Planting Potatoes in Burlap Bags

If you've been following my blog, you know that, at this time, I have container gardens. Eventually, when we get moved out to our farm, I will have a BIG garden! But, in the meantime, I have to be creative. I've been using repurposed galvanized water troughs, from the farm, for my containers. However, this year, I decided to try something new and plant potatoes. I really didn't have enough room to give up in any of my containers (I also will have onions, tomatoes, okra, and herbs) so I decided to try something new......burlap bags!
All you need are some seed potatoes, burlap bags, garden soil, and a wooden pallet!

I went to our local farm and ranch store, Russell Feeds, to purchase my seed potatoes. http://www.russellfeedandsupply.com/
Next, I did a process called "chiting" my potatoes. To "chit" the potatoes, you simply cut your seed potatoes into pieces, making sure each piece has at least one "eye" (sprout). Then you place the cut pieces in an egg carton and keep them in a warm dry room for 2 to 3 days. This helps them dry out, or cure, and prevents rotting. It can also help them sprout.

When you're ready to plant, you will take your burlap bags and roll them down to about 10 inches tall. Fill them with garden soil, about 6 inches deep. Place 3 or 4 potato pieces in each bag, with the sprouted eye facing up.

Cover with another 2 inches of garden soil and water well. Keep your burlap bags on a wooden pallet to help the air circulate and prevent rotting. 

Right after I planted my potatoes, we had several days of rain here. I was afraid they were getting too much water and would begin to rot, even though I had done the chiting process. What's handy about this method of planting, is that I simply moved everything inside until the downpour stopped!

After the rainy days, I moved my pallet back outside into the sunshine. When I checked yesterday, I have some small potato plants coming up!

When these plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, I will roll the burlap bags up, fill in more garden soil up to 4 inches, and leave about 2 to 4 inches of plant. I'll continue this process until the plants start to flower. This should be sometime in July. By the end of summer, my potato vines should appear to wither and die. That will signal harvest time!! 

I'll keep you updated on the potato progress!!