Potatoes
The most satisfying crop to harvest — tipping out a bucket of potatoes never gets old. Great for breaking in new ground.
Potatoes (Seed potatoes, 2kg bag)
£5.99 in the shop
Calendar
Sow
Chit seed potatoes from late January
Plant out
Earlies mid-March, maincrop April
Harvest
June (earlies) – September (maincrop)
Conditions
Sun
Full sun
Water
Water well once tubers start forming
Soil
Deep, fertile, slightly acidic
Spacing
30cm (earlies) to 40cm (maincrop), rows 60–75cm apart
Containers
Great in 40L sacks — 3 tubers per sack
Indoors
Not needed, but chit indoors in a cool, light spot
Care and harvest
Feeding
A balanced feed at planting; high potash as tubers swell
Pruning
Earth up stems as they grow to stop tubers greening
Harvesting
Earlies when flowers open; maincrop once foliage dies back
Storage
Cool, dark, dry hessian sacks — check monthly
Good companions: Beans, Sweetcorn, Horseradish