Sunday, July 14, 2013

Gardening goals - harvesting potatoes

 
Potato Box

This week one of the Weekly Garden Goals is to harvest potatoes. I plant several potato plants this year, knowing I’m going to harvest some early. This way I get potatoes on and the other ones get more room in the garden box.
Using the Pitch fork
Planting potatoes is not very hard. I believe it is worth the effort. I planted potatoes two ways this year to try to get as many as I can and see with way is the best. You can read how  I Planting My Garden Box 1, which is more traditional. I also try to plant them in bags which you can read about in Gardening - Planting Potatoes in Pot Bags.
 
Ground Turned up
Now is the time, I start to pull up my little potatoes. I harvest just a few, so I can make room for my other to grow bigger. After reading and researching, I found out you can start to dig up potatoes as early as the flower die off the plant.
 
My Potato
I take a pitch fork and put it into the ground on a slanted angle and pull put. The fork will remove the plant. Then I start to dig around the root to find the potatoes. Make sure if you plant the purple ones, you squish the dirt, because they hide.
 
Pot of potatoes and gardening tools
 
Now this is all I will do in the box for now because I have other plants growing and I don’t want to disturbed them. In the fall, I will ask Hubby to help and we will try to dig in the box as much as possible to find the hidden ones.
Cleaned off potatoes

After that I brush them off and follow what I did last year (How I harvest My First Potatoes) and start to cure them!

Here Are My Two Favorite potatoes recipes




No comments:

Post a Comment