Lazy Lady Way of Growing Potatoes
I am not lazy by nature. In fact probably quite the opposite. However, I do not believe in making things unnecessarily difficult. That is why I wanted to start a garden and food blog. I just wanted to put the idea out there that you can grow your own food and cook from scratch without being perfect. That it is possible to accomplish the goal of being self sustainable in an uncomplicated way. You don’t need to know it all, own a farm or have grown up doing it. And this method of growing potatoes is just that. An uncomplicated way. Not the only way or even the best way but it is frankly, easy.
I didn’t really understand how easy it is to grow potatoes until I started my first garden. If you have never grown them before, you will definitely have an ah-ha moment at harvest time. Potatoes are the perfect food. They are versatile, delicious, and nutritious. They are something you can grow that could truly sustain you. The feeling of being able to grow something like that will make you want to keep going even if you killed everything else that year. So they will always be something I will grow because it makes me feel like a “real” farmer to grow something that could sustain my family. Also, side note, if you have even seen the movie The Martian where Matt Damon’s character survives on Mars by growing his own potatoes then you will understand how bad a** I feel when I grow them. You will see lots of different methods online, which again, I think speaks to their versatility. I prefer to grow them in grow bags. I feel like it is easier and doesn’t take up precious space in my garden. Also you can dump out the bags in a wheel barrow at harvest time and you won’t miss a single potato. I do not cut my seed potatoes up, although I have in the past. I don’t really find it to be worth it, but if I had more space for my grow bags, then I would probably try to stretch my seed potatoes more. The method I use is the lazy lady way of growing potatoes and it is pretty much full proof.
To start, I assemble my grow bags and put a small layer of dirt in the bottom.
Then I drop in 1 seed potato in each bag. I use 5 or 10 gallon bags, I have both and I try re use them each year. In general I would prefer 10 gallon bags, but I suggest you use what you have first before buying more of something. If you don’t own any grow bags, then I suggest getting a pack of the 10 gallon bags.
All right folks, this is where it gets really complicated… no I’m kidding. It’s called the lazy Lady way for a reason. Just fill the bags to the top with dirt. Once the green appears at the top, meaning the potatoes have sprouted, I will mulch the bags with straw. If you didn’t fill the bags all the way to the top at the start, then keep adding dirt or mulch as they grow so that you can maximize your harvest. Potatoes grow vertically which is why traditionally they are mounded. The bag does this for you but the potato ‘stalk’ (my word not a technical term) will not produce more potatoes once it is out of the soil. So I recommend filling whatever size bag you have to the top then mulching it to maximize your harvest from each bag.
Just keep them watered and that is pretty much it. It’s time to harvest when the green tops start to yellow and die off. Then just dump the bags out in a wheel barrow or sometimes I will dump them into a bed that needs more dirt and sift out your potatoes. Allow them to cure before storing them.
