Yukon Gold Potatoes!
Earlier this year, I found some Yukon Gold seed potatoes and I bought them on a whim. They looked so promising with the fat roots exploding out of the skin. And then, as I was debating where to plant them, I found some potato bags on sale. I have been seeing growing bags in catalogs and thinking they were a fun idea and in the case of potatoes, they are a great idea. If you have never grown potatoes before, the deal is that they need to be planted in a trench or hole, and then the soil must be hilled around their stems as they grow. So – I sliced the tuber into chunks with a nice group of shoots on each piece.
Rather than having to excavate a big hole in this difficult-to-dig red clay, I rolled the bag down to about 6″ high, added a compost rich mix of soil, placed the potatoes on top and then I covered them with more of the nutrient rich soil.
As they grow, I mound more compost around them and roll up the bag as needed. I did not buy bags from this company, but they have a good set of instructions should you want to try this method next year.
My neighbor, who is an prolific and messy gardener, tells me that I won’t get much of a yield and frowned at my bags….. I did plant them late but I’m sure I will get some potatoes. I’m calling it novelty gardening and I’m having a lot of fun watching them grow!
I’ve seen this idea many years ago when someone planted potatoes in garbage cans. I never saw how it turned out. Hoping you won’t forget to let us know what your yield is when it’s time.
When I was looking into this, I found a great photo of a city row house and there was a plastic bag at each end of every step, brimming with veggies! I don’t expect a lot of potatoes this year, but I will let you know what happens…. Good to hear from you!