Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

Planted Potatoes

I made progress in the garden today - the weather has been just gorgeous the past three days with temps up to 60 degrees.  I planted 23 pounds of Kennebec potatoes in one of my raised beds - 16' x 3'.  I've had them on the kitchen table for the past 2 weeks, spread out in trays so they would start to sprout.  I prepared the garden bed by adding sand to my soil for better drainage and incorporating 1 1/2 pounds of Roots Alive fertilizer.  I spaced the potatoes 12" apart.  I read in Secrets of Master Gardeners that you get more pounds per square foot if you plant whole seed potatoes instead of cutting them into pieces, so that is what I did.  I left 3 or 4 eyes (sprouts) on each potato - just rubbed off any extra ones.  I dug holes about 8" deep, placed the potato in with the eyes up, and covered over with 3 inches of dirt.

I still have 25 pounds of Norkota Russets to plant - they will be going in my 5 potato bins, so I'll have 5 pounds in each bin.  I need to go get some more sand from my Dad's place to mix in my soil.  I'm also waiting for my order to come in with more fertilizer...