Potatoes

I picked up some potatoes last week, getting ready for early/mid February.  I purchased two large red Red La Soda (1 lb), 2 large Yukon Gold (1 lb) and five small fingerling potatoes called La Ratte (.35lb)

They've been sitting in their bag for a couple of days, and have just started to sprout their first blooms.  The Red Potatoes have some nice blooms on them, so I cut them in half.  I will now let them air for 3-5 days before I plant them.

The Yukon Gold have not started to sprout much yet, and it seems I might have purchased one potato with only one set of blooms. I am going to let them sit for a bit before I try and cut them.


Last year, I had an incredibly disappointing year of potatoes.  They all got hit by some sort of blight, and I lost almost all of my potatoes :o(. In addition, with the huge amount of onions that I planted, my garden is actually pretty full. So this year, I thought I'd try something new:  5 gallon buckets. I have two buckets, though I might wind up using a spare bucket to total three.  I drilled large holes into the bottom and sides, put rocks in the bottom, along with some potting soil. 

I then planted three of the fingerlings in one bucket.  I will put the two Reds in the other bucket in a few days.  It is still pretty early for potatoes, but I figure that if we get a nasty freeze, I can just take the buckets inside.  I am really curious to see if this method of growing works.

The remaining potatoes I am going to plant in the middle of the garden.

We'll see what happens!