Know what St. Patrick's day and Potatoes have in common?

They both have their roots in Ireland and traditionally St. Pat's day is the calendar day to plant potatoes. Potatoes are a cool season crop that can't tolerate summer heat very well so March 17th is a good time to plant potatoes provided it is dry enough to dig in the garden. Often it is too wet to plant at this time of the year so I start looking for a good time starting in February. I was able to plant one row of potatoes a couple weeks ago and another row today.

I cut the potatoes into two or three sections with each section having 2-3 eyes (each eye is a baby potato plant). The potato sections are allowed to dry to touch and then are placed in about 4 inch deep holes spaced ~2 feet apart. Soil is pulled back over the potato so that the potato is sitting about 4 inches below the soil surface.

Rain is in the forecast which will settle the loose soil down around the potato sections and begin the process of making french fries lol. After the soil settles in well I plan to cover the entire row with shredded leaves to discourage any weeds until the potato plants are large enough to shade weeds out.

When the potato plants reach about 6 inches in height, I mound soil up to the top of the plant making a raised row. Potato plant stems begin to grow roots when they are covered with soil. The roots are where the potatoes form. The more roots the more potatoes. The loose raised soil offers minimal resistance to the growing potato which allows it to grow larger in size.

These are red potatoes and they taste fantastic when they are picked around 1-2 inch diameter especially with fresh green beans and roast. That is my favorite way to cook them. Sauteed in butter or olive oil is a close second. I will be planting more red potatoes in a couple weeks. I am trying to stagger them some this year to hopefully spread the harvest out. Last year I filled my wheel barrel when I dug them. It was a lot to deal with at one time so going to try to spread it out this year. The weather is looking pretty good so the garden activity will be ramping up over the next few weeks so stay tuned and thanks stopping by much appreciated!