I had a lot of extra soil and a couple of old buckets, so I decided to plant some potatoes. This week I finally decided to dig them out. The results were not great, but with the drought and heat we had, I’m more than happy with the amount.

Using the extra soil

This spring we started making our new side garden, and one part was buying new soil for the garden. I used most of the soil in the new beds and small side garden, but still, I was left with a lot of extra soil. I ended up filling every bag and pot that I had.

When I filled every pot, I remembered that I had some old sprouted potatoes and decided to try and grow potatoes in the buckets. The potato varieties were completely unknown, so I placed two potatoes in each bucket, red and white. Since I didn’t buy the potatoes for sowing or any special soil, this experiment was completely free. I just wanted to see if I’d have any luck with the bucket potatoes.

Moving potatoes was a mistake

The plants grew out of all of the planted potatoes and were progressing very well until July when I made a big mistake. I moved all my potatoes next to the garden. I thought that since this part of the garden is in the full shade they would be good there. The temperature was getting higher and higher, and I didn’t want to keep the potatoes in burning heat.

And they did well for a while, but as the drought progressed, I realized that watering these buckets would be an almost impossible task. I couldn’t get the water hose to the buckets, and carrying watering cans to the potatoes was just too difficult. I ended up watering them only once a week, which was not enough, but I had no strength to water more often, not with the whole big garden and all the yard watering that I did every day. All I could do is hope for the best.

Harvest

The plants dried by the middle of August, but I kept the potatoes in the buckets until now. Mostly because of the lack of time and strength to carry the heavy buckets up the hill and back to the yard. But, since the weather is starting to turn I decided that there was no more time to wait.

Srećko helped me dig out the potatoes. The drought affected the potatoes a lot, and the white ones were very tiny. Usually, the white varieties are a bit less productive here, but I’m sure the potatoes would be much bigger if I left them in the upper yard, where I could water them regularly.

The red potatoes were a great size, and there were lots of them. At first, when I was collecting them, I was a bit disappointed, but when I compared them to the potatoes we’ve been buying from our local markets I realized that my red potatoes were exactly the same as the bought ones. I’ve already used half of the potatoes with our lunch, and I’ll bake the small ones without peeling them. The potatoes are much less watery than the bough ones, and they have a nice strong taste.

Reusing the soil

After digging the potatoes I was left with a nice amount of new soil. Collecting it back in the bucket wasn’t a good idea, especially since I don’t have where to place it, so I just spread it under the side garden. This part of the garden is still not being used for anything, and right now we store some building materials here.

I’ve used the soil to plant some early lamb’s lettuce. If the weather will be good, I’ll harvest before January. In spring I’ll start fixing this part of the garden, and I’ll plant some flowers on this spot. I’m planning to make a small shade flower bed.

Next year plans

I’ll definitely plant more potatoes next year, I’m just not sure which method I’ll use. A few years back I used to plant the potatoes normally, in the garden beds, but this turned out to be too difficult on our soil. I might plant more bucket potatoes next year if I manage to find a spot for them somewhere in the front yard. Carrying them up and down the hill is just too difficult.

The method I’ll most likely use is planting under the hay if I manage to buy the hay next year. I have some empty space in the orchard, and I think that spot would be perfect for potatoes. It is mostly in the shade, but I can still bring the water more easily than on the bucket spot.

One thing is certain, I will grow potatoes again in my garden.