Sunday was an insanely busy day on the farm. Among the chaos of finishing the chicken coop and staking off the North garden, we also planted potatoes.
The potatoes went into the southwest 100 sq. ft. of the garden. Inside of the 5′ by 20′ area we created 3 horizontal (East-West) rows. Each was allowed ample spacing. The rows are set about 18″ apart with potatoes planted every 6 to 8 inches.
The outer two rows are plated with red potatoes. The inner row is planted with yellow/gold potatoes.
We had quite a few seed potatoes left over from our prep – but opted to leave the planting limited to our original plan and map. The potatoes are the first vegetable to be planted in the freshly tilled garden, so we’ll wait to make adjustments until after some other crops have gone in.
Even while “reigning it in” – I think we’re going to see an unexpectedly large yield from what we’ve planted.
Potatoes
- Seed potatoes planted 6-8″ apart in 18″ rows
- Approx. 80 red potato starts planted
- Approx. 40 gold potato starts planted
- Yield 3-5 lbs potatoes per plant totaling 360+ lbs potatoes
We’ll continue to build up mounds of dirt and compost around the plants as they rise. This is intended to keep the roots cool as outdoor temps heat up.
For “new” potatoes – we’ll harvest within 2-3 weeks of the plants losing their flowers. For mature potatoes, we’ll harvest within 2-3 weeks of the plants dying back.