From Seed Potato to Baked Potato

Growing potatoes is a summer long event. There is no quick turnover for multiple crops planted each season.  Every winter we analyse our land and decide where to grow the potatoes.  Crop rotation is an essential element of our sustainable farming practices.  Crop rotation ensures soil nutrients are not depleted by growing the same crop year after year in the same field.  

Preparing the Land

Growing potatoes ideally begins in April. Soil preparation involves spreading manure, working it into the ground and then discing the field to break up any clumps of soil and vegetation left from the previous season.

Planting the Crop

While the fields are being prepared, we are also receiving our shipments of seed potatoes. The shipments arrive by the tractor trailer load as the seed potatoes are quite bulky.  Seed potatoes are special potatoes that we cut into smaller pieces.  The seeds are loaded into the bin on our potato planter which plants 4 rows at a time.  Potatoes are planted in little hills.  It generally takes about three weeks to plant all the fields.

Maintaining a Healthy Crop

Once the crop is planted, the potato plants require dedicated care for the rest of the summer.  We invest a tremendous amount of time ensuring that the potato plant remains healthy so it will grow multiple tubers.  We also keep our fingers crossed for warm days and rain about once a week!
 
Since potatoes grow underground it is essential that they remain covered. We scoop up soil beside the rows and add it to the top of the hills where the plants are growing. Should the tubers become exposed to sunlight, they will turn green and become inedible.
 
We scout the fields regularly for indications of pest infestations and disease.  Through the use of our Integrated Pest Management Program we have been able to drastically reduce the necessity of pesticides used.

The Harvest

​Once September comes we are usually ready for the harvest.  The first machine to run through the field is called a windrower.  It digs up four rows of potatoes and piles them neatly into a row. Then the harvester picks up all those potatoes as well as an additional two rows of potatoes.  The harvester drops all the potatoes into a bulk truck that transports the potatoes to the storage.

Filling the Storage Buildings

The potatoes are run out of the bulk trucks onto the bin filler. At this point we manually pick out any stones, clumps of mud and weeds that have been missed by the machines.  The entire harvest process takes approximately six weeks of labour intensive work.

Storing the Potatoes

Once the potatoes have all been removed from the ground and moved into one of our storage buildings, we begin the process of monitoring the temperature and humidity of the buildings to keep optimal storage conditions.  Over the course of the winter the potatoes are slowly removed from the storages, run through our grading line, bagged up and delivered to our customers.

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"Farming is a profession of hope." - Brian Brett