CABOT – A couple decades ago, I was a new gardener with a small plot at a community garden. One of the more experienced gardeners had tall, lush plants with white flowers. I was surprised to learn that these were potato plants. They were lovely, but I was puzzled why anyone would devote space in a tiny garden to these large plants, when potatoes are so cheap and available at every grocery store.
Fast forward a couple years, and I was no longer a city dweller with a small garden plot. Instead, I was in Cabot, with plenty of room to grow whatever I wanted. I still thought that potatoes were a silly thing to put in a garden, but I was eager to try to grow new things. I ordered potatoes, read the directions, cared for them all summer, and was pleased to get a pretty good crop in the fall.
The real revelation came when I baked my first batch of homegrown potatoes. They were creamy, full of flavor, even fragrant. What a difference from store bought potatoes. Because I ordered different varieties, I now had an assortment of potatoes for cooking. I found that some made excellent fries, while others were wonderful mashed, or held their shape in soup or dissolved to make thick tasty stew. I was hooked, and I’ve grown potatoes ever since.
There are over 4,000 varieties of potato. Think about that; how many types are sold in the grocery store? Potatoes can have skins of white, yellow, red, blue, or russet. There are potatoes that have nearly black skin and deep purple insides. There are tiny fingerling potatoes, and huge baking potatoes. Some taste buttery, or earthy or nutty.
Here are some basics to growing potatoes. Purchase “seed potatoes.” These are potatoes which have been stored through the winter and checked for disease. You don’t want to introduce pathogens into your garden, so start with
healthy seed potato stock.
For every pound of seed potatoes, you can expect your garden to yield 10 pounds of potatoes in the fall. Potatoes can grow in a lot of soil types, but they like an even amount of moisture. For sandy soil, plan to mulch in order to keep soil moisture stable. For loam or clay soil, skip the mulch. Don’t plant in very heavy, waterlogged soil; your potatoes will rot.
Plant potatoes in mid-May, when the garden soil has warmed up and dried out. As a general rule, if dandelions are blooming, it’s time to plant potatoes. Plant them an inch or two below the soil surface. Once the plants are six-inches tall, add soil around the stems until just the top couple inches of leaves are showing. This is called hilling, and will help potatoes have better root
systems.
Unlike most plants, potatoes can grow roots from their stems. These additional roots will help the plant regulate moisture, and bring in more nutrients. Some folks hill once, and some hill twice. Either way is fine.
The biggest pest problem is the Colorado potato beetle. The adult beetles aren’t too damaging, but their babies can chew all the leaves off a potato plant. To control Colorado potato beetles, squish their egg masses, pick off any adult beetles and any beetle larvae. Egg masses are yellow or bright orange, found on the underside of leaves. The adults are about the size of a pinky nail, very rounded (like a marble cut in half) with stripes. Larvae are red or dark brown,
and start tiny, but soon grow to adult beetle size.
The most damaging disease of potatoes is late blight, caused by a
fungus, that first appears on leaves as sunken or waterlogged-looking areas. The fungus spreads to the stem and into the potatoes, turning them into an inedible rotten mess. This fungus, Phytophthora infestans, is what caused the Irish potato famine. There are methods to prevent or slow late blight, but they are too numerous to discuss. Do a little reading on it, and be sure to check your plants daily, especially in mid-late summer.
Potato plants naturally die back as their tubers mature. Yellow or dried-up foliage is a part of the natural life cycle of potato plants. When foliage has died back, leave potatoes in the ground for one to two weeks. This allows the tubers
to cure, getting them ready for a long winter in storage. Carefully lift potatoes from the soil with a shovel or garden fork, taking care not to break the skins. If one is damaged, set it aside for dinner, because it won’t keep in storage.
Storage: potatoes can be kept for several weeks in the refrigerator, or all winter in a root cellar. Best storage temperature is just above freezing, around 34-35 degrees Fahrenheit. No need to wash them, or even dust them off. Cleaning can damage the skin and shorten storage life. With careful handling and storage, potatoes will last from August to May.
Susan Socks, aka the Garden Goddess at Garden Goddess Consulting and Gardening, writes about native plants, garden tools and techniques, edible landscapes and more. For gardening help, visit SocksFamily Farm.weebly.com or call (802) 498-7785.
