Growing Potatoes In A Bag....One Week Later

Well, my last post was about my choice to try to grow potatoes in a bag.  Last week, I had rolled the bag so that it was only 1/3 of it's normal height.

Within a few days, I had to unroll the bag and add more soil as the plants were growing by leaps and bounds!

As of yesterday, I had to unroll the entire bag to add more soil. As I stated before, these plants are growing very quickly!

Although it isn't lovely (the bag I mean), but I have loved how simple this process is.  I look forward to harvesting them at the right time.  I am curious about just how many potatoes we will have!

I'll keep you posted.....

It's A Matter of Growing Potatoes In A Bag...

So far, my gardening season is going pretty well. I have a tomato that will be ready before July 4th!  Please know that this will be the first time that has ever happened.  

I have watched the trend of growing foods in bags.  I also saw that some folks grow in reused bags.  I decided to try the latter.

Well, we no longer have a dog.  It's a long story, but let's just say the dog and I are both happier. Rooster Senior probably wouldn't agree.  

Anyway, I put a request out on a social media site that my neighborhood has.  I got a few funny comments, but several people who were happy to share with me.  Here is the bag I was given.

The purpose of growing potatoes in a bag is to grow vertically.  I rolled the edges to the inside until only about 1/3 of the bag was height was visible.

I had some potting soil that was not used in my original planting this year.  I put it into the bottom of the bag.  I did not cut holes to allow water to flow out.  As the Potatoes grow, I may do that in the future.

I took my seed potatoes (that I had cut a couple of days before) and placed them into the soil

I put another layer of soil to cover the potatoes.  Then, I watered them.  It has been rather rainy since I planted these, so I placed the bag just under the roof line to give them moisture.  Rooster Senior kept pulling the bag out of the rain....trying to be helpful.  I put it back hoping that we could still have a crop.  

As you can see, I had nothing to worry about.  Since I took this photo, several plants have emerged and I am adding a layer of mulch or soil on top to encourage the vertical growth. As the soil mixture gets higher and higher, I will be unrolling the bag to allow for the growth.  I can't wait to harvest these beautiful Red Potatoes!

Summary:

• This method does not have a large footprint.
• The Dog Food bag has a strong Plastic mesh interior bag.  It seems to be working very well and was free!
• Growing Potatoes is a great return on investment if you are going to grow them.  I plan to keep a few potatoes back to plant next season.
• If you have never tasted potatoes from your garden, consider yourself to be very unfortunate.

If this goes well, I may try this again next year....

A Watched Pot......

I have a weakness.....sometimes.  What is it?  It is trying to pass by or get out of a Specialty Kitchen Store without a gadget. I am getting better, but all of those fun things just tug at my heart.  I recently purchased this little device. What is it you may ask?

It is called a "Pot Minder".  The instructions state that placing this is a pot, particularly with starchy foods like Potatoes, will help keep the pot from boiling over.  If you are wondering what I paid, it was ~$1.50 as this was 'half price' the day I purchased it.  

I brought a pot of water to a boil and placed the disc in.

I then included some red potato pieces.  (I apologize for the clarity of the picture, but the steam kept fogging up my lens).  How did it work?

Actually, when I attempted to bring the pot to a rolling boil, the pan did boil over. I was disappointed.

However, when the heat was reduced, it seemed to diminish the 'foam' quite a bit.

If you are interested in this little device, you can find it here.  

Take home point:

• Although the price point was low, I do not feel this little device lived up to the hype.  If I watch the heat/flame, I can achieve the same results.  
• However, I will try it again to see if it performs better during my next attempt.

It's a great idea.....really!!!!

(Image courtesy of cobornsdelivers.files.wordpress.com)

What do Gilligan's Island, Maryann, and the Idaho Potato have in common? Well, watch this video and see a great idea for peeling potatoes! I promise...you are going to love it!