Monday, October 31, 2011

Potato sack race


A fortnight a go I posted the question of whether ordinary spuds (the ones you eat) could be used as seed potatoes. I got some great answers so a big thank you to all that commented. However I needn't have asked the question as my garden had already provided the answer. Remember this potato plant?


I had said "This little potato has really taken off considering it was only planted 7 days ago." I discovered however that this potato was not as quick as I had first thought. It happens not to be one of the ones I had planted. Turns out the chickens have been doing some planting of their own. Our disused spuds from the kitchen are thrown in with the chooks along with most other organic scraps. With all their scratching and digging they buried them and just look...


We, as in the humans of the home, didn't plant any of these. So far it looks like the spuds from our local organic store make good seed potatoes. The tip from Linda Woodrow was they have to be organic i.e. not sprayed with growth retardant. Yuck! If you didn't read Linda's comment read this.


Not wanting the chickens hard work to go to waste but not wanting to give away any more bed space to chips and mash, we dug these all up and following the suggestion by Mrs Bok we potted them up in old chook feed bags. Each member of the family did one bag and now the great potato sack race is on.

The idea behind growing spuds in a sack is that as they develop you can keep rolling the sides up and topping up with soil. Apparently easier to harvest and ensures you get every last one. Another advantage is that when ready you just tip the soil out and the spuds are already bagged. Now how good's that ;-) Jokes aside, if someone does know how to do that please do tell because that would be way cool.

Have you got a sack racing story?

16 comments:

  1. Nope, I haven't done spuds in a sack! I am divided as to whether I like the idea or not... I don't know why though! It will be interesting to see how they go - I thought potato season was over, but mine keep popping up everywhere too.

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  2. I bought expensive potato grow bags from Diggers. Now I'm kicking myself.... the chook feed bags are perfect! I'll never throw another one away again. Thanks.

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  3. I used chook feed sacks last year with only moderate success. To be honest though the potatoes I planted in potatoe grow sacks only did moderately well too. I did poke some holes in the bottom of the feed sacks working on the theory that maybe the water might not be able to get away so the potatoes weren't sitting in a swamp - I needn't have worried - they drained beautifully. It will be interesting to see how your potatoes go.

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  4. Ali according to Gardening Australia, Adelaide's potato planting dates are Aug to Nov. As I have never grown them before I can't comment from experience.

    Frogdancer yes I am glad I didn't return mine to the fodder store either. You are welcome but I must hand on the thanks to Ms Bok.

    Calidore yes they drain beautifully. I had this previously tested when I once left a full bag of feed out in the rain. The feed was socked through. So thanks for pointing out the positive to that lesson.

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  5. So the real trick is to get the chickens to do all of the work...interesting.:)

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  6. Mr.H. that's it. My chickens even do the watering when they tip over their drink container.

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  7. Hullo! Yay! When my potatoes are ready, I cut a hole in the side of the bag and collect them that way :) They have worked well for me so I hope it goes well for you too! :)

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  8. I think that is a great idea. We get late frosts here and being able to move the sack would be great so I can get a jump start.

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  9. I grow mine the old-fashioned way in rows in the ground, but I can see that this method would be great for people with a small area.

    I'll be interested to see how many you get come harvest time!

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  10. I got 20 potatoes from 4 seeds, grown in large black pots on my deck. Next time I'll leave them to mature a little longer as they were on the smallish side but delicious! I think we have two potato growing seasons in Sydney and I noticed that the next wave of certified seed potatoes have arrived at our local nursery so they'll be ready for harvest around March. The other one is in June/July ready for harvest in October/Nov.

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  11. Mrs Bok that's good news. I can feel your excitement. Due to the long period before harvesting gardening is made very rewarding. Doesn't the saying go "reward comes to those that wait"? Thanks for the hole in side tip. Not the tip the dirt out trick I was hoping for ;-)

    Lisa never though of that but yes the sacks to do have the added bonus of being movable. Once they get a bit of dirt in them though I would imagine they will be quite heavy and will require a sack truck.

    Darren I am interested too in how many I get. I will be able to compare them to the ones I have planted in the ground.

    serendipity2000I would be very happy if I get 20 in each bag. That would be a total of 80, wow! Where am I going to store them all???

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  12. Don't store the potatoes! Eat them! Nothing better than a potato harvested immediately before going into the pot.

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  13. PS. You will be getting potatoes all over your garden now. Forever after...

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  14. Oohhh, my chooks are so new they haven't been through a bag of feed yet. I'll console myself with the Diggers bag I bought from the Botanic Garden shop and the crazy little self-sown (from the compost bin) potato I found the other day and the tyre ones. I'd love a huge potato crop for all of that mashed potato..

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  15. Sadsac "potatoes all over the garden" I am happy to have that problem for now.

    Erin are these your first chooks? if so welcome to the wonderful world of chickens. And good luck with your bag of spuds.

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