We do it that way too. Same for doing beans or sweetcorn. I find it especially important with the sweetcorn because of the rapid rate of degradation.
Very nice potato patch! Spuds are a "standard" in my garden. The order for starts should be coming from Maine sometime soon. I saw one of the sprouted grocery store starts emerged from the soil a few days ago. I hope the others do soon. My experience with grocery sprouts is they don't seem to do as well for me but I get them in earlier so harvest them earlier. What types do you grow? I'll be growing reds, browns, yellows, and Russets this year. My favorite is Kennebec from Maine. The grocery sprouts I planted were probably Red Norland and Yukon Gold, plus I planted "approved" starts of those from the nursery section. I rotate the potato bed each year.
This year we are only growibg one sort—La Ratte d’Ardeche. Last year we had four types. We like trying different ones each year. I saw that you will be growing Yukon Gold. We have grown Yukon Gold and liked that one.
@Sjoerd, I looked those up, they look tasty! My order fro potato starts from Maine is Envol (early), Yukon Gem (improved Yukon Gold, early), Kennebec (brown, mid season), Soraya (a yellow mid-season German variety) and Elba (lat season, buff skin, white flesh. The famous palindrome of Napoleon, "Able was I ere I saw Elba" LOL). Can you tell we like our spuds? They are small packages of each, one row of each type. The first of the early earlies, it also has three friends emerging in the same row. Do you add fertilizer to yours? I always wonder if I should add some while they are growing.
Daniel I do use well-rotted stall manure ob the ground a few months before planting. We have grown so many different types and some were really tasty, others less so. We now focus on a certain class of potato and try new ones in that class. Mate, I do lurve a good spud. BTW— it is great to see those new leaves of yours, it gives me hope even though we have snow on the ground at the moment.
@Sjoerd - I really like how you trench and then dibble a hole for your potatoes. That is how I plant my leeks, but it never occurred to me for potatoes. I'm going to adopt your planting strategy this year Sjoerd, thank you. Keeping up and hilling is always a challenge for me. I plant them for my husband. I still have a small bag of little ones in the veggie fridge from last year for him. My children come to visit around harvest time for a box of potatoes to take home. If I grow it they will come Believe it or not, I am allergic to potatoes. It has been at least 8 years since I've had one. I have many food allergies but I think I miss potatoes the most. I enjoyed them vicariously just now through your and @Droopy 's happy moments. I think I may be motivated to give them another bash this year and see if it has improved. ( I showed the "Is Potato" video to my hubby....it now resonates in our house. hahahaha shared laughter across the miles)
Thanks much Mel, and of course you are quite welcome. D’ya know wot— I do my leeks the same way too...and I place a kitchen paper roll over the stem that is above ground to give me even more white on the shank. I have to be honest and tell you that everyone over here plants them differently than I do. As a medical man though I have to tell you that if you have a clinical allergy to potatos and toms as well as any other food in that botanic class then eating them could be fatal if you have a sensitivity, that is another thing. Sometimes it helps to let your newly lifted spuds “rest” five days or so before eating them...and eat no potatos with greenness on them. It was so delightful to hear about you and your husband getting caught-up in the Is Potato thing. My Bride and I find ourselves saying it a lot at the moment. Ha, ha— it’s silly, but such fun. Addendum: I believe that Marlingardener grows her spuds as I do, so you could ask her how it goes over on your side of the Atlantic.
Thank you for your concern and well heeded advice @Sjoerd. I'm afraid it is an allergy, but I did learn from an immunologist that sometimes after women have a couple of kids and age to 40 some food items can be attempted. I'm 51, and I've cautiously tried a few things. I go through a process of touch, rubbing on the skin etc before I get even close to a bite. My potato allergy gave me hives on contact, and an asthmatic response when peeling and airborn. I used to have to leave the kitchen when my students and I would prepare Christmas dinner for the school. Eventually it got to when ingested I would stuff up, swollen eyes and itchy throat. I haven't tried them since. But after so long, I have noticed that handling and peeling doesn't give me hives anymore. All of the nightshades used to be off my list. Some tomatoes can be had in moderation now. I've widened up some things, but not others. Chocolate, shellfish and nuts to name a few are always off my list. Most of my veggies must be cooked. All of my allergies are a bit worse when pollen is flying around. My son has a life threatening peanut allergy. Epi pens are everywhere in this house because of the hour and half drive to medical help, as well as Benadryl. So...after writing this I think I will stick to yams for a while longer. hahahaha. Why be in a rush
@Sjoerd (and others), do you cut your seed potatoes or plant them whole? Also, if you cut them, do you cut them before chitting? My order for seeds potatoes came yesterday. Time to get those trenches dug! Right now they are in the sunroom, chitting.
We have indeed cut the spuds before planting them, but I cannot recall if it was before or after chitting them. Just off the cuff, it feels better to cut them before chitting so that the cut will have time to dry before going into the ground. Sorry though mate, I just cannot recall.
We cut our seed potatoes into pieces with at least two eyes per piece, let them lay to heel over for two or three days, and then plant. It works for us.
Thanks for the potato growing experiences. My seed potatoes are sitting out chitting now. It's been raining a lot. I hope the ground is dry enough to dig more trenches during the next week.
