Potato Tower!

Grow lots of potatoes is a small space with this tower method. It was super easy and fun.

If you are like me, growing food is both fun and helps to feed the family. Our small urban farm is just in the beginning stages of being set up. We have chickens, cats, worms and bees on our urban farm. We also have two raised garden beds.

I tried potatoes in one of my raised beds a few years ago. I had success. I harvested several potatoes. In fact, I still randomly harvest potatoes from that garden bed! Why? Because it is nearly impossible to find all of them without ripping out the entire garden.

While I love easy gardening, this ongoing random potato harvest isn’t the best or most productive method. Let me introduce the potato tower! I saw many ideas on Pinterest and created my potato tower with supplies I had around the house.

I used leftovers from previous projects. I used small wire mesh leftover from construction of our worm bins. I also used some wire from jewelry making projects. I used wire clippers and that is all that is needed for supplies.

To make the tower, use the wire mesh to create a cylinder. Since the wire mesh came in a roll, it naturally wanted to form a cylinder. Then, I used the jewelry wire to tie the cut sides together. I made sure the wire ends were tucked to the inside of the tower so little legs wouldn’t get scratched if they walked too close.

I also purchased  one bag of garden soil. I used a combination of worm compost and the bag of garden soil.

The seed potatoes directions said to leave them on the counter or window unto they sprouted. For me, they were already sprouted when I opened the bag. I went ahead and planted them right away.

I found a nice sunny spot in a flower bed, in my front yard and set up my tower. I made a two-inch layer of soil in the bottom, which was right on top of some bark mulch. Then, I placed my seed potatoes down and covered them with two more inches of soil.

The potatoes grew quickly into bushes. I continued to fill the tower with a few more inches of soil each time the bushes were tall we than the soil by at least four inches. I continued to fill the tower until I ran out of soil!

I also planted sugar snap peas around the outside of the tower for fun. These never grabbed onto the tower and just fell over. I’m not recommending it without devising a new plan to help the vines attach to the wire!

 

 

Before long, the hot summer killed the potato bushes… Well, they were not dead, just brown.  I was able to open up the tower easily and harvest my crop.

Using the tower method ensures I was able to find all of my potatoes this year. I can’t wait to cook them in foil packs over a fire.  The fall days ahead will bring cooler weather and earlier nights just perfect for fires and potatoes!

I spread the dirt out after harvesting the potatoes. That spot in the garden always had bad soil. This new infusion of garden soil and compost will make this a great spot next year for squash.

I’m going to find a new spot for the tower and reconstruct it for fall!

Happy Harvesting – If you have any stories, tips or advice, please leave me a comment.

Thank you

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