07/29/2018 / By Zoey Sky
If you cultivate a garden, you know that it can be difficult to gauge the progress of your potatoes. After all, while other crops like pumpkins or tomatoes grow above ground, potatoes grow underground. You won’t know if your potatoes have flourished until it’s time to harvest them. (h/t to GoodHousekeeping.com)
Ellie Grimme, the maker of the [discontinued] cedar stacking boxes called Dr. Grimme’s Tater Tower, explained that planting potatoes can involve some trial and error. If you want to grow potatoes in your homestead, try to avoid the following mistakes:
Hilling or mounding plants means forming mounds around the base of a plant. Hilling can be done via mounds for individual plants or in rows.
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Hilling is good for potatoes because the elevated soil warms quicker than the rest of the garden soil. Using this technique, more soil is exposed to air and sunlight, allowing you to start your planting season earlier. In the fall, hilling can even give you extra days of gardening.
Hilling also draws excess moisture from seeds and plants. Since hilled soil or raised bed soil is less compacted, it makes air pockets and nutrients more accessible to your plants. Looser soil lets plants spread more easily, allowing for a larger and healthier root system.
You can read more articles with tips on how to grow potatoes and other vegetables at Homesteading.news.
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Tagged Under: food supply, fresh produce, gardening, gardening skills, gardening tips, home gardening, Homestead, homesteading, off grid, organics, potato boxes, potatoes, preparedness, prepper, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance, self-sustainability, survival, sustainable living, urban gardening, urban prepping, vegetables