’Tater time!
A fresh harvest of Red Pontiac potatoes from a straw bed.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
If you are an early bird veggie gardener who wants to get delectable edibles growing now in spite of the lingering late winter chill, Irish potatoes are an excellent pick to scratch that itch. They can be planted in eastern S.C. any time this month, while Piedmont growers can get in on the fun by the first week of March.
Of course, preparing the growing ground is the first order of business. Irish spuds do best in a sunny location that is well-draining and, if possible, has been enriched with gobs of compost or at least a good commercial soil conditioner. Sprinkling low-nitrogen fertilizer such as 5-10-10 over the bed is a good nutrient punch to add at planting time, but make a mental note to also spritz a low-nitrogen liquid foliar feed on the leaves about once a month.
Reliable cultivars such as Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold and Kennebec are easy to find at garden centers this time of year and have been my go-to ’taters for years, bordering on eons, but occasionally I stray to the weird, fun side with online finds such as the popular Adirondack Blue, which, despite its name, is an all-purple potato both inside and out.
Cut “seed” potatoes into chunks about 2 inches square with at least two “eyes” each. Then, place them in a cool, dry area cut ends up for about three days to allow the sliced sections to cure just a bit to help prevent rot.
For an easy home garden patch, plant the “seeds” with their cut ends down a foot apart and an inch deep in prepared soil. Next, scatter a 6-inch layer of straw over the bed, water and wait. When plants emerge from the straw, let them grow for at least two weeks and then add more straw to the pile, leaving a few inches of the stem tips exposed to the sun. Do this once or twice more until the final straw pile is about 18 inches high. I like this method because it yields cleaner potatoes while still producing an impressive, large-enough-to-brag-about harvest.
Love tasty “baby” potatoes? Start searching in the straw about a week to 10 days after the plants’ flowers open. For full-sized ’taters, wait until the foliage begins to die back, normally about three to four months after planting, to go on a spud hunt.
February in the garden
• Potatoes don’t have to be lonely in the late winter veggie patch. Using basically the same planting times—February for eastern S.C. and early March for western parts of the state—you can also start such homegrown goodies as turnips, spinach, lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, cabbage, garden peas, rutabagas, leeks, kale and collards.
• When watering your indoor pretties this winter, fill a container with tap water and allow it to warm to room temperature before irrigating cold-sensitive houseplants.
Tip of the month
If we get a sudden cold snap this month, watch for the weird phenomenon known as an ice spike. This happens when a shallow container of water, such as a bird bath, quickly freezes. Water freezes from the top down, and since this icing can be uneven, a small hole on the surface is sometimes left. As the water continues to freeze, it expands and some may push through the hole, which, in very cold weather, then begins to build a hollow tube of ice that rises at an angle, creating a picture-perfect moment.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.