Saturday 30 April 2011

Early potatoes and jerusalem artichokes

Early potatoes and jerusalem artichokes

The garden is now really starting to take off with all the warm weather we have been having in the UK. The early potatoes and jerusalem artichokes in particular are surging ahead. I left some artichokes from last year's harvest in the bag and they obviously survived the harsh winter we had this year. The seed potatoes came from Marshalls and I started then off in egg trays indoors in late January.

I decided to take a risk with the weather just over three weeks ago and planted them out.  I half fill the bags with soil, place the chitted potatoes on the surface and then add just enough soil to cover the tubers. As the shoots grow I add more soil until the bag is nearly full. This method has worked really well ever since we started using the bags four years ago and although we only get enough for 4-5 meals for two of us it is just so nice to taste new potatoes straight from the earth. Once the potatoes are finished we plant courgettes and squash in the bags.

We started using bags at that end of the garden because of the tangle of roots that are close to the surface and come from the trees and bushes by the fence.  It is so much easer to use the containers instead of continually trying to convert that patch of ground into something usable.

Next job: potting up the tomatoes