Hiya Guys...

I take my gardening pretty seriously.  It is a major contributor to my family's table.  I garden because I like the independence, I like to save money, and I like the incredible freshness (and safety) of home grown food.   There are fewer opportunities for contamination, pesticides, etc.  I don't grow everything, nor do I even try.  Somethings are simply not worth the effort.  I can grow a cabbage, but mine end up completely worm ridden and full of bug eggs .  It's cheaper and easier to buy a couple cabbages at a farmer's market.  I tend to grow foods that have relatively high cost (tomatoes, herbs) or foods that I really like FRESH....

I do grow spuds.  They are cheap, and maybe its stupid to devote a sizeable portion of the garden to 'taters.  However, I love 'em when they are boiled up as salt potatoes, nice and new with the skins on, slathered with butter .  I started growing a few for these new potatoes.  I eventually added a little more 'tater space in the garden.  Without really planning it I've ended up growing a sizeable portion of the potatoes we need for the year.  It's grown over time and we've been growing ever more each year.

Last year I grew one bed of potatoes.  Roughly 3 and a half feet wide, and some 45 feet long.  I planted it as a double row (two rows in that one bed), with plants a little more than a foot apart (maybe 16 inches).  How did we do?  I have not purchased a  single spud since last July, we have dramatically increased our 'tater consumption, and I still have a couple hundred lbs in storage.  We'll go harvest to harvest without buying a single spud.......

We ended up with close to 500 lbs of spuds out of roughly 150 square feet of space.  

I just planted half of that 45 foot row with spuds for this year.  I'll plant the other half in about a month.  The cost was nill...  I have plenty of sprouty 'taters I cut and used for 'seed' this year.  Planting 'cost' me two passes with a tiller, 30 minutes shovel work, and another 30 minutes cutting and planting spuds.  A couple hours hoeing later in the summer, and maybe three hours harvesting.  I'm talking about 'free' seed spuds, and 5 hours of work for 500 lbs of spuds...  It's likely my most 'profitable' crop when measured in terms of real 'feed the family' survival application.

How do I do spuds?  I've always found the hilling to be the hard part.  New spuds form ABOVE the original seed spud.  The more dirt above, the more spuds or so it seems.  I have a hard time hilling potatoes.  It seems like I'm trying to scratch up enough dirt for good hills.  So now I plan my hills:  I set aside dirt for future hilling BEFORE planting.  I dig a trench, and toss dirt in a heap.  That is dirt for future hilling.  By planting in the bottom of the trench I also start somewhat lower.  Low planting, lots of dirt =  BIG hills over original spuds and lots of taters.....  This method isn't without risk.  If I had a very wet spring my spuds might rot before really getting going.  There are no guarantees in life.....

Here it is:


I'm sure there are other methods.  I like this one 'cause its simple and low cost.  Should things get really ugly I could spend a little more time with the tiller, and end up with a second, third or fourth row at virtually no cost except a little sweat.... Hope its of interest to someone.....

Fro'

I approve this tater post. Fried.

Thanks Froz-

I'm doping the tater-tires this year, last year I tried something very similar to what you have there, but the bugs ate the plants as fast as they grew.  We harvested about 5 potatoes out of 8 plants, not a single pea out of a few hundred.  This spring I did some research on insect pests and have already noticed damage to the peas that are up so far.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep ahead of them, it appears to be cut worms for the most part.


How are you storing your potatoes?  The few we got to grow last year I left in the ground all year and replanted them this spring, they appear to be very healthy and are growing well so far.  I think leaving them in the ground worked out pretty well (I covered them with straw in the fall, no rot on any of them at all) for storage.  I don't have room for a root celler, and the basement is all finished/full.  I also left several onions and carrots in the ground over the winter and they seemed to winted great- they were not covered like the potatoes were.  I'm concerned that the tater-tires won't store well, so I'll also plant some in the ground again this year.  In fact I need to get them planted pronto!

I'm considering doing the buried freezer storage, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that much digging just yet.

This is the smartest thread I have read in a very long time.

Storage is easy....

1) I harvest by hand.  I literally sift throw the dirt harvesting taters by hand.  No shovel, no sliced spuds.

2) I spread em on the garage floor and let them 'cure' for about two or three days.  No longer or they go green.  Shade helps (hence the garage).

3) I stuff some on a wooden bushel basket and stick em in the cold room, which is none too cold in September.  The others get buried in a potato clamp.  Its a straw lined mega hill with three or four bushels inside.  Been in use for 100's and 100's of years......  The straw chimney (center top of mound) is simply a handful of straw twisted into a hank, and stuck in the pile before more straw and dirt are piled on.  Allows some ventilation...



4) The clamp is perfect storage conditions.  And since they have been dug and cured, they store well.  Come Thanksgiving I dig em out.  I dont really have to redig them, simply bust into the clamp (easy enough even if ground is frozen), and pull them out.  I cannot leave them longer or the really hard frosts we get (ground freezes to 5 foot deep) is hard on em.  By thanksgiving the cold room is cold.  In they go and they are good to April.  We got our first sprouts on em this past week...

currently gonna try the tire wall method. I'll post pics of the setup even though I'm not gonna plant the seed potatoes til August or so.

This thread kicks ass!  I was planning on taters for the first time this year in my garden....all I usually do is lettuce, radish, carrots, strawberries, and raspberries.  I want taters!

Potatoes are a great crop to grow...I'll be planting my newly build raised beds that are 5 x 15 feet. I'll probably plant 3 rows wide.

I feel less secure with our FDA and their ability to control the safety of our food supply. I am a beekeeper by hobby and have

read many accounts of Chinese honey (loaded with toxins) entering the US...

The more food you grow yourself, the better. A safe food supply is priceless.


ETA...for those new to growing taters, when harvesting DO NOT wash the taters. Washed taters will not store very long....leave some soil on 'em...

Outstanding frozenny! The contents of your post have found their way into my gardening notebook. I can't wait to try this method out! Thank you!

500lb of tater s HOLY CRAP.

I was also thinking about the tire hill potatoe.

I'm thinking about doing the tater-tire thing.

how do they do in heavy clay soils?

Thanks for the post. That pretty much explains it for me, and I was planning to put out some potatoes this spring anyway.

My soils are/were not good.  A fair bit of clay and lotsa rocks and stones.  I compost kitchen scraps and the shavings/crap from the chicken coop.  This compost gets tossed in the garden.  I also prowl the neighborhood in November and collect bags of leaves people have raked up.  I lay em in the garden and then till em in.  Increased organics is helping my soil a LOT...

great post frozenny im gonna try this as well the barrel methos this year and see which works best for my area. taters yummy

Here is a picture of my potato patch taken beginning of may.

I nicknamed it little Ireland.

I need to get a new picture.  Plants are currently 3 feet tall and look beautiful.  

The area is around 40' x 30'.  3 different varieties approx 150 potatoes planted.

This is my first year gardening, so also the first year doing potatoes.  I was thinking about doing exactly what you drew above with the trench and planting the seed potatoes in the trench.  That's the way I'll do them next year.

Tag/Bump

Tag.



Hey, how deep is the soil on top of the clamp?



kitties

Froze's method is what I came up with for next year. No more friggin tater boxes........ Due to the clay content of my soil I was going to lay a sheet of poly over the big hill so I won't be trying to pile up mud when it comes time to hill up.

Feral, in my soil I can't put them below grade cause they will be sitting in a clay bowl and can't drain off. I tried the boxes to alleviate that problem but the wood held too much water and they rotted. I think this method may be the best I've seen if I keep them above true grade a couple inches.

Great post.

Seems taters are a tremendously efficient investment of land/labor per calorie grown.

what keeps it from filling up with water during heavy rain?

City folk don't know what 'taters look like while growing either

wish they got flowers or something decorative so I could put them in the landscaping

we get a lot of rain in the fall and winter and every low spot fills up with water.  They'd be floating in there today.

You know, I think it will shed water, partially because of the straw.

BUT I also am interested in how it keeps them from freezing.  The ground freezes  solid at least that deep here.  I expect it does where Feral lives too.....

I need to read more about this.

Feral, did you pile dirt, add straw chiimney, pile dirt, add straw chimney, etc, until you had it covered and straw out the top?  Or what?

kitties

When the ground is saturated it could fill up from the bottom unless it is on top of a hill.

That may be fine, I'm just asking

tag so I can find this later when I plant spuds

cool

nice post

TXL

Did it work?

TRG

Yes, this.

Do any of these methods pertain to growing sweet potatoes?

My father grows sweet potatoes.  I know it's more involved than growing regular potatoes.

I'm done with the potato trenches today.  I've cut up the potatoes and I'm going to plant them tomorrow.  

I've had a problem with Verticillium Wilt with tomatoes I've planted in the past.  I haven't grown them in a while so I'm hoping it
doesn't affect the potatoes.  Half the potatoes are going into an area that never had tomatoes before so hopefully those don't
have any issues.

Tag for the answer.