potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)

 

Marking out potato trenches

Good Friday is supposed to be a good time for planting potatoes. As Good Friday is a moveable Feast day, and can occur anytime between late March and late April, it's not exactly a reliable source of advice. I think it has more to do with time off from the daily toil than dates on a calendar. It may also have its origins in the cycles of the moon; apparently a full moon is an ideal time to sow root crops. 

Whenever you choose to plant your potatoes, remember they are a hungry crop, that require both rich soil, and - once they come into flower - regular watering. 

You can just dig a hole and plant the potato tubers singularly. But we prefer the more traditional method of digging a trench. We line the trenches with garden compost, placing the tubers with the sprouts pointing upper most into the rich compost before covering over with soil. 

Trench dug using a Swan necked hoe

Once the foliage or haulms show themselves we begin the process of 'earthing up'. This is just covering over the foliage with mounds of soil. This does several things: it protects the haulms from late frosts, suppresses weeds, but most importantly stops the tubers turning green when exposed to sunlight. Do not eat green potatoes - they are poisonous! 

Potato tubers in compost enriched soil about to be covered over with soil

There are many varieties of potatoes to choose from, and as always the best variety to grow is the one that you enjoy to eat. Some gardeners argue that as potatoes are cheap to buy it's not worth growing your own, particularly if space is limited. 

Planting complete

But whilst potatoes are relatively cheap to buy, organic potatoes are not, and that's why we continue to grow them at home. 

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