better yet, three 6" plow points to. This will create your ferrous. As your crop grows, get bigger plow points. You can use leaf springs, mounted vertically, as plow points, also.

[@murraydavidson2130]

"And it all went chits up!" 😄😄

[@_stoatchaser]

Holy chit i can't believe you went there

[@twocvbloke]

You gotta be chitting me with that joke... :P

[@RubenKelevra]

6:19 we just clamped a bar at the back of the rotary tiller where we can clamp on very small plow-like attachments which make the rows in a single go. We don't compact the earth in a additional step either, as the rotary tiller has a metal "flap" at the end which just presses a bit on the ground. That's enough compaction IMHO. The bar with the plows is behind.

[@torque8899]

Proper farming this year Max! Love it

[@oakashthorn5714]

It’ll be one hell of a rewarding chip butty👍

[@kiryubelmont3222]

Hello mate, I'm probably going through one of the toughest times of my life currently, and your videos have held me together. I am originally from England, but I live in Australia, have not been very well lately, and I've been unable to come home. But your videos bring me back home and bring me a sense of calm in turbulent, uncertain times. I just wanted to say 'Thank You' for everything. Cheers.

[@maximusironthumper]

Glad I could help, I know what it's like to be unwell far form home, you hang in there!

[@kiryubelmont3222]

@@maximusironthumper Thanks Max, means a lot. Cheers

[@torque8899]

Hope you feel better soon mate! If you want some other great relaxing channels with similar content to fill the time try Mr Chickadee (woodworking) Farmhandcompanion (farming) and TA Outdoors (British bushcraft) hope they help.

[@twotone3070]

I hope things improve for you.

[@jjudy5869]

Dad used what he called a middle buster to make furrows for potatoes. He also used the middle buster to dig his potatoes. I saw something of interest for threshing small quantities of wheat. A lady I follow on a blog called 5 Acres & a Dream put her heads of wheat in a pillow case with some golf balls, tied the pillow case shut, and threw the pillow case in the dryer on air fluff. Looked like it did an excellent job at removing the wheat kernels from the heads.

[@maximusironthumper]

Interesting, thank you for that, I may have to look out for a secondhand dryer!

[@maximusironthumper]

I have heard of the middle buster, a long time ago, thanks for the reminder!

[@jjudy5869]

@@maximusironthumper From the images I saw when I did a search for "potato ridger" it looked like the middle buster that Dad welded up for his walk-behind tractor.

[@borisjohnson1944]

@@maximusironthumper Cement mixer.

[@lenhornsey2175]

That garden looks great. Potatoe planting looked like a set of landing lights. Luckily you covered them up and avoided a 747 from touching down in the allotment.😂🇻🇨

[@ChongMcBong]

the front lights on that tractor look like someone shrunk a volvo 740 in the wash :)

[@mikeb5556]

That brought a few memories back. Starting nearer to sixty years ago, helping my Grandad do the same with just spades and hoes. He was meticulous about keeping the mounds up. I remember the types too: Arran Peak and Arran Pilot.

[@Alonsel3]

makes me want to get in there mate appreciate the vids! Just have to wait till Spring comes back Down Under next year

[@martinjustice]

It's likely that the rosemary won't grow quickly enough to harvest it as often as you'd need it. Luckily, like your willow planting you can take cuttings and stuff them in the ground to root. A dab of honey on the cut will help them. Best find a neighbour or park with an established bush and do twenty cuttings or so and it's then an all year round treat. Great for the memory apparently and it also boosts the immune system and improves blood circulation. Rosemary is rich in antioxidants, helping neutralise free radicals. Why not get some mint in too, it would be lovely with your buttered first early potatoes?

[@escapegoat3472]

Put the mint in a container though. It'll run riot otherwise.

[@jamiemcdougall8365]

Will be interested to see how the various plants do. I grow onions up outside Glasgow and we need to sow them early feb to get a good crop late august. Tomatoes are very slow this year at the moment give the temps are might have been below zero lately. I put potatoes in the ground first week in April, first earlies. Edit to add: love all the videos and thanks for posting

[@lisahodges8299]

It's good to see that you are healthy, new ideas are coming to you again and you are becoming productive. Birdy

[@dustymiller7758]

Great entertainment, all of your plants are sprouting really well. You should have a good harvest.

[@stan1050]

If you've access to bark chippings then getting rid of the planks & making the pathways with a thick layer of chippings feeds the soil as they break down. Just replenish every year. Also slugs & snails will hide out under the planks.

[@murraydavidson2130]

Nice to see! Chili seeds often need a temperature of up to 30 C in order to germinate, and for 10 days or more, depending on the variety. I have had great success with seeds harvested from a type I bought that I really liked 🙂. Now in their 3rd year, the plants produce masses of fruit several times per year. Aubergines also, in my experience, benefit from warmer germination conditions. The poly-tunnel probably can't hack it. A simple heating mat powered by your excess solar power (re recent videos...) would do the business. The flavour of a freshly harvested ripe chili is quite different from long-travelled shop-bought and really worth it.

[@StartledPancake]

Just started gardening with a view to growing 50% of the calories for myself and my wife, after *mostly* finishing our self sufficient house. After a few months of toiling in the mud, I have now pine for the days when I had to pour tons of concrete or risk my neck repairing roofs. Turns out gardening is a real mans game, not sure I'm going to measure up to it. After watching your exhausting looking vids Im very glad I chose for a no till methodology, although I removed the covers from the soil too early this year and so also have a bit of a weed infestation. Cripes.

[@maximusironthumper]

I find that (like a lot of things) all the real effort is in getting the thing going - each year but particularly this one as I'm starting from scratch. Even with my exhausting looking method, it's just a case of ticking over now and the crops will roll in. See my earlier gardening videos for proof!

[@StartledPancake]

@@maximusironthumper Agree with the issue of getting the thing going, I try to regularly give myself treats for completing assigned tasks. Because basically, Ive the mental fortitude of a toddler. Your videos also help, I've followed your self sufficiency journey for years now and find your calmness (at least on camera) and ability to approach tasks in a technical yet free thinking manner genuinely inspirational. That video on your new solar setup is in particular is fantastic and is the gold standard. A heartfelt thanks to you for going to the trouble of making and sharing them. As for the gardening and exhaustion, I went for the bourgeoisie terra preta, 18 months of soil preparation before which was backbreaking in the amount of work required. However the results have been astonishing and, should you feel the need, you can stick your hand anywhere into my garden and come up with a giant handful of worms. I think this is brilliant, my wife is understandably less enthusiastic. The goal, along with no till, is to produce more with less effort in the long run, but we shall see how this plays out in reality. Its not without its problems. It would be interesting to understand why you've gone with more traditional farming methods (which my French neighbors also use, to great success), than this newish fangled cover/mulch/plant approach?

[@toeknee5464]

hey max I'm a pizza chef we make our own sourdough pizza dough, sometimes I've made a loaf of bread from it at home, it lasts so much longer than shop bread and when I had allergies it was so much easier on my system, im not sure if you are already making your own bread but it's night and day stuff

[@maximusironthumper]

I keep meaning to try that, thanks for the reminder!

[@TheJamesandmary]

Best idea is to look out for a "Potato Rodger" at a farm sale , never seem to make much more than scrap value, you can use it to put them in, then ridge them up . Good luck with the garden, it does look good

[@rogerduerden373]

I always struggled to grow healthy courgette plants from seed until I tried tying a clear polythene bag over each pot until the first few true leaves have appeared. It keeps the plants moist, warm and protected until the seedling is well established.

[@lefzer7713]

well done Max...i hope the garden gives you more than expected...i just remembered,what is going on whith project awesome?i think i am not the only one who wants to see the zil on the road again...

[@rjb10101]

Potential frost tonight fellow gardeners....

[@lazylad8544]

It's looking good upto now. That wheat looks well planted. Your going to have plenty of produce. Thanks for the update. 👍

[@AndyCallaway]

I thought the robin was a nice touch.

[@joshclarke6230]

Love watching your videos! My missus loves the idea of living off the land. And wants to own a series 2 like yours 😂 any news on project awesome?? Keep up the good work!

[@karlab9557]

Lovely garden. I also enjoy seeing the setting, your land and the backdrop. Beautiful.

[@elfspicer]

Awesome

[@lewisgardner1660]

Bell peppers take ages to grow, I started mine this year at end of jan in doors on windowsill, they are only now about 1 1/2” tall after about 12 weeks,

[@dadovitchnic]

You can also mulch the potatoes which will protect any that poke through the ground from going green.

[@twotone3070]

That's a lot of spuds. :O

[@martinkavanagh196]

Rocket is a great tasty salad green - if you put some where it can be left alone such as along a fenceline with your daffies - it will mature and self seed giving you a "wild" crop of leaves out of season ..

[@xperyskop2475]

Beautiful dark soil

[@FretboardToAsh]

Got a Madam Jeanette chilli in the garden, turns out that in our (sea)-climate it's a very unpredictable plant. I can pick two of its peppers, one can be eaten whole, then the other tries to make me regret every decision I made in life. My advice, make chilli paste out of them to get stable results.

[@michaeltoner1993]

yeah I get the same thing where we are, probably 250m from the beach

[@RubenKelevra]

4:28 the blade is way WAY to steep on your tool. You need to bent it over to have it facing down like 30° compared to the ground, when you hold it naturally.

[@wickie2222]

Perhaps with the Potato Drills Make one Drill / furrow 2 feet wide using the back tryes to mark the inbetweens.

[@Dominic.Minischetti]

That’s looking great brother!

[@timnewton3166]

If you keep hoeing and earthing up on your potato patch , you will get a lot less weeds. The potatoes will reduce the daylight that the weeds need the next crop will have a better chance. However the wheat is better to follow potatoes

[@Icebuntrucker]

Years ago my girlfriend had an allotment , She had me digging and planting spuds all weekend , She could not understand why i was not happy about doing it ? maybe it was the fact i worked on a farm and grew acers of them , happy times .

[@MotherElf]

Just found out you can make Zucchini Flour Worth a go

[@davidsharp9166]

Great Video

[@Polecat54941]

Almost makes me want to grow something.

[@yako0000]

if you talk to a local farmer they may have some used cultivator shovels that you could fit to the ripper shanks on the tractor blade attachment. you could buy new but i would think you could get used at a farm, they're basically scrap price when they're worn to a certain degree. or free.

[@lestercranmer2631]

'Three Courgettes' was a song from 1982 ;-)

[@MartsGarage]

My back is aching already, Max. Very interesting to follow, though. Mart.

[@trucker9462]

Don't mess on earthing up your potatoes. Simply cover them with grass clippings. The nitrogen from the clippings results in some decent size potatoes

[@rogerbuoy8418]

Surely nitrogen helps with green growth rather than tuber formation, or have I got that wrong?

[@trucker9462]

@Roger Buoy I cover mine every year. I get lovely big clean potatoes. I just keep adding layers of grass clippings as the leaves grow.

[@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204]

GOOD vid thanks lee

[@Moraren]

The garden is coming along nicely, seems the hardest part is over. Now its mostly down to waiting and eating, both of which happen to be activities l excel in. So hit me up if you need any help going forward!

[@paolodangelo6043]

Max, how is Project Awesome these days? Hoping your well mate.

[@maximusironthumper]

It's still on-going but mainly concentrating on finishing Project Kermit at the moment.

[@paolodangelo6043]

@@maximusironthumper excellent! I’m thoroughly enjoying the Project Kermit content.

[@stephengent9974]

Comfrey is an excellent plant for making cheap organic fertilizer. Put the plants in a container and let rot down. Cut the liquid with water. It is like Baby - Bio

[@maximusironthumper]

But the smell is horrific!

[@dadawoodslife]

​@@maximusironthumperany 'weed tea' stinks worse than an exhalation of the grave, it clings to your skin and is awful to get the smell off your hands. However, it does make the plants grow well, as long as it is well diluted, at least 10:1.

[@BokorRider]

should have stuck some dung under the spuds before planting . My grandfather used to get huge yields out of his garden doing that in the 70's .... well he probably did it from 1930s onward ...best of luck

[@pyrrhical3423]

Love it max. Your garden videos are my favourite. For the record, despite all the literature stating onions grow best from sets I’ve had tremendous success from seed the past few years. Also 2ft apart on potatoes seems quite far unless you will be harvesting via machinery? Thanks for the videos love your efforts

[@maximusironthumper]

Just going off something I read somewhere - 2ft apart between the rows, 1ft apart within the rows.

[@maximusironthumper]

Good to hear that about the onions!

[@johnshaw4140]

Hopefully a decent result from your veggie patch , but surely you've got enough ground for far more stuff and more polytunnels ??

[@stevewoodw]

Good to see that your wheat is spring planting not harvesting - I assume it can be both. All looks like it will come together for a good Autumn harvest. I'd read spuds need to be about a foot apart - lets hope you can get them out - they looked quite close together.

[@maximusironthumper]

I did mention in the video, I was aiming for 1 foot apart in the rows, 2 foot between them.

[@twocvbloke]

The wheat certainly looks like it's romping along, dunno if you're meant to thin it out like other food crops though, I leave that job to the wheat farmers... :P

[@wallyverbeck1454]

Might check on growing potatoes in old tires. Biggest problem we have here is 'fire ants' get in them.

[@elanman608]

I don't know if you subscribe to AVE's channel but he has just posted his modifications to a box blade to produce raised beds (look like asparagus beds) in freshly rotovated ground.

[@_-000-_]

it always goes "chits up" when I try growing spuds.

[@manneroo]

Uploaded 10 mins ago but the comments are 12 days old? Has max invented time travel?

[@maximusironthumper]

Patrons get early access!

[@Shady-Shane]

i would have been tempted to ride my dirt bike up and down, probably fall off though.

[@Etheoma]

just out of curiosity how do you plan to use the wheat. Edit: yeh thats what I was thinking that wheat was going to be a pain in the ass to process, again will be nice to get an update on that, I suppose the hardest part is getting the grain off the stock as you can buy electric mills which given that you are going to be harvesting during summer that is perfect to use excess solar, but as you said we will see how it goes.

[@MotherElf]

Just made some lovely Spelt Rolls Watching you plant Wheat inspired me to bake...Is that bath for an outdoor hot tub?

[@maximusironthumper]

It's just an outdoor bath! It's plumbed in where it is, I like it as you can fill it right up and dive in and not worry about splashing water everywhere.

[@MotherElf]

@@maximusironthumper I'd like a Hot tub and Sauna in the garden with a cold plunge or shower Simply perfect 🥰

[@Palinkat]

Hey Max, meant to ask in previous video, is the red clover for personal consumption or to feed animals? Ta

[@maximusironthumper]

It will all be cut and rotavated in to improve the soil, the system is a rotation so each year the produce moves up one bed.

[@SimonCoates]

How deep do you normally try and plant your spuds?

[@maximusironthumper]

Just a few inches as the soil here is very shallow.

[@NathanTallack]

Burn the coriander! Burn it with fire!!!

[@edgeeffect]

Steady on!

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Didn't the guy on Gardeners' Question Time used to grow spuds in a tower of old tyres, or something?

[@sarkybugger5009]

My Mum grows them in black plastic bin bags.

[@Mike_5]

Were they all one variety or did you multiple sow?

[@maximusironthumper]

Three different varieties, one early and two maincrop.

[@Mike_5]

@@maximusironthumper Perfect they will be delicious

[@Rugbyman269]

It’s called min till , i think , farmers use this method of seeding rather than deep ploughing , watch harrys farm or it’s a farming life for me .

[@Rugbyman269]

Not used for potatoes though presumably

[@mikeframpton9009]

Where did your channel name come from

[@maximusironthumper]

I'm a blacksmith - the channel was originally supposed to be for blacksmithing projects (still is sometimes!).

[@mommymilestones]

@@maximusironthumper "Because he thumps iron Avi" (Bullet toothed Tony)

[@UncleMort]

Now you have me looking at videos on YT of hoes, their types and uses.

[@totherarf]

You might want to set your history to private for that one! ;o)

[@daveellard9463]

regarding box grader and potatoes this may be of interest kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJy1eYSQfdV3jaM

[@stevegreenwood8168]

Do you plan on selling your veg, or do you really like potatoes 🥔 🤔

[@maximusironthumper]

I do like potatoes - they also keep very well.

[@HootMaRoot]

I used to plant about 1/3 of an acre of potatoes every year until recently and grew enough spuds to last the year along with keeping seed for the nexr year and giving friends and family many 10kg bags of spuds

[@limekilnfarm9657]

Have you got a customer base for your potato enterprise. That’s a serious crop !

[@rhemeon]

Easiest way I've seen for planting potatoes is just put them in hay with chicken manure. No digging and you get a lot more potatoes. Surprisingly the rodents don't bother them. G.H