On Aug 14 we dug the Red Sangre potatoes in the olla bed.

Red Sangre Summary

2009: Planted April 11, harvested Sept 4, 9.5# from 12 seeds, 0.8 #/seed
2010: Planted April 16, harvested Aug 30, 9.75# from 6 seeds, 1.6 #/seed

Compare this with the russett results from July 27:

2009: Planted April 11, harvested Sept 4, 7# from 10 seeds, 0.7 #/seed
2010: Planted April 16, harvested July 27, 7# pounds from 6 seeds, 1.2 #/seed

Analysis:

Red Sangre were better producers than the russetts, yielding similar total pounds across years and methods.

Potatoes were produced much more efficiently by olla than by hand-watering, with roughly twice the efficiency (#/seed). Yes, these were different years in different beds, but I’m satisfied that the ollas work at least as well, and quite possibly better than hand watering.

Not to mention that watering (filling) the ollas required less labour than watering by hand and, although I did not measure water usage, would certainly have been more efficient.

Finally, I filled the ollas approximately weekly during the hottest driest part of summer, and much less often before and after that.

Stay tuned for the next post on Olla vs Control Plots!