• Health,  Herbs

    Arthritis and Turmeric… What Helped For Me

    I’ve had osteoarthritis in my hands for almost fifteen years.  I blame all that weed-whipping, pick-axing clay soil, and carrying all the plastic grocery bags in all at once because, by God, I’m not going to make two trips!  It has migrated to my back, feet, ankles, and by the way I’m feeling these days my hip.  I’m 51  years old.  I’m also going through those lovely years of change that women get to experience, which makes my memory more dicey than I’m comfortable with, and some of that is due to my bad back (which I’ve had since a fall on a tennis court when I was 10 snaked my back) and the way I hold all my tension in my shoulders and neck.  I’m sure that the tension and slowing of blood circulation that happens between trips to the chiropractor makes me a little ditzier than usual, too.

    I’ve been taking glucosamine and chondroiten since my hands first gave me trouble.  It worked wonderfully for years, and I’m sure it still does.  When I moved to this house – I did all the packing and moving for me and my children – I found that my hands hurt so badly from carrying boxes that I didn’t know how I was going to use unpack or go back to work after my week’s vacation was up.  By taking glucosa mine and chondroiten my hands felt better within a couple of days and I was able to continue.

    Move through time with me to 2011 when my permaculture garden was installed.  I had to drag multiple lengths of water-filled hoses around, haul heavy pots of plants and trees, dig through heavy soil and pull weeds.  After it was installed, the next year, I had to dig out the huge rootballs of invasive bamboo that had been planted and replant trees, all of which had been planted deeply in clay inside gopher cages.  Oh, and pull weeds.  Lots of weeds. Glucosamine and chondroiten weren’t helping with the inflammation, just the lubrication of the joints. My hands hurt so badly that I was in crisis mode, wondering how I was ever going to keep the garden going when I couldn’t even use my hands for a day after pulling weeds.  I’d wake up and my hands would be locked partially closed.  I’d have to force them open, the fingers clicking as they ratcheted up, and then work them until the joints lubricated.  My back hurt a lot.  My mind was often in a fog and taking ginko biloba helped only a little.  I became very depressed, wondering how life was going to be for me when at fifty I was in that bad a shape, and longevity (but not mental clarity!) was on my mother’s side.

    I’d been taking a healing yoga class, and added that when I could two fitness classes a week at the marvelous Wade Into Fitness classes at the local community center.  The gentle yoga practice kept me limber and steady, and helped me keep working, yet the artritis pain was still there.

    As usual, I already knew the answer but didn’t realize it.  I learned from MindZymes.com that the curcumin in turmeric, a spice used in curries, was an anti-inflammatory, so I’d been sprinkling it on my food.  Using a lot tastes very bitter and the spice doesn’t go with everything. I’d read that black pepper  helps to increase the absorption so I paired them together.  No breakfast egg went eaten without being turned yellow and black.  Then one day I researched turmeric thoroughly.  Turmeric is prescribed by doctors in India like a drug, yet it is completely natural.  The warnings for using it include that it may thin blood, may interfere with gall bladder (I had mine out a few years ago), and it hasn’t been tested (in the US) enough to be sure that it is safe for pregnant and lactating women.   I read that all illness involves inflammation.  Taking an anti-inflammatory can help with all illnesses.  Wow.  Sprinkling turmeric on my food was fine, but it wasn’t a large enough dosage to help with the inflammation I already had; I’d have to take capsules.

    I was skeptical but I was ready to try anything rather than get shots from the doctor, or give up my activities.  I’d just invested in this wonderful garden and I could hardly work in it.  I bought turmeric capsules at a local herb store.  It included phosphatidylcholine, which is a vital component of the human cell membrane and has been proven to play a vital role in our health,  including maintaining cell structure, fat metabolism, memory, nerve signalling and liver health. the curcumin in turmeric is difficult for the body to absorb on its own, so the  phosphatidylcholine helps increase the absorption by 70%.  No, I didn’t know any of this before, I looked it up.

    Last September I included the capsules with my daily vitamins and didn’t really think about them anymore.  Within a few weeks I realized that when I awoke my hands weren’t stiff and stuck into position anymore.  In fact, they didn’t even ache much after a day of weeding.  The arthritis would cause shots of pain radiating from a knuckle down a finger like a lightening bolt, coming on without warning and making me gasp, something not fun when out in public.  I realized I hadn’t had any of those surprise episodes for awhile.  I also realized that when I went to my memory banks to search for a name, often I’d come up with it right away.  My memory has never been perfect, but it was functioning better than it had and I felt less stupid and old.  The reason for these miracles had to be the turmeric, because nothing else in my diet had changed.  I continued taking it, and tested myself.  I’d pull weeds, carry groceries and wake up the next morning with only the usual middle-aged aches and pains.

    It has been nine months that I’ve been taking turmeric with phosphatidylcholine and every morning I wake up wondering if the spell has been broken.  But it hasn’t.  I even weed whip for hours and although I’m sore the next day, my hands aren’t locked and they are fully usable.  Turmeric isn’t a miracle herb as such; there is no such thing.  I still take a minute to loosen up my ankles and back when I get up in the morning, and heaven knows my memory makes conversations with other middle-aged people an exchange of “Um… you know… that thing…”; often more like charades than a dialogue. I still have to be careful and pace myself because the arthritis is still there.  However I’m functioning far better than I was a year ago.  My hands work!

    I’ve recommended turmeric to lots of people, and I’ve had a couple of them tell me that they’ve found improvement since taking it.  As I said, I was skeptical when I started and the relief I’ve had is frankly wondrous to me.  It is not a cure-all, but as an anti-inflammatory it really worked for me.

    I do not have anything to do with the company whose brand I buy; I simply bought what was available locally and it worked  so I  haven’t tried others.  I’ve since begun buying it on the Internet because the local store stopped carrying that brand due to a contract dispute or something (of course!), and I get it for much less cost that way.  Again, I receive  nothing for recommending the brand, but what I’ve been taking is Source Naturals Meriva Turmeric Complex.  Meriva is their trademark name for the phosphatidylcholine. I buy it from AmazonSmile.com (where you can designate a charity to receive a very small donation with every purchase), and found a deal for two bottles for a great price.

    Anyway, since this really worked for me, I’m passing on my experiences in hope that maybe it can help you, too.  Be sure to research turmeric for yourself to make sure that it doesn’t have any interference with problems you may have, and see what the health practitioners in India have to say about it.

    And may all your weeds jump out of the ground at your feet!

    UPDATE: It is March, 2017, and I’m still taking this turmeric with excellent results. If I over use my hands I’ll take two capsules in the morning. I switched to another brand that didn’t have the gel caps (I’m vegetarian), and it had a different mixture of turmeric, and within a week I was getting shooting pains in my fingers. I quickly switched back to this brand and the pains stopped. I don’t get anything from this company, I just know that this brand works for me. I use a gas weedwhip for hours, pull weeds, and recently bought a battery pole chainsaw which really taxed my hands and arms, and I’m not suffering from it, all due to the turmeric.

     

     

  • Animals,  Chickens,  Permaculture and Edible Forest Gardening Adventures,  Pets,  Quail,  Seeds,  Vegetables

    Updates on Crate Potatoes, Nursery Plants and Chicks

    "Whaaa...???"
    “Whaaa…???”

    Spring has brought its fervor of growth, of veggies, babies and weeds.  Between my bouts of sneezing from pollen (great thing for a gardener to have!), and while the day is very warm outside, I thought I’d update you on how things are going.

    A couple of weeks ago I posted about growing potatoes in milk crates.  Success so far.  The potatoes are growing quickly and coming through the second layer of crates.

    Potato greens emerging through the second layer of crates.
    Potato greens emerging through the second layer of crates.

    I need to backfill with more compost.  The potatoes planted in the raised beds have been hilled up as much as the sides will allow.  If I am ambitious, I may find some long pieces of cardboard to raise the sides higher, and fill some more.

    More potatoes!
    More potatoes!

    Potato greed!

    My nursery bed is mostly ready for transplant out into the larger garden.

    Yes, the rubber snake keeps the birds away.
    Yes, the rubber snake keeps the birds away.

    I need more berry baskets to help keep them safe, and I need to build support systems right away for tomatoes and other crops I want to keep off the ground.

    The chicks are about a month old.  They’ve been living in the downstairs bathtub with heat lamps.  There are only seven chicks now.  We purchased the eleven on a Wednesday afternoon.  By the next evening four were ill.  All four died during the night, even after my daughter and I kept them warm and full of antibiotic/vitamin water.  We don’t know what happened to them, but at least it wasn’t something that took the whole flock.  There are always casualties with day-old chicks.  They are shipped in the mail straight out of the egg, with a variety of temperatures, food and terrors.  When purchasing a large amount of chicks straight from the hatchery, you’ll often receive extra chicks to ‘make up’ for those that perish.  Our chicks that died were both light Brahmas, Annabelle Lee and Daisy, Ruby, one of the Rhode Island Reds, and Hermionie, one of the Americaunas.  The rest are growing just fine, although I noticed today that Belle, the remaining Americauna had come to some injury within the last week.

    Belle's injured beak.
    “I’m Belle, the Americauna, and I’m beautiful even with a dislocated jaw.”

    Her lower beak is crooked and jutted forward, doubtless an injury caused by flinging herself around in the bathtub with the rest of the girls.  She is eating well and seems to be aggressive, and there wasn’t anything I could do to the beak with my fingers through massage or gentle manipulation, so I think she’ll have to see it through. UPDATE: my daughter says that she might have ‘crossbill’, which is a genetic condition that gradually shows up.  Not much to do about it; some hens thrive and some can’t.

    There is always the chance that some of the remaining seven, especially the straight-run cochins, are males, and they will have to find other homes.  I’m really hoping for all hens.

    Today I not only took the girls out of the bathtub for the first time on a field trip to the warm and safe back porch, but also introduced them to Viola the House Chicken.

    "What the heck are those?"
    “What the heck are those?”

    Viola stays in the front yard all day alone, and then comes into the house to her cage at night.  She’ll lay in the dog house on the porch where Homer, our lost desert tortoise used to sleep.  The chicks are flighty, both in personality and in how they are trying to exercise their wings by sudden wild bursts of flapping that take them off their feet: a surprise to all including themselves.  They discovered sunshine, leaf bits, perching,

    I can perch!
    I can perch!

    and that Viola was absolutely afraid of them.  Viola did all she could to get back into the house through the screen while complaining horribly.

    "Get me away!  I'm going through the screen if I have to!"
    “Get me away! I’m going through the screen if I have to!”

    I realized that she needed to lay and the chicks were blocking her entrance to the doghouse.  I let her in and barricaded the pathway and she settled in whirring grumpily to herself.

    "Can't you see I'm doing serious stuff here?"
    “Can’t you see I’m doing serious stuff here?”

    Just now I heard her complaining at the top of her lungs to find that the chicks had visited her, and one bold one in particular, aptly named Bodacea, was standing next to her either inquisitively or in horror. I seperated them and they all calmed down.

    "I'm Mulan, a black chochin, and I have feet feathers and a cute butt."
    “I’m Mulan, a black chochin, and I have feet feathers and a cute butt.”
    "I'm either Esther or Myrtle, a buff orpington, and she does have a cute butt."
    “I’m either Esther or Myrtle, a buff orpington, and she does have a cute butt.”

     

    "I'm Charlotte the Rhode Island Red, and I'm going to be just like Viola some day.  Without the limp."
    “I’m Charlotte the Rhode Island Red, and I’m going to be just like Viola some day. Without the limp.”
    "I'm Bodacea, a blue cochin, and I have a cuter butt."
    “I’m Bodacea, a blue cochin, and I have a cuter butt.”
    "I'm Malaika, and a Turken isn't a cross between a turkey and a chicken!  We were bred in Transylvania.  Go figure."
    “I’m Malaika, and a Turken isn’t a cross between a turkey and a chicken! We were bred in Transylvania. Go figure.”
    "I'm either Esther or Myrtle, the other buff orpington.  The cuter one, obviously."
    “I’m either Esther or Myrtle, the other buff orpington. The cuter one, obviously.”

    The nights are still cool and I still have a rat problem in the Fowl Fortress (I’ve been installing a couple of my cats in there overnight to help discourage the looting) so I’m waiting until maybe next week to introduce the girls to the rest of the flock.  I’ll oust the Saki the male quail and let the girls take over his house.  Its all so complicated!

     

     

  • Animals,  Bees,  Chickens,  Gardening adventures,  Other Insects,  Permaculture and Edible Forest Gardening Adventures,  Quail,  Seeds,  Soil,  Vegetables

    Protecting the Little Guys… and a little about diatomaceous earth

    Current tomato seedlings
    Current tomato seedlings

    When transplanting little plants out into the big garden it feels like sending your child off to their first day at Kindergarten.  All kinds of things can happen to them in the big world.  For children… that’s too large a topic for me (Kindergarten mother survivor here).  For plants I can give you some advice.

    Besides watering too much or too little, and root disturbance while transplanting, little guys can be eaten by bugs, birds or other animals, or simply get lost and overlooked.  (Here is a container growing tip: as your seedlings sprout and grow, gently pass your hand across them every time you are with them.  It will make for stronger stems.) (And its fun!)(And you can pretend you’re ruffling their hair and say things like, “Hi, Sonny.”  Or not.)

    Celery sown in a flat.  Don't let the small top size fool you.
    Celery sown in a flat. Don’t let the small top size fool you.

    A day before transplanting out of a container or from a nursery bed, water the sprouts well.  If they’ve been in containers for awhile those roots may be going in circles and the water can’t  penetrate from the top very well.  If that is the case, put the pots in water for half an hour until moisture is wicked into the pot thoroughly, then allow to drain.  I say to do this the day before because if you water just before planting the soil around your root ball will fall apart, breaking fine hair roots and shocking your poor little guy.  Some plants hate their roots being touched so much that this would kill them.  By the next day after watering the container will still be moist, but the soil should be solid enough to stick together when tipped out.

    That same celery plant...roots five inches long!
    That same celery plant…roots five inches long!

    Dig a hole twice as wide and twice as deep as your plant, then backfill with a mixture of good compost and the soil from the hole.  This will help acclimate the roots to the soil change.  Water the hole, and if you’re really industrious water with compost tea.  Set your plant into the hole and firmly press the soil around the plant.  If you are planting tomatoes, eggplant or peppers (all in the same family) you can set the plant more deeply into the hole; they will form more roots from the stems and become sturdier.  The rule of thumb otherwise is to plant so that the soil level of the hole is the same as that of the transplant; many plants will rot if soil is up against their stem.  If it is too low, the roots will be exposed and dry out.  Potatoes can be trenches and hilled up as they grow, or maybe you will try trashcan or crate potatoes.  If you live in an arid area, plant in shallows so that rain can accumulate around the plant.  If you live in a wet area, plant on hills so water can drain off.  Or if you’re practicing permaculture, plant on the swales!

    So your little guy is in the ground and gently tamped in.  To keep off the birds and bunnies and mice and rats and whatever else is looking for dinner, I use plastic berry cartons turned over and set in place with sticks or with rocks on top.  Reuse and repurpose!  They are also good for protecting figs . The cartons allow enough sun in, and also makes it very obvious where the seedling is so that you don’t step on it, or weed the little tomatoes out with the almost identical ragweed sprouts.  For larger plants, turn over a milk crate.

    Chard and eggplant with cool hats on.
    Chard and eggplant with cool hats on.

    I have no native quail in my yard.  Due to nearby houseing developments, there aren’t many quail around me anymore.  Quail would fill the niche of beetle and sowbug eaters.  My hens want only worms, spoiled things, and their big feet do a lot of damage if not watched.

    Nothing like a dirt bath on a warm day.
    Madge and Chickpea: Nothing like a dirt bath on a warm day.

    Sowbugs cluster under mulch and do damage to stems and fruit.

    Sowbugs waiting for strawberries to nibble.
    Sowbugs waiting for strawberries to nibble.

    I use a little food-grade diatomaceous earth around the seedlings, new sprouts in the garden, around the strawberry plants, and also around plants such as artichoke, corn and chard where ants have begun to farm aphids.

    Ants farming aphids on chard.
    Ants farming aphids on chard.

    I use it around the trunks of my stonefruit trees to stop the ants, and have been told that it works well around the legs of beehives in lieu of or in combination with cups of oil to keep out the ants.  Diatomaceous earth is the finely ground bodies of ancient sea creatures (diatoms).  The powder on a microscopic level is full of sharp edges.

    Aphids on chard.
    Aphids on chard.

    When a sectioned insect such as an ant, flea or sowbug crawls on it, it rasps their tender areas  and dessicates them.  Not something I really am happy about doing to the bugs. I’m only using it on a very small scale.  Remember that any insecticide, even DE, kills many kinds of insects not just the targets.  You don’t want to eradicate your insects; most of them are helping your plants and your soil. DE will melt into the soil when watered, but only reapply if you still see the target bugs.  The problem might already be taken care of.

    A sprout, a squeeze and a hat.
    A sprout, a squeeze and a hat.

    Use food-grade DE, not the kind that is sold in pool supply stores.  FGDE is used in graineries to keep weevils and other bugs out of grain and beans, so you’ve been eating it for years without knowing it.  It doesn’t hurt us, nor is it bad to breathe (some people wear masks that they can get from https://accumed.com/n95-mask-for-sale-respirator-safety-face-mask-z1.html, just in case).  It is a great, natural and inexpensive way to fight fleas without paying big money for poisons to put on your pet.  I have it all over my cats’ bedding.

    They sell DE sprayers, but they become clogged.  The easiest and least expensive applicator (which can be repurposed)?  A condiment dispenser.  You know, the plastic mustard and ketchup squeeze bottles in diners.  I bought a set of two for $2.  You can practice a little to dispense a finer dust.

    The plant guild into which I'm planting the little guys.
    The plant guild into which I’m planting the little guys.

    So I plant my little guys, give them a drink, squeeze a little DE around them, give them a berry basket hat until they outgrow it, then take it off to use elsewhere.  If there is still a threat to your plants from critters (somebody was eating my eggplant leaves last year!  I mean, really…ick!), then turn a wire gopher cage over the top or make a wire cage to fit and use sticks or landscape staples to fasten into the ground..  These, too, you can reuse yearly.

    In this plant guild, the combination of other plants will also help hide the scent of the new little guy, until he turns into a full melon vine and takes over!
    In this plant guild, the combination of other plants will also help hide the scent of the new little guy, until he turns into a full melon vine and takes over!
  • Compost,  Gardening adventures,  Permaculture and Edible Forest Gardening Adventures,  Seeds,  Soil,  Vegetables

    Crate Potatoes

     

    Milkcrate potatoes!
    Milkcrate potatoes!  This area receives sun for half a day and is shaded on the West side; perfect for keeping them cool.

    I’ve been frequently asked to write about trashcan potatoes.  I haven’t yet, simply because I don’t have a trashcan to use for that purpose. Instead I used what I had and am experimenting with milkcrate potatoes. I’ll let you know how it works.

    The potatoes that work in trashcans are any of the standard potatoes in the Solanaceae family, related to tomatoes and eggplants; sweet potatoes and yams are in the morning glory family and grow very differently. A good article with photos that shows growing potatoes in a barrel is at greenupgrader.com.  There are many videos on the web about growing trashcan potatoes; a good one is at Farmers Almanac .  Two things that she does in this video that I do differently is that after cutting the ‘eyes’ of the seed potatoes, I allow them to harden off for a day or so before planting, and also potatoes can grow with less than 8 hours of light a day which makes it a good over-wintering crop, especially  here in Southern California.  Potatoes like shorter daylight and cool night temperatures, so plant now!  If you plant later, protect the trashcan from the afternoon sun.  Hardening off means to allow the cut potato to sit  in the shade for a day or so to allow the cut end to form a ‘scab’, or harden up before planting.  It helps keep the potato eye from molding and provides protection from insect or bacterial attacks, and keeps drier soil from leaching water out of the potato.  This is the same process you’d do when taking cuttings from cactus, geraniums and other easily-rooted, sappy plants.  When watering trashcan potatoes, don’t overwater because you’ll rot them. Like their cousin the tomato they’ll do better slightly drier than wetter.

    Organic chitted potatoes.
    Organic chitted potatoes.

    ‘Seed’ potatoes aren’t potato seeds.  They are small tubers that are ready to plant.  Always buy organic seeds.  Period.  You can buy seed potatoes online or in nurserys available in Southern California just after Christmas, and sometimes in the late Fall.  They usually purchase the seed from other states which have snow and don’t ship during the winter.  Buying online or from organic catalogs allows you to shop among a wide variety of  potatoes differing in size, color and purpose.  However since we can plant potatoes in the Fall and don’t want to wait for shipping times, we can buy a bag of organic potatoes locally and sprout them ourselves.  Non-organic potatoes have been treated so that they don’t sprout in the store, and are genetically modified (GMO) to last on the shelf.  Sprouting potatoes is called ‘chitting’ and is very easy.  Mine usually sprout in a bowl on my kitchen counter.  Keep them in a light, cool area out of direct sunlight and they’ll grow.  When the potatoes have chitted and ‘greened’ (have sprouts), you can either plant them whole or slice them so that each piece has at least one eye.  Allow them to harden off and plant them.  Give the extras to your neighbor!

    Potatoes can be grown in the ground, or in a raised bed, and then you hill up around the plant to produce more tubers.
    Potatoes can be grown in the ground, or in a raised bed, and then you hill up around the plant to produce more tubers.

    The reason for growing trashcan potatoes is that you can grow vertically, save garden space, and in particular save your back from trenching, hilling and then digging.  The harvest is more productive, too, because you won’t be accidentally cutting through or spearing potatoes in the ground. Potatoes can grow this way because the tubers are actually specialized underground stems called stolons.  Potatoes will produce tubers underground, but anywhere along their stems they also can grow a potato under the right conditions.  Once you plant a potato ‘eye’, the eyes being the growth buds, it will send out stolons.  The plant will produce potatoes below ground, and if you hill up around the stems they will also begin to swell and produce tubers.

    I have extra milk crates, and a source for more, so why not use them?
    I have extra milk crates, and a source for more, so why not use them?

    When you plant in a trash can (with drainage holes!), as the greens shoot up you keep layering compost or straw or woodshavings or potting soil or whatever around the stems keeping a little green showing until you can’t fill the trashcan anymore.

    I lined the bottoms and the outside edges with extra paper bags and watered them.
    I lined the bottoms and the outside edges with extra paper bags and watered them.

    When the plant is done growing the plant will bloom and sometimes even produce seeds.  When the stems die back, you knock over your trashcan and harvest.  Save some of the smaller ‘taters for seed for planting in the Fall.

    I filled the crates 2/3s full with compost mixed with chicken straw and watered well. You don't want heavy soil or the potatoes will rot.
    I filled the crates 2/3s full with compost mixed with chicken straw and watered well. You don’t want heavy soil or the potatoes will rot.  You also want to insulate the potatoes from outside warmth.

    You can also root around in there earlier and pick new potatoes, or you can delay your harvest, keep water out of the trashcan and keep it in a cool spot, and harvest when you want them.  The beauty of trashcan gardening is that you don’t need a trashcan.  Very zen!  You can drill holes in a plastic carrier, use burlap sacks, stack old tires, nursery containers, large plant pots or whatever you have. If you have a bottomless or rusted out trashcan, use it!  Place it over good garden soil and allow the potatoes to grow down, too.  You’ll have a little digging to harvest after you knock over your trashcan full of potatoes, but not much. To make holes in a plastic or aluminum trash can, borrow a digging bar (a long metal pry bar), place your trashcan right-side up on a dirt area, hold the bar high vertically over your trash can pointy side down and let it go. It should make a hole.  Or turn the can over and use a hammer and something sharp like an awl or screwdriver (be careful you don’t shatter the top of the screwdriver!  You don’t have to pound too hard.  Be wise and wear safety glasses just in case).  Do this multiple times to make as many holes as you can without making the bottom unstable.

    Also be sure to keep the trashcan or crate potatoes in a cool place, especially if you are planting in the early spring here in Southern California.  Warmth will keep the potato stems from swelling into tubers.  Insulate the potatoes well and keep them cool while still allowing them enough sunlight.  Fall and winter are the best times for planting potatoes here, as long as they have adequate drainage.

    There is concern about leaching chemicals from plastic, or tires, or aluminum.  Do the research and make yourself happy.  I don’t think there is that much leaching to be worried about because the plants aren’t in there for a long time.  You can always make a barrier between the soil and the sides of the containers with undyed paper or newspapers using soy ink.  So save your garden space for other crops, and pop your ‘tatties in a can.  Or crate.  Or whatever.

    Update: here is a very comprehensive article about planting potatoes. Rather than use commercial fertilizer, of course, we recommend rich compost, which will provide what your potatoes need. Also use dead garden debris such as old pea stalks (cut rather than pull them up to allow the nitrogen nodules on the roots to remain in the soil) in your planting bed or container. 

    I planted whole potatoes just because I didn't have room for lots of cut ones and these needed planting or tossing.
    I planted whole potatoes just because I didn’t have room for lots of cut ones and these needed planting or tossing.  I then covered them with about an inch of light compost and now I’m waiting!