When Dad Stayed Home
-
'Hilling' gives you a larger harvest.
-
A late harvest can be stored throughout winter.
-
Once the plant has withered, you know you can harvest.
Potato Tips:
Potatoes
Each year, I’m always impressed when I harvest my potatoes.
There’s something magical about lifting those beauties from the soil.
All in all, planting potatoes isn’t all that hard, although it takes some time before you can enjoy your yield.
You have an early harvest and a late harvest. Depending on the variety of potatoes you want to harvest, they can be planted somewhere in between early spring and as late as early June. Best is to look up or google when to plant your particular variety.
Just like leeks, potatoes are planted in a row, so we’ll start with digging a trench here as well. Make sure your trench is about 15-20 centimetres (that’s 6 to 8 inches) deep. Pop in a potato, eyes up, every 30-40 centimetres (12-15 inches). Make sure there’s about 30 centimetres (12 inches) between each row. Cover them up with at least 10 centimetres of soil (about 4 inches) and water regularly.
Once your potatoes start growing, you can apply a technique that’s called ‘hilling’. Once the plant is about 15 centimetres high (about 6 inches) create a little ‘hill’ around it’s root and stem, covering a part of the plant again. his will not only provide you with a bigger yield, but will also make sure the spuds turn green and inedible because of sun-exposure. You can keep ‘hilling’ until the plants start flowering.
Potatoes need a minimum of 10 weeks to grow and often longer, depending on the variety. An easy and good trick to tell whether you can start harvesting is to watch the plant itself: when the plant grows withered above soil, it’s ideal to lift your potatoes out of the soil with a pitchfork. Be gentle and careful while doing that, so you don’t damage the potatoes themselves.
There are a lot of different varieties, with differences in taste and colour. Experiment, taste and find out which spud is your favourite, so you can plant a large batch next year. They store quite well throughout the winter, if you keep them dark and dry.
