For the sheer, childlike delight of ferreting around in the warm damp earth for signs of success, there is nothing more satisfying than growing potatoes. Certainly for me, they have always been a simple and rewarding crop, worth growing every year partly because we love eating potatoes in all forms, but also because they reward us for very little effort.
This year is my first growing Picasso, and I used the no dig method, and for reasons largely of economy, I buried the growing plants with straw rather than more soil. One of the things I like about no-dig is it seems to make them easier to harvest by hand, growing closer to the surface of the soil, which means far fewer end up damaged by spade or fork.
Today, noticing the haulms (the leafy growth) we’re yellowing and collapsing on a couple of the plants I thought I ought to have a look and see if they were ready and what a surprise I had!
The photo below speaks for itself, and the two largest weighed in at over 800g between them.
The harvest is finally coming in and reminding me, amongst the failures, why I do this and want to do more of it. The direct and meaningful feeling of genuine productivity. Producing something tangible which goes on to fulfill both a basic need – food – and a more spiritual one, which I find harder to define.
I look forward to sharing the yields from the remaining plants, I think there are eight or nine.
Happy gardening.
