The potato experiment

At left: tiny potato plants poking through the soil. Do they like what they see?

As a new experiment this year, I planted “La Ratte” fingerling potato plants from Seed Savers. The smallest order was an 2.5-lb. bag, and it was more than I needed. I tried the “green sprouting” technique by putting them in an open cardboard box where they would get some sun. Then after they started sprouting a little at their eyes, I planted them.

I tried to make trenches as instructed, but the soil is still not ideal. Last year we shredded lots of leaves and put them in the grow boxes with compost. However, there is still hard clay beneath and despite my efforts, I think the potatoes got planted in more clay than they would like.

The plants sprouted quickly and grew quite tall, but because I didn’t have any more soil left to build up the mounds, most of the plants fell over. Next year before planting I will get more good soil and fill up the box completely so I can do more mounding on the plants.