Potato Lessons

On August 21 I planted 2 types of potatoes is side-by-side beds. The first batch was made up of 8 Coliban seed potatoes purchased at great expense (well, relatively anyway). The 2nd batch was a sole potato taken from a bag of generic eating potatoes I got at the grocery store. The photo above gives some idea of the results. The pile on the left is the harvest of more than 2 seed potatoes (they’ve been being harvested since mid December but I dug up 1 untouched mound and possibly another and some dregs of others). The pile on the right is the harvest of that single kitchen potato. I think I know what I’ll be planting this year.

On October 27th I planted the last of the potatoes from my kitchen just before I took off for a few months of travel. There were about 10 normal potatoes that I stuck in the ground in the back shady bed. In Sydney (Australian temperate climate zone) you’re supposed to plant potatoes from August to October, but maybe that assumes you’re planting them in the sun. Above is the entire harvest from my 10 potatoes. It’s like some weird magic trick on how to shrink potatoes. These poor specimens were either lying on the surface or very shallow. I suspect they were struggling to find light. But where were the original potatoes? Did they disintegrate that quickly? Or did the bandicoot eat them? What does happen to potatoes when you plant them?

All up, today I harvest 2.5 kilos of potatoes. I’m happy with the overall result especially since I think next year I can do a lot better with what I’ve learned this year.

Lessons Learned: 1) Don’t waste money on seed potatoes. 2) Plant potatoes in the sun. 3) Watch out for bandicoots.

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