Читать книгу Down to the River and Up to the Trees: Discover the hidden nature on your doorstep - Sue Belfrage - Страница 16

It’s fairly easy to grow your own vegetables wherever you live. To grow your own potatoes, any sturdy container will do. You could, for instance, use an empty dumpy bag, folding down the sides so the bag is about 40 cm (16 in) deep, or use an old compost bag or burlap sack.

For drainage, pierce a couple of small holes in the bag and add a layer of sand or other drainage material such as broken crockery or pebbles at the bottom. Then cover this layer with about 10 cm (4 in) of soil and compost mix.

How many seed potatoes you plant will depend on the size of your container, as they shouldn’t be crammed in. For a 40 litre (8.5 gallon) container, plant just three seed potatoes. Then cover these with enough soil–compost mix to keep them hidden.

Position the bag in a sunny spot and keep the soil moist. As the plants grow and shoots come up, carry on covering these with the soil–compost mix. That way, your plants will send out more roots – giving you more potatoes. When the soil level reaches the top of the bag, let the plants flower and die. Now it’s time to dig around in the soil for your crop. Depending on the type of seed potatoes you use, it may take around 90 days to get to this stage, but it’s well worth the wait.