Growing Potatoes

Along with the beets, carrots & asparagus I also have a bunch of leafy stuff in and other root veggies. I put my potatoes in fairly early. To me it's just easier to have them in - I think some people wait until May. It's not really a big deal because the sun warms my soil during the day and because they are under ground, they won't get a frost. I started potatoes 3 years ago. I was inspired by my ex-boyfriends parents! They always put them in and I LOVED digging them up and eating them that fresh. I can't say I'm big potato person, but there is nothing like fresh from the ground potatoes! Searching for them is also half the fun. I love having the kids here and letting them see what they can dig up.

I purchase potato 'seeds' from our local Agway. They have a great variety and I haven't had any problems with pests or disease. This year I chose Red Norland - they didn't have the All Red I did last year or the regular Fingerling's. They chose blue Fingerling's, which I'm not that interested in. For the past few years I've done All Blue, but decided not to this year. Along with the Red Norland I chose Yukon Golds, which I did 2 years ago, and Superior, which is an all purpose. I tried to choose potatoes that are mid season, which means they'll be ready in August. The total cost for my 3 rows of potatoes was a whopping $2.11!

Potatoes really are simple to grow. You dig trenches about 6" down and lay the potato seeds in about a foot a part. Oh, to back track... I mostly got small potatoes this year with a couple of 'eyes.' You can also get larger ones and cut them - do it the day before and let them sit to heal some. The 'eyes' are where the stems grow - I'm sure you've had potatoes in your house start to sprout, that's basically what growing potatoes is! But you don't want to use those household potatoes! Make sure you get them from a reputable place. Back to the growing....

 

Once you get the seeds in, fill the trenches back up. On this particular day I got caught in the rain and had to race to get everything in! From here, you just want to water - something I've had to start doing very early this year. My potatoes went in on April 12, I'll probably start to see the leaves pop thru the ground in the next 2 weeks. Once the stems are about 18" high I mound compost to make hills on either side. {I'll post some pictures when we do this - this is one of Keith's jobs!} This helps to shield the potatoes from the sun and keeps the ground cool. The major problem you'll have with potatoes is the Potato Beetle. Early on I'm pretty vigilant about checking the leaves for the little eggs. If you see clusters of eggs just crush them b/t your fingers - or however you choose.  You'll know that potatoes are almost ready when the foliage starts to die back. I've been know to start checking for tubers once I see the flowers going strong - typically around the 4th of July. Side note: last year the tomato hornworm took to eating the foliage of my potatoes b/c I had made the tomatoes uninviting. Most of the foliage had died back at that point so it wasn't a big deal for me, but you want to watch for that too. Those little suckers can do an enormous amount of damage very quickly.