There are only a few things that can wreck a potato yield and those include warm soil, potato bugs and blight. In the grand scheme of gardening potatoes are hearty, easy to grow and have few natural enemies as compared to other vegetables.

Below is one method for growing them.

We have some sturdy old plastic bins around that we have decided to re-purpose as our potato gardens. Being that this is an experiment, I only purchased a few pounds of organic seed potatoes for this trial. As mentioned in previous posts, we are starting raised beds this year and I am “great with child” again (due in June), so I didn’t want to put too many new irons in the fire.

I first put several sections of non-slick/non-color newspaper on the ground beneath where the potatoes would go. (This was to block out weeds from below.) Then I pinned the paper in place with the plastic boxes. I made mounds of “good dirt” (compost and peat moss) and placed the seed potatoes in them and covered them with more dirt. I sprinkled organic bone meal on the soil also, since it helps in the formation of tubers. (You do not want to add much nitrogen or you’ll get lots of leaves on the plants, but fewer tubers). Then I piled straw over top of them in the bins.

As the plant tops grow through, we will add more straw (rather than covering with dirt). We always had a problem in our traditional row garden with having enough dirt to continue to rake up the mounds of growing potatoes (and after a certain height, it just wanted to tumble back down or wash off with the next rain). With high-sided bins and lots of old straw around, we hope to address this problem too.

We’ve had a pretty bad Colorado potato beetle problem in years past. I think I will try planting marigolds and nasturtiums in the bins with the potatoes. They have helped with bean beetles and squash bugs, so maybe they will deter those ugly brown and yellow potato beetles too.

The only real issue I can see with regards to this method in our fairly warm climate is that the potato plants may get too hot. They are considered a “cool weather” crop, meaning they tolerate cooler temperatures better than hot. That’s why they thrive in places like Idaho. We’ve had good crops in-ground in years past. I’m wondering if they will get too hot this year without soil around them. On the flip side, the straw will be mostly shaded by the high sides of the bin. We’ll have to see how it goes.

At the conclusion of the season, we will tip the bins over and pull the straw away. Hopefully, we will reach right into the straw and harvest a couple hundred pounds of perfect potatoes (at least those are the yields some people claim).

Potatoes are a staple food that every survivalist needs to store both for regular eating as well as when / if a survival situation arises.

They are easy to grow, maintain and store and can store for months. To learn more about potatoes, growing and harvesting them, please visit Prepping to Survive.