My husband used our cedar trees to make boards for my potato tower. Here it is with its first layer and some chicken pecked straw as cover. We selected red pontiac potatoes for our first box. They are one of the varieties recommended for the towers.
As the vines begin to grow you add another board on each side and fill with more dirt, compost or straw leaving some of the vine exposed. Keep going until the tower is filled.
Once the bottom layer of potatoes have matured to the size you want, remove the bottom layer of boards and scrape out the potatoes. Push the dirt back in place and replace all the boards.
Make sure you select a variety that will set potatoes as far up the vine as possible.
We put this box next to our little side garden so we can watch it. We may try another variety next to it and perhaps other methods up in the big side garden.
Click here to see my earlier post on making the boards. He cut them to size and made sure to pre drill the screw holes to prevent the boards from cracking.
Our neighbor gave him a hand, or two!
We are getting some cooler weather this week, hoping we don't get a freeze. We have grapes on the vine due to the early spring, small peaches plus a couple of potato eyes planted in this box. Most everything else is a cold weather plant plus perennials. We'll keep our fingers crossed!
7 comments:
Good luck! :o)
We're supposed to have some rain this week. Oh, potatoes....I love potatoes.. :) :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)
Wow Kathy,
Your hubby is amazing. Those cedar boards look wonderful. He must have a planer. Your new potato tower looks neat. I look forward to reading about your progress. I was going to try a few potato towers, but changed my mind. I've got lots of new projects this season. I hope to try them next year.
We have cedars everywhere! There is one really ugly one, no branches on the lower half, and it sits right in front of the house as seen from the street. It is always in a photo, just a big ugly trunk. That might be the next to go. It's big.
I love potatoes too. We may try a tower made of chicken wire and straw up at the big garden, a different variety than the red. We eat them fresh of course, but also dehydrate them for winter.
Thanks, we may need it.
your boxes and potatoes look great. It's nice having a husband that knows how to work with wood.
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