Posted: 5/3/2009 1:36:45 PM EDT
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My Wife unit was reading through ARFCOM Friday night, and came across a thread with pictures of a potato box a member built. We have been talking about doing this, so it l got off my dead ass and bought the lumber, built the box Saturday and installed it today.
I had to remove an existing flower bed that was there when we bought the house. All was well until I found a 2 foot wide stump just under the surface. I assume it is a Maple tree stump as we have tons of them around here. We had decided that this spot would be the best for the box so I muddled on and put the box around the stump. As you can see, the box is pretty much sitting on top of the ground, I did not level it up as I did not want it below grade. I have still have to reinforce the corners and maybe bring one corner up a little........I may not as it would bring that corner above grade a bit. I also have to put in some grade stakes to keep the sides from bulging out when full. All in all , I think it came out pretty good....The Wife unit will start planting the box Tuesday, and we have 10 lbs of seed potatoes, 5 lbs of Superior and 5 lbs of Yukon Gold, We are not sure if that is too much or too little!! So here are the pics...........Enjoy 
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I had the pics of the other potato box. I wouldn't worry about leveling the box up unless it is a visual thing. What are you useing for planting material? That box will be over full with 10 lbs of seed potatoes. My box is 2 ft wide by 40 ft long and it was full with 5 lbs of seed potatoes.
Good job on the box. |
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Planting material is going to me a mix of Sphagnum Moss, Cow manure and old decaying leaves. Probably a high portion of leaves and Moss we want to get Vermiculite but it is hard to find up here. I don't want it to stay too wet as I think I would have a rot problem with the Potatoes. I may have to mix some sand in it to keep it from compacting too much ........We will try a batch and see how it packs before planting.
My Wife cut up the seed potatoes last night and we have 125 hardening as we speak, so I think it will be pretty full..............according to the Square Foot Gardening Book , you can put 4 plants per SF!! The box should heat up pretty good, as it is on the Soutn side and open to full direct sun for most of the day. I'll add pictures as we go along!! |
We put the Potatoes in today. I think we are going to go with a mix of Sphagnum moss and saw dust to cover them as they grow.
As you can see I got the real workers in the pictures............I ended up working late and My Wife had most of it done by the time I got home. My Daughter is a big help also...she prefers to be the watering person in charge of the garden hose!! |