Archive for the ‘Potatoes’ Category

It has to be said, potatoes are probably the consumed vegetable in the world. Even a chip from McDonald’s is still a potato (not saying that they count towards one of the five veg intakes you should per day). The second fact about potatoes is that they are fantastically easy to grow and there is little work involved in growing a bumper crop to feed the family – and it is not even necessary to have acres of soil to do so.

Potatoes are generally planted in spring and early autumn. They are grown from tubers sold in your local nursery or mail order catalogue. I even occasionally buy a bag of potatoes and allow a couple to sprout legs and plant those out in the backyard. Either way seed potatoes should be exposed to light (not direct sunlight – this may cause burning), maybe in some potting mix to help establish 1cm long shoots which may take from 1 to 4 weeks. Large tubers can be cut into pieces provding each piece contains at least one eye or shoot and should be dried for a couple of days before planting. Read the rest of this entry »