Potato Planting Tips

Potato Planting Tips to make harvesting a breeze. When you set your garden up for success from the beginning, it will make things so much easier at harvest time.

Potatoes are always the first thing we start for our spring garden. I love how easy they are, which helps ease me into gardening for the year. I get so excited and restless in the winter to be out in the garden and sunshine, but then spring comes and the work sinks in. So potatoes are a great, easy way to start.

Where to get Seed Potatoes?

We saved some of our potato harvest from last year to plant, but we also buy some from Tractor Supply to add to these. I have also planted from store bought potatoes we saved that got soft. Some say not to do this, but I did not notice a difference in the potatoes growth either way. I look at it as they were no good to eat, why waste them. Pop them in the ground and see what happens.

Chop Chop

I like to chop my potatoes into smaller pieces if they have multiple eyes on them. I sort out my potatoes, and make sure they have at least one to two good eyes on each piece. Some people will wait a day or so to let their pieces dry out. I am impatient, so I usually wait an hour or so, and go ahead and plant. I have not had any issues in doing this.

Pretty and Functional

Now the potatoes are prepped, it’s time to prep your garden spot. This year, we are working on making our garden pretty (per my request) and functional. Which means straight-ish rows. We used two poles and string to create a line to follow when we were digging our rows. Since we have pretty long rows, this helps us keep them straight. Which makes for a nicer looking garden, as well as, easier to walk in and harvest later.

Trench Planting

We like to dig about an 8 inch deep trench to plant the potatoes in. This makes mounding them easier later. Drop the potato pieces in about a foot apart and cover them with 4-5 inches of dirt. Then once your potato plants bloom and are ready to be mounded. You can add the dirt already sitting on either side of your trench around the plant, and hill the plants up as they grow.

Now that you know my top Potato Planting Tips, you are ready to get out there and get your hands dirty! Or wear gloves, it’s up yo you! 😉 Follow me on Instagram for more behind the scenes of our garden at The Four Acre Farm! Happy Harvesting!