It's been a few weeks since Part 1 of this experiment in which we were surprised to find potatoes in the garden bed. We had been expecting more potatoes from the buckets all along. At the time of our first harvest we got a bunch of Desiree potatoes out of our bed. We hadn't harvested the Desiree buckets and were eagerly anticipating what was happening in those buckets.
This past weekend we decided it was time. Here's how things were looking prior to dumping.
This large trash can (salvaged from the neighbors curb) "contained" the last of the yellow fin potatoes.
Three containers of Desiree potatoes.
We'll skip the dirt pictures and go straight to the harvest.
Yup. Two. The size of a small finger nail.
We were both disappointed, but not totally surprised after our first harvest. As we were cleaning up Bryan asked if we'd do it again. I think we will. We have decided to skip Yellow Fin next year and try Desiree and maybe another variety. I think we will still try containers again next year since we have them. We will also mess with the soil. Potatoes like a more acidic soil, so we'll experiment with the dirt we plant them in.
This was an experiment after all, so it's hard to call it a complete failure. What I love about gardening is that you learn by doing, by getting your hands dirty, literally. So while we may not have baskets of potatoes stored in the basement for winter, we now have first hand knowledge of growing potatoes and better appreciation for the potatoes we get from our farmers market and store.
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