Potatoes:
- Why you should grow it
- Variety of uses
- Boil
- Mash
- Stick in a stew

- Store well
- Should get about 10X what you plant
- How to start seeds
- Use ‘seed’ potatoes
- Potatoes that are able to sprout
- Each spot where there is a sprout is an eye
- Chop up the seed potatoes with an eye in each piece
- Let them cure for a few days, this dries them out and helps prevent root rot
- Plant 3-4″ deep and 12″ apart
- Plant in full sun, loose soil, and water well
- Raised beds work best, but you can also use potato bags or old garbage
bins – just water more frequently as they dry out quickly
- Water well when planting, don’t water again until you see a green plant come up – prevent disease
- Tips for growth
- Hill up the plants once you see green growth, using dirt, chopped leaves or best straw
- Straw keeps moisture in and at the end of the season it can be taken off and used as mulch – it has already begun to break down as well
- Plant near bush beans, brassicas, carrots, celery, corn, garlic, onions, peas, and marigolds.
- Avoid planting near kohlrabi, melons, parsnips, squash or sunflowers
- If you don’t get a plant shoot, check for wireworms
- Harvesting
- Once the flowers and plant die down, the potatoes should be ready
- Leave in the soil for two weeks to firm up – this makes them store better
- You can harvest new potatoes as soon as you see the flowers – they don’t store well and should be used immediately
- Check the skin when you harvest, if you can rub it off, it is a new potato and needs more time if you want to store them

- Saving Seeds
- Save a few potatoes at the end of the season to plant again
- Store in a cool, dry, dark place to prevent sprouting too early
- Don’t use grocery store potatoes, they may be treated to prevent sprouting
- Make note of where you plant potatoes so you can rotate your crops next year