A week without internet has been gruelingly difficult – I feel for all the nomads out there. Thankfully all is fixed now and I will post what has been happening over the past week this weekend!
I received my shipment of Christmas seed potatoes last week and have been itching to get them planted. Traditionally, potatoes are harvested in spring/summer, this leaves a cavernous gap where home-grown potatoes are unavailable and alternatives must be sought from further afield. However, an increasing number of suppliers are offering select varieties which have been bred to be harvested November/December – just in time for christmas. Most of these varieties produce smaller, waxy potatoes.
If, like me, you do not have any spare space in your planting beds at this time of the year, try growing your potatoes in planting bags. They are cheap, moveable and can be used over and over. Apparently they also help to produce a higher yield – we will wait and see! I have planted fifteen seed potatoes across three planters and they barely take up any space.
Christmas potatoes should be planted early to mid August, with harvest around mid November. They can be left in the ground until Christmas or if dug up earlier can be stored under sand in a covered wooden box.
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