The Potato Harvest That Surprised Us 🥔

We have tried growing potatoes quite a few different ways over the years.

We have grown them in bags, and we have even tried the pallet method. That involves standing four pallets together and adding layers of dirt and hay as the potato plants grow.

After trying all of that, I will say that this year we had our best results by doing it the old fashioned way and planting them directly in the ground.

We Did Not Even Plan on Growing Potatoes

The funny part is that we had not planned on growing potatoes at all this year.

I had a few bags of organic red potatoes that we had gotten from Azure Standard. A friend told me to put them in the window and let them chit.

Once they got going, there was no way I was going to waste them. We had to find somewhere to put them in the ground.

We had a plot available down in the back, so we stirred up the soil as much as we could and planted them.

The Old Fashioned Way Worked Best

Because this was not something we had planned ahead of time, the soil was not prepared as well as it could have been.

The ground was a little too compact, and I think that held them back some. If we had planned the potato patch earlier and tilled the soil more thoroughly, I honestly think we could have gotten an even larger harvest.

Even with the compact soil, these potatoes did better than any of the other methods we have tried over the past 14 years.

Some of them were surprisingly large. We never got potatoes this size when we grew them in bags or used the pallet method.

Time to Dig Them Up

By this time of year, we are watching the potato plants closely.

Once the plants begin dying back, it is usually a sign that the potatoes are ready to be dug. Ours started looking rough and dying back earlier than I would have liked, partly because of pests, so our growing season ended sooner than it should have.

When it was time to harvest, we carefully dug around the plants and started pulling out red potatoes.

The kids helped, and digging for potatoes is always a little like searching for buried treasure. You never know what you are going to find underneath the soil.

Some were small, some were a nice average size, and a few were absolutely huge.

What I Will Do Differently Next Year

One thing about farming is that every season teaches you something.

Next year I want to plan the potato patch ahead of time so we can loosen and prepare the soil properly before planting. Potatoes need room to grow, and softer soil should make it easier for them to spread out and produce even more.

I also want to do a better job of staying ahead of the pests and keeping the plants healthy longer. If we can extend the growing season and keep those plants alive, I think next year’s harvest could be even better.

After trying bags, pallets, layers of hay and other methods, I am going back to the basics.

Good soil, potatoes planted directly in the ground and a little more preparation.

Sometimes the old fashioned way really is the best way.