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Hi, I'm Tricia an organic gardener. I grow organically for a healthy and safe food
supply
for a clean and sustainable environment
for an enjoyable and rewarding experience
Potatoes are a simple crop to grow
today I'll beshowing you an easy method to grow them for this method you'll need three
pounds of seed potatoes
a Geobin or a section of fencing
a bale of rice straw, a bunch of sticks plenty of compost
gopher wire a box of blood meal
and a box of bone meal
be sure and plant potatoes that are certified seed potatoes
don't plant potatoes from the grocery store because those are often treated to
prevent sprouting
and if they're not certified disease-free
before you plant need to cut up your seed potatoes
cut them into large chunks with one to two eyes per piece
small seed potatoes can be planted whole
the eyes are these areas on the tuber and the potatoes will sprout from the
eyes
lay your potatoes out in a well ventilated area to callus over for a few days
this helps prevent rot
plant potatoes early in the year about four weeks before the last frost a good indicator is
when the soil is at least forty degrees
potatoes can also be fall planted
after the first frost if protected from frost by thick mulches
to prepare your geobin for potatoes we need to start out with gopher protection like
either hardware cloth or gopher wire
set up your Geobin so it has about a three-foot diameter
The method I'm using is an adaptation of a german permaculture technique
called
Hugelkultur
put a twelve inch layer of sticks in your Geobin on top of the gopher wire
next alternate layers of compost blood meal and bone meal until your
layers reach about ten inches
your last layer should be two to four inches of compost
space your potatoes about eight to ten inches apart
cover your potatoes with about two to four inches of compost
you can either
add a thick layer of straw now or wait until the potatoes sprout
water regularly in the dry season like you would a tomato
once your potatoes flower usually in the summer
you can harvest them for new potatoes
for storage potatoes harvest them two weeks after the vines have died
grow some potatoes the easy way
and grow organic for life!