Potatoes

Spuds need plenty of room to grow, so give each plant half a metre of growing space. Planting should be timed so the seed potatoes shoot after the last frost. Harvest most varieties of long keeping potatoes once the plant stems have died down. However, new potatoes such as Pinkeyes, should be harvested a month or so earlier, or when big enough to eat.

I use 2 methods for growing potatoes. The first is the traditional method of growing in the soil, the second is the no dig method of growing under straw.

Planting in soil

Dig in plenty of organic matter to a spade depth and plant your seed potatoes about 10cm deep, with a half metre space between each plant.

Shoots should emerge within a few weeks. As they grow taller, hill the soil up around them or mulch heavily right up to the stem. It's important to prevent sunlight from reaching the growing potatoes or they will turn green and are then inedible. So, keep hilling the soil and/or mulching.

Avoid saturating the soil. Spuds will rot in very wet soil.

Under straw

Potatoes can be grown directly on any lawn or weed infested patch of earth when using this method.

First cover the growing area with a layer of manure. Dampen the manure and carefully cover it with a thick layer of wet newspaper, being careful to overlap the newspaper pages. This should prevent perennial weeds like couch grass from creeping through any gaps. However, if any weeds do manage to get through, cover them with more newspaper and mulch. You've just ensured the demise of the weeds or lawn.

Place the seed potatoes about half a metre apart directly on top of the newspaper and cover with a generous layer of straw. Spread a layer of manure, blood and bone and any other available useful organic matter over the straw. Then another layer of straw, more manure and so on until the straw is about 40cm deep. Water well.

The straw layer should be topped up as it thins, and as the plants grow taller. Make sure no sunlight reaches your crop.

This method is fantastic to use if you have a patch of lawn you'd like to develop for growing useful plants. If you don't have enough room in the backyard, use the front yard. You'll find that harvesting your crop under straw is a pleasure. There's no digging and your crop will be nice and clean.

The crop should be spread out in a sheltered spot for a few hours, so moisture on the skin dissipates. Don't leave the crop in full sun for hours but make sure they are not damp prior to storing. Store clean spuds in hessian bags in a dry, cool and dark place.

Footnote - Green potatoes

Most gardeners are aware of the toxicity associated with the green skins of potatoes. This green colouring indicates that the potato has been exposed to light resulting in an accumulation of toxic natural compounds, which form only in the potato family (Deadly Nightshade Family). Simply put, never eat green coloured parts of potatoes. The compost or using as a seed potato, will be its next best use.