Derek Thille

And now you know why many in western Canada are frustrated with representation by population.

Louisiana was the only definitely in the south state we missed on our summer road trip.  Sweet tea may be the answer for the sugar question.

Heading to some of that arid dry in 2.5 weeks...still not ready.

I'm guessing by top 12 states, they are implying top of the map, i.e. north...or perhaps it's because they are the closest to Canada....

The video came up in my YT feed.  My first thought was turnip, although the colour is different than any turnip / rutabaga I've seen.

What was the taste test like?

The big boy had almost exactly the same mass as my biggest golden beet.  Of course, if you trimmed the leaf stalks, the beet would outweigh it

Murat Kuntel wrote:Thank you again to all of you who responded, welcomed me and offered your wisdom.  I will try to answer Derek's questions.
Growing season I think is late May through September.  Yes, I am in Prince George, Bc.
I am looking for the Red I tasted while in Manitoba, sold commercially in grocery stores.  That's why I am pursuing the Red kind.  Norland again was satisfactory, and I heard from a farmer here recommending Red Pontiac.  Chieftain also seems interesting to me.
I am looking for one good for baking and making potato salads.  Not frying, not mashed.
There are several nurseries that bring different Red varieties.  I can pick and try each one of course, but I tried here, perhaps you may have a variety that appeals to you.
I will look for a local gardening group and see what they offer.

Thank you again for your kindness and the time you took and greeted and responded to me.
May your efforts bear fruits to your taste.

T&T Seeds just outside Winnipeg used to carry Pontiac and they do mail order, shipping across Canada, so hopefully you can get them.  

Southern Potato is a potato grower based near Winkler, MB.  All commercially grown potatoes sold in stores have to go through Peak of the Market.  I took a quick look at their site and they don't seem to list varieties, but they may be a starting point for confirming the variety or varieties that are typically sold.  If the potatoes you bought were grown elsewhere, then I really don't know where you'd want to turn to determine the variety.

Nice...I finished harvesting our main root crops and most of my GAMCOD hugel yesterday.  We had a good potato crop this year...I did put a couple of the larger ones on the scale that came out over 600 g, but they certainly weren't the size of the photo subject.  From what I've seen of hubbard squash, aside from different varieties having size variation, that looks like a nice one, but they can get considerably larger.

Welcome to Permies Murat!

My wife grew up in Prince George and Terrace, so I've visited northern BC a few times.  The family has all moved away so we haven't been back in the region in a number of years.

If you look at the T&T Seeds 2025 catalog, on the second last page they list potatoes.  They only list 3 early varieties and only Norland of those is red.  Keep in mind that one of the differences in potato season length is that the longer season types store better.  So, if you are looking to grow many for storage and eating through the winter, you will need to have the temperature and humidity for your storage location dialed in for potatoes so they last as long as possible.  T&T is located just outside Winnipeg, so may not be the best source for your location.

A few questions for consideration:

Do you know how long your growing season is for potatoes?  Could a mid-season variety work, giving you more options?

What specifically are you looking for in a potato?  Does the colour actually matter?

Are you looking for an all-purpose potato, or one that shines for a specific style of cooking (i.e. baked, mashed, fried, etc)?

Do you have local garden centres (not big box stores, but actual gardener run shops)?  They are likely to carry what works well in your region.

Is there a local gardening group you could connect with that might get you a local perspective on what works?

In the spring of 2024, my wife and I visited Peru, the home of thousands of potato varieties.  Most of those varieties were developed over a period of time to fit a specific microclimate, so even on one mountainside, the local people grew different varieties depending on elevation.  Not to discourage you, but that is simply to say that, while we grow a fair amount of potatoes, what does well for us and potatoes we like here in southern Manitoba may be very different for what works in your area, so I can't make a specific recommendation, but I hope this has been helpful to you to find an answer.

Edit - While you may have a short growing season, the farther north you are, the longer the days you have and that has an impact on plant growth as well.  I understand there are some massive vegetables grown in Alaska owing to the long days.

Another consideration that's been bouncing around my brain has been the source / sourcing / distance materials move around the globe.  As such, I've been poking around what fabrics can be created locally.  Flax and hemp are grown here for seed for consumption, so their fibres ought to be usable here (if I remember correctly, flax used for linen is from a different direction of plant selection).  Of course, sheep for wool are also local, although most sheep raised here are raised more for meat, so their fleeces are sometimes thought of as a "waste" product for the ranchers.  Different breeds produce fibre with different characteristics as well.

Land to Market is a program through the Savory Institute that certifies products coming from regenerative farms.  Much of what is available is related to food, but I recall leather is in there with some work boots being certified.

Longway Homestead is a local sheep / wool producer and wool mill that is promoting education and adoption of wool.  She's written a couple of books and my wife and daughter took a natural dyes course from her.  

If I recall correctly, Hans Island is where the opposing factions kept replacing flags and leaving a bottle of liquor for the other side.  That's how boundary disputes should be worked out....

Annette Jones wrote:
Human hair clipping work well if you can get enough boots to donate :-) They simply won't go on it, added bonus is it adds nitrogen to the soil as it decomposes.

So if we see a beardless Paul, we'll know what happened...if we see an unusually grumpy beardless Paul, we might guess it was done while he was sleeping ;-)

We used to have a lot of slugs here at the city place, but haven't for a number of years.  I know we used to pick a bunch and crush or drown them.  We did use some eggshells as well.  As I previously had lived in drier parts of the world I'd not encountered slugs before.

Stephen, this video had me kicking myself for trying to grow pumpkins and melons on my GAMCOD hugel this year...I should have put in one or two of our reliable zucchinis.  They may not be as calorie-dense, but they don't get dug (potentially disrupting hugel structure) and once they start producing they keep going gangbusters until frost kills the plant.  Sigh.  Oh well.

Hardware cloth (mesh available in a variety of sizes - sort of like a coarse window screen) can also be very practical to keep critters away from young plants.  A 1/4" mesh can also be useful to make a loose fence around the trunk to prevent mice or voles from girdling the trunk and killing the tree.

The other day we got 5 lbs of locally grown plums that are very nice, so we are saving the pits and will plant them out.

I need to figure out where the apricot seedlings are going so I can move them soon.

Sigh.

Say, did the sunchokes we planted up at the Caldera take?