All you need are seed potatoes, a container, and a bag of potting soil.
Plant the seed potatoes spaced 12.5 cm apart.
12.5 cm unusual potatoes, such as Peruvian blue or even banana potatoes. Sweet potatoes can also be grown successfully in containers, and Ipomoea, or sweet potato vines, are used in many decorative applications. New Ipomoea varieties, with bright, chartreuse-coloured leaves, and a few annuals, such as purple pansies, make a bold statement in containers. Enjoy the colour during the summer and the sweet potato harvest in the fall.
If you have never grown your own potatoes, you are missing out on a tasty treat. Boiled and served with a little butter and fresh dill, they’ re a winner!
A favourite quote comes from Jerome Belanger,“ Digging potatoes is always an adventure, somewhat akin to fishing. There is forever the possibility that the next cast— or the next thrust of the digging fork— will turn up a clunker.”
Add soil as the plants grow until only 2.5 cm of the foliage is showing.
Time to look for new potatoes or wait to harvest full-sized spuds.
Gerald Filipski, longtime gardener and gardening writer, is just Jerry when he sits down to his first harvest of little new potatoes— with butter and fresh dill, of course. Have any questions? Just Ask Jerry.
Enjoy your potatoes!
SUMMER 2025 | 13