When planning for this growing season last winter, I decided to try growing as many different things as I could so that this year would be a year of intense learning of the practical basics. I also wanted to have a good idea of the kind of veg that would grow well in our setting and the kind that wouldn’t necessarily. Even with this in mind, I actually did NOT plan on growing potatoes. It just kind of happened, partly by accident.
The accident was that I kept two pounds of supermarket potatoes in their original (plastic) bags in a utility room, which unexpectedly warmed up during a warm spell in early spring. What resulted was a bag of impressively sprouted tubers. Now most were still very firm and good to eat, but a few went past that stage so all that was left for us to do was to put them in an egg box on the windowsill and see if they would chit (properly). I actually wasn’t impressed - in the 6 weeks of patiently waiting virtually nothing happened, no further growth, but as the kids had already got excited about planting potatoes, we decided to give them a chance and put them in the ground of another new raised bed. What an awesome surprise we had only three months later!
How we grow them:
They were two varieties, both my favourite for taste: Charlotte (second-earlies) and Maris Piper (early maincrop). Both Scottish varieties and quite resistant to blight and potato scab, particularly Charlottes. The sprouted potatoes were the size of an egg and went in the ground into small holes, around 5-6 inches deep, approximately 10 inches apart.
We did not dig trenches to minimise soil disturbance, and kept the spacing smaller than recommended (just to experiment). The potatoes grew largely in the surface compost and only one plant needed a single covering up at the very end of growing (early June), which we did by throwing a small amount of compost at the bottom of the plant that had two potatoes protruding from the ground. The remaining 4 plants did not need that at all.
The timing of planting was mid March. We did not cover the ground with any frost protection, which was a mistake as we have lost three of the 8 plantings (they never produced any plants).
Within a month the first leaves appeared above the ground. Within two months they produced lush foliage and started to flower.
Another two-three weeks after that we started harvesting the first potatoes. It was the first half of June. Although Maris Piper was expected to be ready in July, both varieties were ready at the same time throughout June. We judged this by the yellowing and dying off of the lower leaves (see photo above).
We could have probably waited a couple more weeks to have larger potatoes, but we wanted to avoid slugs being attracted to the decaying lower leaves and eventually to our potatoes. We were altogether very happy with the harvest, and quite surprised with how speedy the whole process was. There were no signs of any diseases or pests even though we did not use the special seed potatoes (and maybe goes without mentioning, we do not use any pesticides whatsoever).
We did need to water regularly as plants grew, as this year’s was a very dry spring and our surface compost for this bed was not the best quality - it had a lot of dry shredded woody or grassy material in it, not decomposed, which did not help it retain moisture for very long. But in the end each plant gave us between 15-25 medium and small sized tubers, which I think was a great harvest.
It is now late July and we’ve only got a few tubers left. I’m considering trying a summer planting, to see if we can have a Christmas crop of Charlottes. I’ll be sure to report on it separately though...
Lessons learnt:
In a small scale garden, you can be rather bold with squeezing plants in tight, provided you’re committed to watering frequently if the soil dries up quickly. This is true for most plants we’ve grown to date. The more compact your spacing, the more watering is required (relatively to the weather of course). You can always check it by sticking a finger into the soil - it should feel moist and cool at half a finger’s depth. If your plants start wilting or drooping it’s a good indication that watering is needed.
It doesn’t pay to be too eager with early sowing when it’s still freezing cold. Mid-March can work well, and might result in an early harvest (June rather than July), but it’s best to cover the bed with fleece for some frost protection and to prevent hungry animals from digging them out.
How we eat them:
When preparing freshly harvested potatoes, I was thrilled to find how thin and easily removed the skin is. It literally all came off while washing (sometimes a veg brush might come handy). No peeling needed. So simple and so tasty roasted in the oven with some thyme, perfection!
I do think how you like them best will largely depend on how you like to eat potatoes in general, be it roasted (our favourite) or mashed or crushed or you name it. If however you just never thought very highly of this staple, trying to grow it yourself might really change your mind! Ours tasted sublime.
Conversely, if you just grew tired of all the usual ways potatoes are used, I have two personal recommendations: making potato bread and/or frying potato pancakes. I’ve seen a few recipes for potato bread online and I think they’re worth trying. I personally use one I’ve got in a bread machine handbook, it’s simple and works. As far as potato pancakes, you can try a rosti or latke style recipe where the potatoes are grated or shredded on a thicker grater, or go for my favourite way, which is unsurprisingly how my mother makes them, by shredding them finely on the zesting side of the grater (that is the side with these weird spiky holes on it). It turns raw potatoes into a thick sauce (starchy varieties are best for this) which you combine with eggs and a bit of flour for a creamy-inside-crunchy-outside pancake. Next time I make them, I promise to share the recipe!
How about you? Were you ever surprised growing on supermarket produce? What was it? Would love to hear your story.
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