Ever since then, we have been growing potatoes in wooden barrels. They are attractive and convenient. Each Christmas dinner we put aside a few potatoes or sweet potatoes in paper bags on a shelf in the kitchen. When spring arrives, we remix the soil in the barrels, add the already-sprouted potatoes, and watch them grow all summer. At the end of the season, we just dump out the barrel onto a tarp, pick out the potatoes, and put the dirt back in until the next year.
We don't exactly have huge potato crops each year, but the cost is almost nothing, and potato plants are gorgeous to look at. They have extremely dark green leaves, and when they flower, the flowers are bright yellow. It is a very nice contrast, and the rugged-looking barrels are a great ornament. I would probably grow potatoes even if they didn't result in anything edible!
Aren't They Pretty? And they're not even full grown yet! |
Are they prettier if the colors are different? For example Red or blue potatoes?
ReplyDeleteSo far we have grown Russets, White Potatoes, and Yams. All 3 had similarly super-dark green leaves and yellow flowers. We haven't experimented with blue potatoes, and I believe the red potatoes failed (we only tried them once).
ReplyDeleteI know you have a fence line. They grow quite tall and can even climb. you might consider them along a chain-link fence - but you would have to dig them out. That's the real beauty of the barrel- dump and go!