Perfect potatoes
SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2022 SPUDS ARE A FUN AND EASY SUMMER CROP FOR NOVICE GARDENERS
THE humble potato has been around for a long time. The earliest recorded trace is around 6,000 BC in the Peruvian Andes where it grew wild. Subsequently cultivated by the Inca Indians, it was brought to Europe by the Spanish conquistadores during the 16th century.
Sir Walter Raleigh is believed to have been the first farmer of potatoes, in Ireland, and brought them as a gift to Queen Elizabeth I.
Today they are enjoyed across world cuisine as one of the most versatile ingredients and could be said to be our national dish when served with some battered fish!
I often recommend this crop to novice gardeners – if you stick to early varieties they are a relatively easy veg to grow and the joy of unearthing this golden treasure in summer will get you hooked, I promise.
Now’s the time to get your seed from garden centres – they usually arrive in store from around January but can be quickly snapped up. Buying certified seed is important as it ensures they’re virus free.
There are two main types of potato: early, which you harvest in summer and are often referred to as new potatoes and maincrop which stay in the ground for summer to become much bigger and ready for harvesting in autumn.
Unfortunately blight, a fungal disease, can occur during wet and warm weather in the summer, so either stick to earlies which are usually ready before blight occurs or choose the variety ‘Sarpo Mira’ as a maincrop for its high blight resistance.
If you get seed potatoes now, you can start chitting them – just pop them on a windowsill so they start developing shoots and will be ready for planting out.
True to their South American origins, the leaves are tender so you can plant out in April but throw a layer of fleece over developing leaves until the risk of frost passes.
The beauty of potatoes is that they are suitable for small spaces – you can grow them in a dustbin, bucket or even a sturdy shopping bag – just so long as they all have drainage holes.
You can also buy potato grow bags which are like fabric pots. Use a mixture of allpurpose c o mpost plus well-rotted manure and keep them well watered.
Allow enough soil space for the tubers to develop, which means one seed potato per 10-litre container.
Fill around a third of the container with the compost and place the potato on top (shoots facing up if it has chitted).
Add a layer of compost covering the potato completely.
As green shoots develop over the coming weeks, you can keep covering with compost until the container is full. Keep watered so the soil doesn’t dry out.
For planting straight into the earth, prepare the ground first by digging in garden compost or well-rotted manure.
Space seed potatoes around 30 to 45cm apart. Raised beds are a handy ‘ no dig’ method of doing this – start with a thick layer of compost to sow the seeds and then keep earthing up with fresh compost as shoots develop.
In about 14 weeks after planting, you will notice flowers on the plant which usually means the tubers are ready for harvesting.
You can leave them in the container or ground during the summer and harvest as required and enjoy your golden bounty.