Gardening Made Easy

Our simple stepby-step guide to growing your own potatoes.

JUST imagine a steaming bowl of new potatoes, sprinkled with fresh mint and melting butter – what could be more perfect for a delicious summer supper on the patio?

They’ll taste all the better if you’ve grown them yourself, travelling just a few feet from plot to plate and eaten within an hour of pulling from the ground – there’s little to beat it.

Best of all, potatoes are foolproof to grow, meaning you’re guaranteed a tasty crop whether you’re new to gardening or a seasoned pro – just plant one in the ground and it multiplies.

They can also be grown in a container or potato-growing bag, meaning you can still enjoy a harvest even if you haven’t got a vegetable patch to plant them in.

Potatoes take little looking after once they’re planted, meaning you get a big return for very little effort.

What you’ll need:

Potatoes (ones for growing are seed potatoes)

Seed trays

Garden fork/spade

Plant labels

Watering can

Step 1

Lay your potatoes in seed trays in a bright, frost-free place. This will encourage them to sprout. Look out for “early” potatoes, as they are easy to grow.

Step 2

Plant your sprouting potatoes in March-april. Dig a trench that’s about a trowel’s depth and then position the potatoes 30 cm apart.

Step 3

Cover the shoots with soil as they grow so they are just buried (you’ll need to do this several times). This encourages the potatoes to multiply.

Step 4

Water your potatoes regularly, especially if there’s little rain through the spring and early summer.

Step 5

Now for the good bit – digging them up. Do this as soon as your plants start to flower, but when the foliage is still green.

Step 6

Use a garden fork to dig up the plants, taking care not to damage the precious crop with the prongs.

Top Tip

Potatoes are the perfect crop to plant on a new veg patch as their tubers break up the soil while they grow, making it easier to work after harvest.