Hello there!!!!!
I can’t believe summer is almost coming to an end. We have had such beautiful fall like weather here this past week and it has put me into full on fall gardening mode. I am so ready for fall vegetables!
The other day I had some potatoes that were left a little too long. They started forming what is called the “eyes” of the potatoes which is basically these little nubs that stick out of the potatoes. Most of my potatoes only had them in a small cluster, so I just chopped them off, used the rest of the potato and kept these to use in the garden!
So if you are like me and left some potatoes sitting too long on the counter and they have formed these funky “eyes” , let’s use them for good and get planting them!
Here is how you do it…
First and foremost, you will need to know what garden zone you live in. Generally speaking, early spring and late summer is when you can plant these babies. You can do a quick Google search to find the zone and when to plant potatoes in your area. Another great resource is the Seed to Spoon App. It has been a phenomenal resource for me. So much information is on there and it does all the guess work for you. Once you do that and it is time to plant them….well let’s go!
Have the pieces with the “eyes” cut and ready. I personally love planting my potatoes in a grow bag for an easier harvest. I use 20 lb bags and plant about 3 eyes in each bag. Click here to see the bags we use!
If you don’t have a grow bag, that is absolutely fine. Start by digging a small hole a few inches down(about 4-6″) into the dirt and place the “eyes” facing up toward the sky. One piece per hole. Loosely cover the potato piece. No need to pack down the soil. In square foot gardening, which is the method we use, it is said that you can plant about 4 per square foot. If you do traditional spacing, it is said to plant about 10 inches apart.
After that you will need to keep them well watered each week. They need about an inch of water per week. Make sure your soil is loose and not too compacted. This will make growing them much harder and you will end up with very small potatoes that can not expand and grow in the tough soil.
Once they start to sprout up you will see green leaves growing. They take about 90 to 120 days to grow full size potatoes. Once you start to see the leaves die and turn brown, the potatoes are ready to harvest.
This is the fun part!!! From just one “eye” you should be able to get a few full size potatoes from that. How incredible. God is just so good. It truly amazes me when I am in the garden and harvest them.
Make sure to save some of your next potatoes to grow more. I hope you have a good harvest and enjoy the process as much as me! Enjoy your home grown potatoes!!!!
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