Container Potatoes!

Yesterday I decided it might be time to dig up the potatoes that I've been growing all summer in a big container in my little backyard. Once the plant stalks start to yellow, they're done.



You have to be really careful getting the dirt out so as not to puncture any potatoes buried in the dirt. I use a big plastic serving fork and an empty plastic plant container to break up and scoop the dirt out. And after digging a long ways down, I found my first two little potatoes!



Here's a closeup of one of the bigger potatoes that I was able to harvest.



Sadly, this next photo is the entire yeild of potatoes for the year! I was expecting a little more. I used the eyes from a HUGE baking potato and I thought it would yield more and/or bigger potatoes, but that's not the case. Perhaps the potatoes were simply too constrained by the size of the container. Last year I used fingerling potatoes (very small!) and the yield was close to double what I was able to harvest this year. C'est la vie. Next year, back to fingerlings in multiple and larger containers. The one thing I do know is that THESE potatoes will be the best I eat all year!



Growing potatoes are REALLY easy- even if you only have a little space. This website has some good instructions for easily growing potatoes in containers: http://www.container-gardening-tips.com/container-vegetable-gardening/growing-potatoes-in-containers.html