This year, I decided to try growing potatoes for the first time. The rumor is that they're pretty easy to grow, and I am a fan of potatoes any way you cook them. So, I ordered some seed potatoes from Seed Savers. I went with a variety called German Butterball, which are supposed to be tasty and to store well. (Note: You have to order your seed potatoes in advance and then choose the date in Spring when you'd like them to ship out. I chose an early date, since the climate is so mild here)

When my seed potatoes arrived in mid-March, I followed directions and placed them in a sunny but not-too-hot spot so that they could sprout. I went with the windowsill in the guestroom.



After about three weeks, the seed potatoes all had some nice green sprouts growing out of their eyes. My instructions said I should wait until the sprouts were 1 inch long. But, after another couple of weeks, that didn't seem to be happening, so I just went ahead and planted the seed potatoes as they were.



Because my garden space is limited, I decided to plant my German Butterballs in special Potato Planter Bags. They're basically big, green plastic bags with drainage holes at the bottom and sturdy handles. The bags come with fairly elaborate instructions about planting your potatoes in stages. Basically, as the green stalks grow, you add in more soil and compost. So the top of the soil slowly rises up as your potatoes grow.



Here's how the potatoes look today after two weeks in the bags. The leaves and stems seem fairly healthy, as far as I can tell. I was worried that planting them before they had a 1-inch sprout would mess them up, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I put a lot of compost in the bags, so I'm sure that's helping.



It'll soon be time to add the next layer of soil and compost. And then I'll just have to be patient. According to Seed Savers, these guys need 100 to 120 days to reach maturity.

4 comments

1. Jen on 5/17/2009 07:03:00 PM

   Cool...
   We planted potatoes for the 1st time this year too, in the ground. Growing and looking great.

    
2. Accidental Huswife on 5/18/2009 02:08:00 PM

   Wow, those bags look fantastic. I'm going to have to try them. Few in my area have much luck with potatoes in the ground.

    
3. Motorwitch on 6/03/2009 07:44:00 PM

   I like your idea with the bags. I have been planting my potatoes with tire layers. I'm a mechanic by trade so old tires are not a rare thing for me. I have the kids get their favorite colors and they paint they tires in all kinds of designs. When the potato growth gets to a certain height, me and my children place a new painted tire on top and fill it with compost and/or potting soil and again and again until my youngest can't reach. It's a lot of fun for everyone.
   http://motorwitch-backtothebasics.blogspot.com/

    
4. the reading tree on 12/21/2009 06:33:00 AM

   hi i am a first timer can you pls help me with this do you just plant the eyes or the whole potato / potatoes in the bag. thanks guys