If you have never tried growing potatoes before, you really should consider giving it a try. They are easy to grow and provide a considerable harvest with just a few seed potatoes. Harvesting can feel a bit like digging for buried treasure. It’s really quite fun and a wonderful garden task to get children involved with. In the Spring, potato planting is one of my favorite vegetables to grow.
Potatoes grow best in loose soil. If your garden bed is very compacted then consider adding in compost. Choose an area in your garden that drains well. Since Spring is typically the rainy season, you don’t want the potatoes to rot. Make sure the potatoes are completely covered once planted in the ground. Routinely check to make sure they remain covered in the soil because as they grow, the potatoes can move up to the surface.
In this area, I have found that planting in early March works best. Potato plants can recover from a frost, but they don’t do well if they keep getting hit with it. If you plant potatoes too early you will probably still get some potatoes, but not nearly as much as if you waited until temperatures are milder. You do want to get the potatoes in the ground before the end of March.
Getting the Most From Your Spring Potato Planting
Seed potatoes are available at all the garden centers in the Spring. You can use potatoes you have if they have eyes on them. Eyes are just little nodes or root shoots that grow around the outside of the potato. Anywhere on that potato that there is an eye, a plant can grow. Because of that, you can cut up a seed potato into quarters and plant each one. Make sure there is an eye on each quarter. Before you plant the quarters, let them crust up around where you made the cut. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but may protect against rot.
Once the weather gets warm, you will have to manage potato beetles. I am sure they sell sprays for this, or you could put netting over the plants. Personally, I just go around with a small bucket filled with a little water and drop in any bugs I find. The chickens love them. You will also need to look at the underside of the leaves and remove any that have eggs. They look like small yellow beads all together.
When to Harvest
Potatoes are ready to harvest when their leaves start to turn brown. If you bought seeder potatoes, the package should say how long that variety takes until harvest. Marking that date on your calendar will be helpful. To dig up the potatoes, use a pitch fork to loosen the area around the plant. Try not to get so close to the plant that you pierce a potato. When the soil around the plant is loosened, pull up the plant. Most of the potatoes should come up with it. There will be some that remain, so you will want to feel around in the soil. Once you have collected all the potatoes, hose them down and then let air dry. Keep them in a dark and cool place to cure for a week or two.
