Why Grow Your Own Potatoes Do you like to eat sausages with mashed potatoes or how about french fries Most of us like to eat potatoes in one form or another But have you ever thought about growing them Fresh Flavor You will never cut through a fresher crispier potato than one you’ve just pulled up from your garden Often fruit and vegetables that you have grown yourself have real flavor partly because you can eat them just as soon as they have been picked (cid:87) Potatoes that you cook straight from the garden are hard crisp and dense (cid:83) Potatoes can be prepared in all sorts of ways mashed baked fried boiled chipped or roasted What’s your favorite way 6
Room to Grow You don’t need much room to grow your own potatoes either Did you know that you can grow them in a growbag or pot if you don’t have a vegetable plot But one of the best things about growing your own potatoes is that it’s fun Flower (cid:83) You can grow potatoes in small places even in buckets and bags SCIENCE SPOT What Is a Tuber The potato is a stem tuber A tuber is a bulbous growth that grows on the stem or root of a plant The bulbous stem tuber stores food or nutrients for the plant but it can also be dug up and eaten this is the actual potato Leaf Stem Root Young tuber Old seed potato 7
Be Prepared So you’ve decided to grow your own It’s a good idea to think about what you will need before you get going Think Ahead You will be outside a lot digging around in dirt so you will need some old clothes that your parents or carers won’t mind if you get dirty And for your feet a pair of rubber boots or old sneakers will do the job You also need to decide where you will be planting your potatoes in a pot growbag or in the ground (cid:88) If you are planting in a pot or growbag you will need some potting mix (cid:84) 8
What Else Do I Need You may decide to use gardening gloves but these aren’t necessary A fork and trowel may be useful You will definitely need some seed potatoes you can buy a bag of these from a garden center An egg carton is useful at the start to presprout your potatoes see pages 12 13 Finally you will need a watering can and some plant food to help your potatoes grow PLANT FOOD Top Tip It’s a good idea to keep a growing diary writing down everything from the potato type to how and when you did things This will help if you decide to do it again and will be fun to look back on If you have a camera taking photos as you go along would also be a good idea 9
