Saturday, July 12, 2008

Potatoes









This year I did something different with my potatoes. Instead of planting in the traditional potato patch, I used old tires as planting bed.

I fill each tire half way with compost and shredded bark. I then "planted" the seed potatoes by laying on top of compost. I covered the potatoes with a 2 inch layer of compost. Every few weeks when the potatoes tops would grow several inches, I would top dress with more compost.

I have just started to harvest some new potatoes. The harvesting is super easy and the roots are clean and bug free. I've been tickled pink.

Because of the success with these type of potato growing, I'm collecting more used tires to expand my new potato patch.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you stack the tires too? That's what I understand most people do, is create a stack of 3-4 tires as the potatoes grow and you add more compost, mulch or whatever. In this way harvest is also easy, because you can just remove the tires one at a time.

Another trick is garbage can potatoes, where you start in the bottom of a garbage can and add dirt until the potatoes come up over the top.

Last year I didn't have garden space, so I did something similar on my roof with some large planters. This year in my garden the potatoes aren't doing so well, and I'm kind of wondering why I don't just go back to this method. Maybe next year.

Unknown said...

Patrick, I only have my tires stacked 2 high, but I've had several friends recommend stacking them higher - I may do that next year.

I've never grown them in garbage cans, but I've heard of this trick. I have grown potatoes in bales of old straw, and that worked fairly well.

Kate said...

I understand that a small amount of cadmium may leach from car tyres as they age and in contact with constant dampness...I used to do this method too until I read about this problem...sorry to tell you the bad news...I guess there's just no such thing as a free lunch!