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Growing potatoes from home can be a fun hobby and provide fresh organic food for your family year round. Potatoes come in a variety of different shapes, colors and textures. They also vary a lot in time required to mature fully. The most important factor in growing potatoes is the temperature of the ground you grow them in. Most varieties will only grow when the ground is between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s important to get your crop harvested before the hot summer months to avoid losing any of your potatoes.
Early varieties of potatoes will typically mature in less than 90 days, which makes them a good choice for any garden. Some examples of early varieties include the round Irish Cobbler potato, the purple-skinned Caribe and the hearty Red Norland. These potatoes will mature much faster than other varieties which make them ideal if you are getting a late start on planting.
Midseason varieties take a little longer to mature, on average about 100 days. They include such favorites as the Yukon Gold and Red LaSoda potato. Midseason varieties are known to be top producers in warm climates which make them perfect for growing in the Southern United States.
Late varieties take the longest to mature and will typically take 110 days or more to fully develop. The advantage of late varieties is that they produce much more robust potatoes that will last longer when stored. The Butte variety is a hearty brown potato that does well in the Midwest and the Katahdin and Kennebec are perfect for potato farmers in the Northeast.
If you live in a climate with short springs and hot summers, you should be planting your early and midseason varieties at least 3 or 4 weeks before your last frost. If you’re a climate with a long spring and hot summer, you will want to plant your late varieties in the early summer so they can mature in the cool fall air. In climates with cooler summers you will want to plant your early, midseason and late varieties a week or two before the last frost.
You can prepare your planting bed by breaking up a layer of soil 10 inches deep using a shovel or tilling machine. Potatoes are best suited for acidic soil, and do well in soils much more acidic than normal plants are used to. To fertilize your potatoes mix in a layer of compost, alfalfa meal or other natural organic fertilizer. It’s best not to use manure if you can avoid it, as it’s known to leave rough patches on your potato skins.
To harvest your potatoes all you have to do is reach down into the soil and pull one out. You can feel around for the biggest one to see how mature your potatoes have become. It’s OK to pull off potatoes from a living plant as the plant will continue growing and producing more potatoes. It’s best to wait for a warm, dry day to harvest your potatoes. It’s even better if it’s an overcast day as too much light can affect the taste of your potatoes.
After you start digging in you will notice that most of your new spuds are actually at the same level below the dirt. You can use a garden fork to dig down to your potatoes making it easier to pull them out. Once you figure out exactly how deep to dig you will have less of a chance of puncturing your potatoes when you dig them out. If you do happen to puncture any potatoes it’s best to eat them the same day or dispose of them as they will quickly deteriorate in quality.