Freshly dug potatoes are tender, fluffy, and even a bit juicy. They’re much tastier than the spuds that have been sitting in the supermarket for months after they’ve been harvested. Growing your own is the best way to try fresh potatoes for yourself. Raising spuds is easy and fun, and you don’t need a lot of space—they’ll even grow in containers or large planter bags.
Americans eat more potatoes than any other vegetable, with the average yearly consumption around 50 pounds per person. They come in so many different varieties, with skin and flesh tones of pink, purple, blue, and yellow, as well as the familiar brown and white. Potatoes were first cultivated by the indigenous people of Peru and today you can grow Makah Ozette, a spud that’s similar to those pre-Columbian varieties.
Growing Potatoes
Potatoes take 90 to 120 days to grow and mature before they are ready for harvest. They need a sunny place where the soil is loose and drains well, and temperatures consistently below 90 degrees F. Many gardeners and farmers plant potatoes in hills or raised beds to ensure that excess moisture runs off. Growing potatoes in a large container or cloth bag is even easier and you can put it on a patio or anyplace where it will get full sun.
You start by placing seed potatoes a few inches deep in the soil or planter mix and covering them. As they sprout, you keep covering them with more soil so that only the top leaves are visible. When the stalks stop growing taller and reach their mature size, they need no more soil.
When to Harvest Potatoes
About six weeks after the plants mature, tiny flowers appear. A few weeks later, the leaves and stalks will wilt and turn brown. Those are signals about when to harvest your potatoes.
“New potatoes” are extra-tender little spuds that you can eat. They are ready when the plants’ flowers bloom. To harvest them, carefully pull back the soil at the base of the plant with a trowel or your hands until you can see the potatoes. You can remove them all and eat them within a few days. They have thin skin and won’t keep for longer.
You also can carefully clip off a serving or two from the cluster and then re-cover the remainder with soil, patting it down gently to ensure the roots are still in contact with the earth. Keep in mind that pulling new potatoes reduces the yield of mature spuds.
When the top plants have wilted, the mature potatoes are ready to harvest. Choose a day when the soil is dry or lightly damp, not soggy. If the soil is very dry, dampen it to make digging up the tubers easier.
To harvest from the ground, use a long-handled garden fork or trowel to loosen the soil in a wide berth around the potatoes. When the soil is loose enough, use your hands to gather them. If you choose to use hand tools to dig up your potatoes, take care to avoid chopping, piercing or otherwise damaging them. If any do get damaged, eat them within a few days—they will rot in storage.
One big advantage to growing potatoes in containers is that harvesting them is quick and easy. Simply pour out the containers onto a large tarp. Now you can comb through the soil for your buried treasures.
Storing Your Potatoes
After harvesting your potatoes, place them in a single layer in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight for two or three days. This allows the skins to dry and “cure,” becoming tougher and more resistant to rot. Do not wash your potatoes until you’re ready to eat them—simply brush off the dirt with your hands.
Keep your freshly picked potatoes in a dark, dry place at about 65 to 70 degrees F for a couple weeks. If you grow a long-keeping variety like Rio Grande Russet, you can store the potatoes for several months in a cool basement or garage, away from any light. Check on your stored potatoes every week or so and remove any that are rotting. They can trigger decay in any potatoes near them.
When you grow and store your own potatoes, you can enjoy the homegrown food in any season. In the process, you improve the soil by keeping it loose and well-drained for other crops.