Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Mama, Them Tater's Got Eyes!: Potato Baskets

I don't know about your house, but in my house, the potato is a staple of our diet.  Late in the winter I had a few which were sprouting so I decided to try growing them.  I lined inexpensive laundry baskets with gardener's cloth and filled them half-full with potting soil.  I cut the potatoes into chunks with a sprouted eye in each.  (You can let them dry a bit.)  Plant four of each "eyes" around the edge of each basket.  Keep moist but not soggy in a warm sunny place.

They should begin sprouting in a few weeks.





Once they've grown about six inches above the top of the basket, fill the basket to the rim with more potting soil.  Keep moist and in a sunny spot.  Each basket should produce about 8 pounds of potatoes, I'm told.  What fun!

Update!  Here's the crop:
Not bad for a first try!  The potatoes ranged from marble-sized to about 3 inches.  I'm really excited about the next try!