Planting Potatoes in the Garden
'Tis the planting season, and the beds in my vegetable garden are filling up quickly. We already planted a variety of crops including a selection of brassicas, artichokes, rhubarb, lettuce, and herbs.
We also planted two large beds of potatoes. Potatoes are grown from “seed potatoes”, which are certified disease-free and specially grown in nurseries for planting purposes. This season’s “seed potatoes” came from High Mowing Organic Seeds, an independently-owned, farm-based seed company in Wolcott, Vermont.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
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- Every year, we order a selection of potatoes to plant in my vegetable garden. This year, some of the varieties we are planting include Burbank russet potatoes, dark red Norland potatoes, Elba potatoes, German butterball potatoes, red Chieftain potatoes, Satina potatoes, Yukon gem potatoes, and Yukon Gold potatoes.
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- When preparing the seed potatoes for planting, some of the bigger varieties – bigger than the average-sized chicken egg – are cut into pieces. Each piece should have at least two eyes – those growing points on potato tubers.
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- Each cut side of potato is then coated with Douglas fir bark dust.
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- This dust helps to heal the sliced area, so it doesn’t shrink or curl. The slightly acidic bark is also a natural fungicide and moisture buildup barrier.
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- Ryan carefully dips each piece into the dust until it is completely coated. Potatoes contain 18-percent starch, two-percent protein, and small amounts of vitamin-B6, iron, niacin, magnesium, thiamin, folic acid, and potassium. They are also a good source of vitamin-C, low in sodium and easy to digest.
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- And here’s Blackie, everyone’s favorite black greenhouse cat. He loves watching Ryan work in the head house.
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- All these potatoes are Yukon gold, known for its outstanding flavor and texture. It’s a popular variety and is good for baking, boiling, and frying.
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- This potato, with its coppery reddish skin, is called red Chieftain. It is a mid-season variety that produces round to oval-shaped tubers.
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- Red Chieftain has white inner firm, moist flesh. These spuds are great for boiling, baking, and for making French fries.
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- Some potato varieties are small enough and don’t have to be cut. These are Satina potatoes – oval round tubers with smooth texture, yellow flesh, and yellow toned thin, smooth skin. The eyes on Satina potatoes are also shallow.
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- Each variety is kept in a separate tray with its identifying tag. Ryan goes through each bag and assesses which potatoes need cutting and coating.
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- The next day, all the potatoes are brought out to the garden. If you follow me on Instagram @MarthaStewart48, you may have seen some photos of my giant new vegetable garden. Wait until you see the entire building process on an upcoming episode of “Martha Gardens” exclusively on the Roku Channel.
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- Here, Ryan lines up the trays next to where each potato variety will be planted. The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial nightshade Solanum tuberosum.
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- The first step is to create the trenches. Ryan decides how many trenches he needs in each bed and lines up bright colored garden twine where the trench will be dug. Here, he starts to dig shallow trenches under the twine using a garden hoe.
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- There are four long trenches that run the entire length of each bed and are about five to six inches deep. Potatoes can be planted in cooler soils at least 40-degrees Fahrenheit.
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- Ryan starts at one end and places the potatoes into the trenches – one variety to each trench.
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- Ryan makes sure there is equal spacing between each one. Potatoes perform best in soil with pH levels 4.8 to 5.5. Potatoes are easy to grow as long as they have access to full sun and moderate temperatures.
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- Then he pushes each one into the soil with eyes faced up and cut sides down. When selecting seed potatoes, avoid planting those from supermarkets in case they were treated by sprout inhibitors.
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- Ryan stopped for a quick photo. Trenches should also be at least one to two feet apart to give the potato plants ample room to develop.
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- A marker is placed at the end of each trench to identify the variety planted.
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- Once all the potatoes are in the ground, Ryan backfills the trenches with the nutrient-rich soil, fully covering the potatoes at least four-inches. Potatoes do best in well-drained, loose soil, and consistent moisture.
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- Finally, the bed is watered. Potatoes need at least one-inch of water per week. Potatoes require less water to grow compared to other staple foods such as wheat, rice and corn. I cannot wait until harvest time from this new garden. A first modest harvest of potatoes should be ready about 65-days after planting.
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