Chris Collins on…success with growing potatoes
From roasties to chips, buttery mash to baked - it’s hard to think of a more versatile veggie than the humble potato. Of course, the potato is not an English vegetable - its descendants come from Southern Peru - but it’s fair to say it’s truly become part of our eating culture.
They’re also really easy to grow. And whether in open ground or a container, the potato plant will produce tubers without much fuss.
Planting potatoes into sacks 🔗
My growing relationship with this edible began in my TV days when I became the face of the Potato Council campaign. Yes, my friends did find this hilarious - but the project was aimed at schools and was really successful.
The idea was to grow potatoes in hessian sacks. ‘Rocket’ organic seed potatoes were placed into compost in the bottom third of the sack, and as the crop grew the sack was gradually rolled up and more compost added. This resulted in potatoes being produced all the way through the sack.
The greatest part of this exercise was emptying out the tatties in assembly and seeing the faces of the pupils - who could not believe potatoes could grow like this. After assembly they all went off to cook chips!
Planting potatoes outdoors 🔗
On my allotment, my potato crop plays a big a role, not just producing food for my table but also helping to control weeds. Lots of gardeners have different methods of growing their potatoes. The no-dig gardeners may use the straw method, planting shallow and covering with straw, but others like to ‘earth-up’, pilling soil around the plant as it grows.
I like to plant deep, and I place my seed potatoes close. This means in a trench, 30cm deep and 30cm wide, with sets 25cm apart. I place these in a staggered formation. The reason I do this is because I’m planting in areas of big, pernicious weeds so it's a way for me to have some organic weed control.
The potato shoots come to the surface quickly, and the foliage binds together to form a thick canopy. This blocks out light from any potential weed growth. The depth of the trench also means they crop heavily.
But you cannot beat the taste of a fresh potato, no matter how you like to grow or cook them!
Happy gardening, Chris
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