“I am using the same seed out there in my little potato patch that I brought with me to Gander in 1964.”
Marg taught grade 6 before retiring. In this video she teaches us how easy it is to grow your own potato patch year to year without having to buy seed. She speaks of her food knowledge as something that came to her “by osmosis” from watching her mother and father garden as a child.
In this video, Marg shares some good, clear tips on how pick the right potatoes in the fall, to grow the next year’s crop. Spoiler: it’s as easy as counting to 2 and storing them in a root cellar, or similar environment, and letting them sprout their stalk-like seed.
She’s quick to shoot down the misconception that doing this year after year weakens the stock. “I am using the same seed out there in my little potato patch that I brought with me to Gander in 1964,” she says. It ain't hard to grow potatoes: Marg has seen them grow from peels she’s thrown in her compost bin and left for dead.
Her gardening skills and food mantras have kept her healthy and with wisdom worth heeding, “We’re on a very slippery slope here, with processed foods,” she says. “We’ve got the highest rates of diabetes of any province in Canada, and the highest rates of obesity. We’re killing ourselves.” She calls that a message, for people to try gardening on a small scale, and enhance their relationship with food.
Food First NL’s 8-part SCOFF video series celebrates, preserves, and shares a wealth of traditional food skills from seniors in Newfoundland & Labrador.
