Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to

It's May, and spring is here in full force! Sunny skies and warm temperatures with the occasional sprinkling or rain or even a thunderstorm...I love spring. So does the garden! From the snap peas growing gleefully up their trellis, to flowering strawberries, to the radishes already reaching harvest size, the garden veggies and greens are happy.

Another project that is also working out well for us thus far is our bin of potatoes. From my sister-in-law, we had heard tales from one of her farming internships about growing potatoes layered atop each other in milk crates filled with soil, and we were intrigued. I found a modified version online using a large trash can, and decided to give it a go.


Months ago we ordered Purple Viking Potatoes from Southern Seed Exchange. They arrived in March, and spent a couple of weeks sitting in the sun in the guest room. I placed the "seed end" uppermost, where more eyes are clustered, and waited until the eyes started to sprout. Once that happened I cut the potatoes into smaller pieces, and then put them aside so as to prepare the can.

First I drilled many holes in the bottom and the lower sides of the trash can for drainage, and then layered 4 inches of pea gravel in the bottom. Atop of this went 6 inches of potting soil. Then came the potatoes; half of them spread evenly over the soil. Over the potatoes went a bag's worth of compost/soil mix. This was thick and clay-like, and we were concerned that the potatoes would have trouble growing up through it. However, my concerns were unfounded, as within two weeks we noticed the first few leaves poking through the soil.

The potatoes may have been a bit slow to start, but within 2 days of one potato sprout first appearing, all of the rest showed up as well.

Their growth was steady and rapid; we were blown away by how quickly they flourished.

Once the potato greens had grown about 6 inches above the top level of the soil (this weekend), we added the remainder of the potatoes and covered them with another bag of soil. We covered the original potato greens about 2/3 of the way (this is called mounding).

Now all of the potatoes have been planted, and we will check them regularly as the new sprouts join the old. If we had more potatoes, we could potentially keep layering, but this is a good start for now.