What do potatoes and bookcases have in common?
I just love this sweet potato print by Elise Towle Snow of Argyle Whale.
Back to the riddle…
Well as far as I know not much but bookcases can make a great place to plant potatoes. Traditionally, potatoes are grown in home gardens in mounds. Mounds can take up quite a bit of space and can be a bit unwieldy. Potatoes can also be grown in old tires but concerns about chemicals leaching into the soil I am growing in worry me.
Then it hit me, I had an older bookcase that would serve has a great place to grow potatoes!
All you need is a bookcase with selves spaced fairly far apart, soil, and seed potatoes. If you are reusing a bookshelf that has paint or stain that maybe be unsafe make sure to paint a few coats of safe paint over the old paint to prevent the old paint from potentially leaching chemicals into your soil.
It is a bit late to be planting potatoes but with all the rain this is one of the first times it has been dry enough to get out in the garden. Gardeners up north can still get in on the potato fun and those in the south you have time to scope out yard sales and thrift shops to find the perfect bookcase and get it prepped.
First, lay your bookcase down on it’s side and add a bit of compost or soil to the bottom- about 2-3 inches.
This is what the space between the shelves will look like. If you shelves are super deep add a bit more soil so that your potatoes will be a bit closer to the top of the bookcase and won’t be to shaded.
Now you need a prepared seed potato. I cut mine in half leaving plenty of potato and two started eyes. You can cut your potato in half a few days before you plant them to give the cut side a bit of time to dry to reduce the chance of rotting.
Set your seed potato in the soil cut side down. The compartments in my book shelf are big enough that I put on seed potato on each side.
See this is how I did it…
Then add just enough soil to cover all by the very tippy tops of the potato sprouts.
As your plants begin to grow they will look like the one below. This potato plant is a volunteer from a potato I accidentally left in the soil from last years harvest.
As the plant continues to grown keep adding more soil, covering all of the plant and surrounding area with soil. Just leave 2 or so inches of leaf above the soil line. I keep mounds my plants until the soil is about 1 inch from the top of the compartment. As an added bonus many potato plants have beautiful flowers and lovely foliage.
Of Potatoes and Bookcases
What do potatoes and bookcases have in common?
Back to the riddle…
Well as far as I know not much but bookcases can make a great place to plant potatoes. Traditionally, potatoes are grown in home gardens in mounds. Mounds can take up quite a bit of space and can be a bit unwieldy. Potatoes can also be grown in old tires but concerns about chemicals leaching into the soil I am growing in worry me.
Then it hit me, I had an older bookcase that would serve has a great place to grow potatoes!
All you need is a bookcase with selves spaced fairly far apart, soil, and seed potatoes. If you are reusing a bookshelf that has paint or stain that maybe be unsafe make sure to paint a few coats of safe paint over the old paint to prevent the old paint from potentially leaching chemicals into your soil.
It is a bit late to be planting potatoes but with all the rain this is one of the first times it has been dry enough to get out in the garden. Gardeners up north can still get in on the potato fun and those in the south you have time to scope out yard sales and thrift shops to find the perfect bookcase and get it prepped.
First, lay your bookcase down on it’s side and add a bit of compost or soil to the bottom- about 2-3 inches.
This is what the space between the shelves will look like. If you shelves are super deep add a bit more soil so that your potatoes will be a bit closer to the top of the bookcase and won’t be to shaded.
Now you need a prepared seed potato. I cut mine in half leaving plenty of potato and two started eyes. You can cut your potato in half a few days before you plant them to give the cut side a bit of time to dry to reduce the chance of rotting.
Set your seed potato in the soil cut side down. The compartments in my book shelf are big enough that I put on seed potato on each side.
See this is how I did it…
Then add just enough soil to cover all by the very tippy tops of the potato sprouts.
As your plants begin to grow they will look like the one below. This potato plant is a volunteer from a potato I accidentally left in the soil from last years harvest.
As the plant continues to grown keep adding more soil, covering all of the plant and surrounding area with soil. Just leave 2 or so inches of leaf above the soil line. I keep mounds my plants until the soil is about 1 inch from the top of the compartment. As an added bonus many potato plants have beautiful flowers and lovely foliage.