I haven't grown potatoes in a number of years and never plan on growing them for storage. We do love baby potatoes, however - steamed with parsley butter, potato salad, etc. - so this year we decided to use one of our 4x4 concrete raised beds for potatoes.
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| 4x4 Bed Prepared |
After the bed was made, the soil which went into it was plain sifted soil from a trench that brought water up to the potting shed and this half-filled the bed. There was definitely nothing special about that soil! Last week, I added a wheelbarrow load of Sea Soil, another of compost and about a litre of homemade fertilizer which was worked into the soil.
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| Chitting Potatoes |
Today the weather is sunny and warm so I decided to jump the gun and get the potatoes in. I'd purchased a small bag of Pacific Russet potatoes and set them in my sewing room to sprout. This is called chitting. I traded some of the potatoes with my daughter-in-law for Seiglinde potatoes she'd purchased at a Seedy Saturday and these will go in another small bed once they've sprouted.
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| Ready for Planting |
Two of the Pacific Russet potatoes were cut to portions of at least 3 sprouts and this gave me the 9 I'd need to plant in the bed.
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| Planted and ready to be covered. |
They were planted 6" deep. Once they break the surface and start growing up, I'll add more soil - or compost or chopped leaves. New potatoes form between the seed potato and the top of the soil so the more stem length you provide the more potatoes you can expect.
Potatoes planted, there was now time to look for more Spring signs.
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| Rhubarb thrusting through the leaf mulch |
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| Crocuses opening their faces to the sun |
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