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.

Potatoes will grow through varying methods- containers, no-dog and in the ground.

Container-growing

Select a well-draining container with a minimum depth of 30cm. The bigger the container the better. An old bathtub providing it has a way of drainage is a great way of growing potatoes, an old garbage bin with holes cut in the bottom is another way. There is one other way I think is great and that is to simply grow them in a bag of compost.

Select a fairly good bag of potting mix or compost from your local nursery, stand it on end slice 10cm slits in the bag, maybe half a dozen and gently slip your sprouting seed potatoes into the slots. Cut the top of the bag off and water well, roll down the top after doing this. Leaning these up against the backwall of your house where the sun warms up the bricks each day provides the perfect space-saving place to grow potatoes for the family! Each bag of compost will grow a good 7-8 kilos of spuds. Start a new bag a few weeks on a rotation and you will have potatoes for the year.

No-dig potatoes

Potatoes require drainage. Too much moisture around the potatoes and they will rot. Be careful where you plant your potatoes, add compost and organic matter to soil that is hard and clay like.

To grow potatoes no-dig style, lay sheets of newspaper, about 6 layers deep in the area you wish to grow your potatoes. Place your seed potatoes about 30cm apart, ensuring the roots face upwards. Cover the potatoes with thin, multiple layers of compost, green waster, sawdust, organic fertilizer (chicken manure pellets, blood and bone meal) and water well. Do not compact down this mixture, air flow is very important. The potatoes should be covered by at least 20cm of matter, mix with soil or compost if you do not have enough of the above mentioned – water each layer.

Add additional material as the potatoes begin to shoot through, this causes the shoot to work harder to find light and will strengthen the overall root system under the soil and create more potatoes. After about 4 weeks of growth add a final layer of mulch.

In-ground growing

Fork a patch of ground, loosening the soil well to the depth of at least 30cm. Dig in plenty of organic matter. Dig a planting trench, 10-20cm deep and 30cm wide.

Line the trench with a little manure/fertilizer and cover with a sprinkling of soil. Try not to allow the manure or fertilizer to actually touch the potatoes, this will burn them and cause them to rot.

Lay the potatoes in the trench spaced apart about a foot and cover with. 10cm of soil. Water well.

As the soots appear cover them again with soil taken from either side of the trench. Repeat this process for the first six weeks of the growing season.

Keep watering your crop well for the first 6 weeks of growth – do not over water, the soil should be moist and cold and soil should stick to your finger upon inserting it into the soil.

Harvesting

Potatoes take between 12-20 weeks to grow and usually it is nearer 20 weeks for home-grown spuds. When foliage stats to die back it means that no more tubers will form. Use either your hands or a garden fork (careful not to stab your spuds) to harvest your tubers. Allow them to dry, do not wash them. Store them in a cool dark place and then will keep for months stored this way.

So that’s the lowly story of the spud. A food that is central to our diets, so easy to grow no matter your space, they just require a little patience in the time it takes to give you a harvest, but when they are ready you won’t believe your eyes in the amount are buried in the soil. My 3 year old loves digging in the garden and will often come running in the house holding a stray potato that he found somewhere – we’ll cook it up and I know that our battle of getting vegetables into him that day will be so much easier!