2) Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bins
Pics are temporarily down due to a problem at my storage site. I’ll have them back up ASAP. Sorry.
You may have read about my obsession with finding the perfect potato bins to grow potatoes outside my SFG. This was both to save space in the garden for other plants, and to achieve a greater depth of potato harvest than my 15 inch beds could allow. Yes, I know I could have raised the potato section higher, but I defer to my first point. Of course I researched other options, from tires to garbage cans to compost bins, but this method really caught my eye for someone with severe space constraints and a desire for larger potato yields for storage. Let me say that there are 100 ways to grow a tomato, so to each their own. Enjoy!
So, thanks to Judy finding this article (Seattle Times article on Potato Bins) in my hometown newspaper, Greg Lutovsky, who has been farming potatoes commercially for over a decade shared the perfect option for any size bin I find room for in my garden.
So this page is devoted to the building of my two potato bins, one for my Organic Buttes and the other for my Yukon Golds. I’ll still try to include what I’m doing in my blog, but this can hopefully be a central location all about my potato bins.
**NOTE - EDIT** Greg from Irish-Eyes Garden City Seeds let me know that Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte.
I like Irish Eyes and Territorial for buying local potatoes online or from catalog. However, if you can’t find the variety you want there, check out Oregon State University’s Potato or WSU Potato Varieties pages which appear to be decent lists of the popular varieties and mostly tells you if they’re early or late. Again you want late for towers or hilling.
Build-As-You-Grow Bins seem easy to build and hopefully will last a few years. I won’t be using pressure treated wood for both the weight and potential health issues (though the new treatment doesn’t appear harmful). I anticipate using good ol’ shop pine 2×6s and I’ll recycle some of the extra 2×2s I bought when I redid my windows. The 2×2s were used for resting the bottom flange on the ground without damaging it.
Since these bins will be sitting on pea gravel that I don’t want dirt all over, I will line the bottom of the bin with landscape fabric and stapple it to the bottom board. That will provide good drainage and hold the dirt in. I just can’t move it around like I could a garbage can.
However, the benefit over a garbage can is that since you only add 6 inch layers when you need them for more dirt, the plants get great sunlight. In a garbage can, they get poor light at best.
Today I went out and looked how the sun cast shadows in that corner of my garden area, only to find that the best spot was actually behind my corn bed. I’ve got 7 feet by about 3 feet to work with. The way I figure, I can build two bins 2.5×2.5×3 and slip them in that area if I don’t move my fence line as I planned. I’ve got too many projects for this year as it is, so it can wait a year if I find a better potato spot.
I was worried about my growing corn shading my potatoes too much, but Judy thinks that the potatoes will be done growing by August when the corn is doing it’s big growth spurt. Let’s hope.
I’m still not set on the place where the finished bins will go, I may relocate them to the other side of the house that gets almost as much light (still southern facing) but I wouldn’t have to worry about spilling dirt on my clean gravel. I could put them in my failing rose garden and dig out the weedy soil and replace 12 inches or so with Mel’s Mix and set the bins without the landscape fabric. Pretty much the same idea as the article suggests. Let the roots grow into the ground and the potatoes grow up in the air where you can rob them whenever you want.
So, today I went and got the materials and built my bins. A material list follows for one bin (I bought double for $65) with an interior dimension of 27×27x33 and an exterior of 30×30x33 (they’re pretty good sized):
6 ea. 2×6x10′ Douglas Fir
2 ea. 2×2x8′ Pine
1 lb. 2.5 inch galvinized deck screws
The tools I used included my tape measurer, square, screw gun, drill bit, skill saw and saw horses. That’s it. Pretty basic.
To begin, I cut my 2×2s into 33 inch lengths (4 of them). Then I cut one 2×6x10 into two 30 inch and two 27 inch pieces, with minimal scrap.
In the foreground you can see the 2×2s leaning on the right. In the background you can see all the 2×6s in the truck. You need 6 of them to build the bin, but only one to start. I have so many because I bought all 12 because at $4 a piece you couldn’t go wrong.
When you’re all done cutting, you will have 4 2×2s 33 inches long, two 2×6s 30 inches long and two 2×6s 27 inches long.
Before you do the final assembly, lay it out and mark where the 2×6s will be screwed into the 2×2s. Then using a drill, or screw gun with a drill bit, drill pilot holes in the 2×6s so you don’t split the wood. Then I actually started the screws all the way through the 2×6s so I only had to screw through the 2×2s.
Note when assembling the box that the 27 inch pieces go on the inside of the 30 inch pieces to make a 27 inch inside square. The 2×2s go on the inside for support and ease of attaching the next layer when growth warrants. Final assembly was harder than I thought it would be because the 2×2s kept flaring away from the 2×6s and wouldn’t draw back. It would have been much easier if I had clamps to keep them together, but it worked in the end.
All in all it took me approximately 3 hours to build two bins to this point. It started to rain and light was failing me or I would have also cut all of my 2×6s and stacked them up so I would be ready to install them whenever.
So now if you wanted to use this with your SFG to build up instead of down, just rest it inside your beds and plant your seed potatoes. As the article says you can get up to 100 pounds from this contraption. It’s well worth it! I could paraphrase the article, but thanks to John Saul and Greg Lutovsky, I don’t have to. Read the linked article at the Seattle Times above to find out how to use this to it’s greatest advantage. Build-As-You-Grow is the way to go!
Now that you’ve got your bins built, it’s time to find the perfect place for them. I couldn’t find out a great way to fit a bottom to it that wouldn’t rot (though plastic with holes drilled into it would work, screwed to the bottom 2×6), so the next best option is to set it on top of dirt. This could either be in your existing garden, or someplace that gets full sun in your yard. For me, I didn’t want to use up space in my raised beds, so I settled on a spot right next to my fence on the other side of the yard.
I dug down 6 inches, removing any weeds and roots I found, in the general shape of my bins. Then I set the bins on top and filled with my left over Mel’s Mix. It should be great for potatoes since the goal with potatoes is to keep the soil moist without letting them dry out, which leads to mishappen tubers. The vermiculite and peat moss do great at holding moisture and allowing for drainage. Now I’ve got Mel’s Mix up the sides of my bins about 1 inch, so I can plant the seed potatoes in 7 inches of “dirt” and then have 33 inches to go up, for about 3 feet total!
One slight change to this last pic. I got a new roll of landscape fabric so I just dug out the Mel’s Mix, lifted the bin, laid down landscape fabric and put it all back like you see it. That way no weeds will grow up into the mixture. I am all ready to plant the potatoes when I get them (should have them by mid March). Of course, if you save some seed from the harvest, the next year you have second generation seed that will be pre-sprouted come planting time!
According to Ciscoe’s potato site (local Master Gardener of some renown), osmocote (14-14-14) slow release fertilizer works well at initial planting, but fertilizer for acid loving plants works well too. I just bought some of that for my blueberries, so I may try a light dose of that. His advice matches that of the Times article about letting the vine grow 4 inches then cover 3 of them, always letting an inch stay above the dirt line. Though he suggests using 100% compost to fill the bin. I think I’ll use Mel’s Mix for the all-important moisture retention feature. The stuff I’ve got pre-mixed is heavy on compost anyway, so I should be good.
I know it’s early to be talking about harvesting, but whenever you take a board off, I recommend using a tarp to drape around the three sides of the bin where the board’s coming off. That way, any dirt that falls out (and it will), will be caught by the tarp. You can then put it back with a trowel.
Ok, I checked the SFG book and wanted to remind everyone (including myself it seems), that you don’t plant potatoes until the soil temp is 45 degrees or higher. You can use a regular digital meat themometer to tell you, just wash it before using it for food again, hehe.
Another thing I learned recently is that while potatoes can survive a frost while they’re underground, the stems are damaged by frost and it can hurt your yield. So I’m going to consider a frost guard for my bins. I’ll describe whatever I do here to help others out.
Instead of making frost guards for my bins, I just waited until the threat of frost was over (hopefully for good). Today I planted my potatoes. The soil temp was 55 degrees compared to a minimum of 45, so I was confident they’d grow. Here’s a pic of my Yukon Golds with about 6 inches of clearance around them. I threw about 2 inches of dirt over them. So now they’re burried 2 inches deep with 3 inches of dirt under them for root growth.
In case you’re wondering. I covered these with about 3 inches of Mel’s Mix after I took this picture. It’s been approximately 20 days since I planted these puppies (April 3 to be precise), and nothing’s happened since. Well, not nothing, just no sprouts. We’ve had a frost or two, 4 inches of snow and countless nights of near freezing temps. Research told me that potatoes under ground are fine in light freezes. It’s not until the sprout that feezing temps and frost will damage them. That said, we had what I hope is our last frost today, and then the day was beautiful. On my regular inspection of my garden, I noticed the dirt was cracking in the bed with my Buttes in it. So I gently dusted off the top quarter inch of dirt and found a pencil thick stock trying to sprout! That means any day now I should start to see life emerge from the bins!
If you’ve seen Judy’s Blog you’ll know that in “her” zone 8b, she’s got three boards up and plants that must be 15 inches by now (most under dirt as they should be). So, even though I encourage you to check back to see how my bins produce over the season, you can get a sneak peak of how they’re SUPPOSED to look from her blog. And while you’re there, see how amazing the rest of her garden is growing! She’s impressive!
In case you want to see what the beginnings of potato plants actually look like, here are the first sprouts in my B-A-Y-G-Bs!
This picture is from my Butte russett bin. My Yukon Gold has only two sprouts now while my Butte’s up to 5. However, my Butte seed potatoes are sprouting from more than one eye. So I’ve got sprouts right next to each other. Apparently this isn’t a bad thing to have multiple plants from the same potato. The more vines the more potatoes.
Here’s my Butte’s at the beginning of May. My Yukons are progressing, but nowhere near as rapidly.
I’ll keep this updated as to my progress. I hope you find this page as helpful as it was fun making it!
Here is my Butte Bin on 5/8/08…
Unfotunately the top right corner hasn’t sprouted. I hate to leave it behind but it’s almost time to add dirt. Good thing I can slope the dirt to cover each plant appropriately with the top 2 inches remaining uncovered.
Well, mid May and I finally found that my plants had grown enough to add dirt… NOTE: I just read that at this point you definitely cover all but the very top leaves to avoid letting sun get to the stalks and lower leaves. Ciscoe says at 4 inches cover all but the top inch. The concern is apparently if the stem and leaves get too much sun they dont’ produce potatoes. That would be horrible to do all that work and get nothing.
So I dumped dirt over it and mounded it up to leave two inches uncovered of each plant. Thankfully the seed potato in the corner finally sprouted so I took it out while I was adding dirt, then burried it just under the surface of the higher dirt level. Let’s hope it catches up eventually.
Next growth will require another board, so I’ll cut 8 more boards to have them ready to go. I’d recommend cutting them all, but I was lazy when I was building these, and it started raining. hehe.
As the weather heats up, the growth becomes faster and faster. It wasn’t but a few weeks and I had to add a second story. It was after I’d cut the boards and gathered the tools to install them that I realized putting the bins so close to the fence was a mistake. I can’t get the screw gun back there. So to attach back board I screwed it in from the side instead. It should hold.
Oh, don’t let your bin get to look like this. You should burry the stems way before I did. And always keep “dirt” on hand to burry with. I made the mistake of needing to make more and then the weather kept me from getting it bought and mixed. I hope I wasn’t too late for potatoes from this part. Remember this is my first year doing this so I’m no expert. Just interested in sharing. Note for the 2009 season. I am convinced that this error led to the minimal potatoes in the upper levels. At some point above 4 inches it seems the plant stems become stems and won’t become roots. Be consistent with your burrying.
Further I recommend hand filling the bin with dirt. See that jungle above. I poured the dirt from a bag into “open” sections and ended up burrrying entire plants that way. No potatoes will grow from those. Grrr. So careful. If you want to be really safe, cut down on the number of plants in the bin. Maybe you’ll get the same amount of potatoes from fewer fully developed plants. Not sure. It’s worth a try.
Here’s a pic of me finally topping out on my boards. After I installed them I filled in carefully around the plants, burrying the lower branches but keeping the current bunch of blooms uncovered.
Now a note on watering. I chose Mel’s Mix for it’s drainage, but mostly it’s water retention properties. Potatoes that don’t get constant moisture are mis-shapen at best, so it is important to water regularly, but don’t drownd them. With Mel’s Mix, I would just deeply water the bed every three days in the spring (unless it rained), but every day or two in the summer. If you’re not sure if you have good water penetration at the bottom of the bed, you may consider drilling a drainage hole in the bottom board, or wedging a small drain pipe under the bottom to tell you when water starts coming out of it that it’s well watered. These are only a few options for solving the deep watering problem. Just make sure you do it.
Now I want the plants to grow as big as they want and flower at will.
When the flowers die I’ll wait two weeks and then harvest as many potatoes as I can…
Note that friends of mine in other parts of the country have had mixed results with this method. In fact, I have yet to see anyone get 100 pounds from one of these. I’m still hopeful and will continue to experiment with this method as I still don’t have enough room to do a traditional hilling method in rows or beds.
Update: I harvested the Yukon bin and got 10 pounds in the bottom six inches, see my note above. I’m hopeful that I can get closer to 60 pounds out of the Butte bin, but I’m going to wait until October to harvest.
Update: Well, it’s October and I covered the dying branches with plastic for two weeks to allow the dirt to completely dry out.
After two weeks, the plants looked like this…
Note that the green at the bottom are actually weeds that grew up nicely in the compost that spilled out onto the ground, hehe, very fertile stuff.
So to harvest, I cleared the weeds and piled the dead vines on top, then removed the front wall from the bin…
Once the tarp was down, I used my hands to push the dirt out onto the tarp. I didn’t want to risk piercing the spuds with a fork or spade, so I did the harvesting by hand.
As I found the russets, I tossed them onto a tarp and let the sun dry them.
I’m told a rule of thumb for potato harvests is 10 pounds per pound of seed. I got 25 pounds for my one pound, so I guess I shouldn’t be too disappointed about the results of my first year planting potatoes. Still it’s nowhere near the 60 pound average that Greg Lutovsky’s customer’s experienced. In hindsight I think I got lazy in hilling my potato plants as they were growing. Sometimes I would let them get to be 8 or so inches tall and jungle-like before dumping more dirt in and covering the stems. I now know that causes the plant to become a stem rather than a root, stopping growth. As it is, I didn’t get much production in the top part of the bin. I think that’s the reason. Remember, constant vigilance!
I should edit this to say that I took all my Mel’s Mix that I used to plant my potatoes and stored them in vermiculite and compost bags that I saved. I’ve got over a dozen bags of Mel’s Mix stored on the side of my shed. I know you’re not supposed to use these to grow potatoes in next year (though I understand the next year may be ok). I also realize that what I’d like to use them for, my tomato SWCs, isn’t great either because both tomatoes and potatoes are nightshades. Still, I expect I will use the soil in my SWCs to plant tomatoes and cantaloupe. The next year I will likely go back to potatoes. This may not work, but I can’t use straw in the PNW (it rots and molds), so I need to use the dirt and don’t want to waste it.
Anyway, once you’ve got your potatoes harvested and dried, the best method for long-term storage is not to remove all the dirt from them, just brush off a bit with your hand. Potatoes like dark, dry, cool and well ventilated places to hang out. Thanks to a local gardening buddy, here is what I did. I got a banker’s box (any box will do) and drilled holes in it for ventilation. Then I laid down a layer of shredded paper (straw would work great but I’m fresh out of hay). On top I placed a layer of taters with a bit of room around each one.
Then you just keep layering moisture absorbing material and potatoes until you are done or reach the top. Note that you don’t want to store any buised or otherwise damaged potatoes. Hold them out for near-term use. They won’t last and could cause the rest of the bunch to rot. Hand harvesting like I did made sure none of my skins were broken.
Kept this way, I’m told potatoes will last upwards of a year. Not that 25 pounds will last my family nearly that long, but if you had mutliple bins, you could easily feed your family for a year. Note that mine didn’t last nearly a year in storage. Around February what we didn’t eat sprouted despite being in a cold garage with no light, plenty of ventilation and moisture absorbing paper. Much as I hated losing the good eats, I was happy to have presprouted potatoes ready for planting in mid-March. Sort my blog by the potato category and check out the posts from March of 2009. You will see some pretty amazing differences for this year.
In encourage you to think about growing potatoes, they’re high in protein and vitamins (eat the skin!) and you can even save seed for next year buy holding out the smaller potatoes in a separate box done up just like the box above!
Well, I’ve now chronicled a year’s worth of design, gardening, harvesting and storage. I hope you got a lot out of this page and just maybe this system is right for you in your garden. Good luck and enjoy your garden!
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Hey there, if you’ve come from the new potato bin story from the Times or any of the awesome viral sites, I hope you enjoyed last year’s potato bin adventure. In case you weren’t aware, I grow far more than just potatoes, in fact this chronicles only one small part of my suburban 140 SF garden. So I hope you come back often to read the rest of my blog and comment.
Comments
Comment from Aulani
Time: May 7, 2008, 8:44 am
It seems that the Ciscoe website is deceased. That’s what the error message said anyway. Hope you can get us a new address. I love your ideas with this potatoe bin. Makes a lot of sense because of exposure to sun. I’ve got a bin going, but it is in a garbage can and I use compost only on the first layer, straw thereafter.
Comment from Dave
Time: May 30, 2008, 11:45 am
Hi
I’d like to put a feed to this article. Your feed URL is broken
Comment from Deborah Stuart
Time: June 2, 2008, 2:18 pm
Year ago I grew potatoes in old tires (??@#$ - I do not think I would do that now!). I put them on dirt and started with a little ocmpost but then added chopped leaves (as opposed to hay or straw). I didn’t get an amazing number of potatoes but did get some! Of course, with the tires you can keep adding and you don’t have to build anything. I have been racking my brain for something that would accomplish the same thing but haven’t had any bright ideas yet. I am thinking about a circle of hardware cloth - sort of a cage. More light would get in than with a trash barrel. If straw of leave were sort of along the outside rim and some compost directly over the plants this might be a good compromise. I am interested in other suggestions as well!
Deborah
Comment from Chuck Bartok
Time: July 6, 2008, 7:47 am
Wish I had found your blog earlier this year.
Tires did not work for me.
Thank you for the thorough presentation.
You and your readers may enjoy following our
Tomato voyage on video
Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth
I am posting your link to my blog.
Thank you again
Chuck Bartok
Comment from Susan
Time: August 16, 2008, 7:57 am
Hi again,
Well in all the years I have grown vegetables, and it has been off and on depending on where I have lived and how much room I have, I have never had success with potatoes. My western garden book says July-Aug is the time to plant potatoes in my zone 23, but I wonder if keeping them in your type of bin would bring me more success than traditional planting. My intention is to start my first SFQ for next spring, but the potato bin looks like a great idea too. Have you had feedback from people in my area?
Comment from Susan
Time: August 16, 2008, 7:59 am
Ooops, sorry, my area being SoCal.
-Susan
Comment from DoubleD
Time: August 27, 2008, 8:21 pm
I have seen this design several times and have been most intrigued. I will be checking back with you as the harvest time approaches to see what kind of results you got.
Comment from Sinfonian
Time: August 27, 2008, 9:23 pm
Hehe DoubleD has been gardeing in the PNW for a while (her whole life), so I bet she saw the Times article in 2005 when it came out. And of course this concept is nothing new. I just am excited about it, and it’s new to me.
I too am excited, and DoubleD, you will definitely be one of the first to know my harvest results!
Comment from Brian
Time: September 22, 2008, 9:10 pm
Great construction details! I’ve been wanting to try something similar to this for awhile.
Comment from Rick
Time: October 5, 2008, 4:16 am
This box didn’t work so well for me. All of the potatoes grew in the bottom 1 foot of it. There is no sense in making the box higher than 1-2 feet. Of course this is only my experience.
Live in NW New Jersey, Zone 6, Grew baking potatoes (Not sure of the name, I reminded me of Quebec).
Comment from Sinfonian
Time: October 5, 2008, 8:33 am
Note to all: Since I shared this my yukon bin produced 10 pounds, all in the bottom 6 inches. I did further research and found that early varieties set fruit once, thus the reason they mature early. So for all early varieties, use anything that provides 6 inches of dirt for them to set fruit, any more is a waste. Sorry. If it’s any consolation, the contributor to the article I got the idea from was none-to-happy that they left that part out. Tell me about it! Hope folks had better luck with their late season varieites and next year with your tater bins!
Comment from Maggie
Time: November 23, 2008, 10:57 pm
Fantastic! I love this idea. I can’t wait to get somewhere where I can grow my own garden. Found your site because of Patti, the Garden Girl.
Aloha,
Maggie
Comment from Susy
Time: December 1, 2008, 3:34 pm
Thanks, I love the photos & how-to’s. Great post!
Comment from Posturedoc
Time: January 14, 2009, 7:58 pm
Sinfonian, I built potato bins, six in all, this season. I have you to thank since the GardenWeb thread I stumbled on last spring had your description and link to this blog. I ended up with six because I have an inability to keep myself from planting every darned variety of just about any veggie or fruit that takes my fancy. Six of the many potato varieties I read about simply had to have themselves planted in my garden last year.
I had the same result with Yukon Gold that you did. I’m glad you discovered why. I thought it was just that I got a late start on my taters (not in the ground until the first week of July, due to several too boring for this message reasons). Still, the other five varieties all showed signs of producing potatoes well up the stems, though the vast majority of the potatoes were in the bottom 10 inches of soil. I simply got them in the ground too late for the longer season potatoes to produce far up the stems.
Anywho, the real reason I am writing this message is not to prattle on about my bins, but to suggest that, unless you like using dirt to hill around your plants, use straw or dried leaves (they’re free!) instead. That may not work as well for you in the wet Pacific NW, but it works in hot, dry Reno, NV. I found removing the top two feet of leaves from my bins to be much, much easier than the bottom 10 inches of dirt/compost and I can then throw my leaves in my compost pile or dig them in my raised beds to break down. What did you do with all of your potato dirt?
Comment from Don
Time: January 17, 2009, 2:53 pm
If the potatoes only grow in the bottom 6 to 10 inches can I build a box out of 2×12 and add soil up to the top?
Comment from Judy
Time: January 18, 2009, 10:02 am
It’s potato seed buying time! Had to come back and re-read Sinfonian’s page about the potato bins and which varieties to avoid (the early maturing ones like Yukon Golds). I am in search of some later maturing varieties for my potato bins this year. Awesome page Sinfonian — loads of info here!
Comment from Posturedoc
Time: January 22, 2009, 5:07 pm
Don, the potatoes only grow in the bottom 6″-10″ if they are an early maturing potato. When you do your potato shopping, make sure to check out how long it should take for your potatoes to mature. If they are like Yukon Gold, that will be in the 60-65 day range. Mid season potatoes require 80-100 days and long season potatoes from 100-120 days. The latter two should provide potatoes much higher up their vines/stalks than 6-10 inches if you follow the proper hilling technique.
To more directly answer your question, you can grow any variety of potato in your 2×12 bed, but you will be limiting your potential production on mid and late season varieties.
Comment from Bill
Time: February 7, 2009, 11:49 pm
This looks like a great idea I’d like to try out this year. I’m going to modify the wood approach and make bricks out my rock pile. I figure in the long run it will be more durable and cheaper.
I have my doubts about growing 100 lbs in a 4 foot cube. I mean just picture ten 10 lbs bags of potatoes. You’d have to grow them in water to have any space! 50-60 lbs sounds like the max. Even that amount would be really pushing it.
One problem this does solve is having your plants fall down. Essentially you’re staking them with peat moss.
In the spring when the cool weather can rot things, you could easily drape some plastic over your box on very cool nights. Peat moss can be your enemy in the spring. You’re introducing quite a lot of moisture to potentially freezing conditions. It might even be a good idea to start your praties in potting soil. I don’t necessarily mean fill the first 6 inches with premium potting soil but rather just make sure that “seed” is surrounded by well drained soil. In my experience peat most takes quite a while before it “behaves”.
Think of the Irish so called “Lazy Bed” technique. They made sure by turning over the turf and creating trenches that the potato seed would not rot in the muck. Dry peat moss needs so much water to prevent it from blowing away you often create a bog. Don’t subject your seeds to such conditions.
Pingback from Happy Valentines Day! « Cinnamonamon
Time: February 12, 2009, 9:07 pm
[...] I suppose that isn’t much of a surprise, huh? First up is an interesting method of potato growing…what can I say — this warm snap has me thinking spring! Then, in honor of my successful [...]
Comment from Erik Lacitis, The Seattle Times
Time: February 27, 2009, 11:44 am
Dear Sinfonian,
My name is Erik Lacitis and I write for The Seattle Times. I’m doing a story on seed sales jumping 20 to 30 percent, in good portion because of the economy.
I’m focusing on Irish Eyes Garden Seeds out of Ellensburg.
I see that you used Greg Lutovsky’s potato box idea.
We’re running the sketch, but I also would like to link to your photos: http://ft2garden.powweb.com/sinfonian/?page_id=12
Can you e-mail a phone number for yourself, and a brief background?
I’m at desk 206-464-2237, cell 206-794-4242
Thanks,
Erik
I
Comment from Mackeznie
Time: March 8, 2009, 6:07 pm
I started my first SFG this season and a potato bin too… We built 1 potato bin following your directions and planted 10 seeds. We live in Central Cali in zone 9. We are hoping for the best! We’ve used the Mel’s mix so the soil has tons of drainage. Dies anyone know if red potatoes have the same growing season as yukon? Good luck everyone!
Comment from Maria Smith
Time: March 9, 2009, 4:37 pm
I love your web site.
Please see the web site regarding using Victory Gardens during the economic downturn.
GARDENING for VICTORY
http://victorygard302.livejournal.com
http://victory2garden.livejournal.com
Comment from Shippy
Time: March 11, 2009, 8:13 am
We have sandy soil here in SD. I have very good luck with piling grass clippings from lawn mowing, around the Potato plants as they grow periodically .. also compost on the soil before planting. Have the best luck with Yukon Golds and the white variety of potatoes. Worth a try?
Comment from Amy (Greenbean)
Time: March 12, 2009, 12:05 am
I found a lot of good information on potato varieties on the WSU site http://potatoes.wsu.edu/varieties/
I got a little goofy buying seed potatoes yesterday and had to make some notes about just what types I’m planting! I’m trying some blue & purple ones this year too.
Comment from Marie
Time: March 15, 2009, 8:46 am
WOW! Thanks for all the details and pics–you make this look so easy! I have been looking into using tires for my potatoes but lots of folks over on gardenweb think that it’s not such a great idea. This is way cool and I think even I could do build those bins. Can’t wait to see how your bins turn out this year!
Comment from Liz M owner hyperlocavore
Time: March 15, 2009, 11:39 am
I’m trying to figure out a slicker way to attach the sides as it grows upward. Maybe just build it with slots. In any case - very neat.
Comment from Debbie Turley
Time: March 19, 2009, 8:48 am
I can’t see the pictures. Can you help?
I need pictures to do this, and growing potatoes - well, it’s my
first time
Comment from inadvertent farmer
Time: March 19, 2009, 5:12 pm
Brilliant post! Ok, I’ve gotta try this along with my barrels of potatoes! Thanks, Kim
Comment from Kris
Time: March 26, 2009, 11:06 am
I grow potatoes and garlic in used potting soil filled beds made from a 3″ diameter circle of 2′ high 2X4 fencing lined with landscape fabric and sitting on top of a square of hardware cloth. This is a lot easier and cheaper method even if not as magnificent as the structure pictured here.
Comment from Kris
Time: March 26, 2009, 11:07 am
Oops! that was a 3 foot in diameter ring of fencing, y’all.
Comment from Dani in ND
Time: April 7, 2009, 8:57 pm
If you want bigger potatoes, then replant the bigger ones, not the smaller ones! They will just keep getting smaller and smaller each harvest instead of getting bigger and better. ; ) Just wanted to pass that on.
Pingback from Designing the Garden with GrowVeg | MamaStories
Time: April 8, 2009, 5:55 pm
[...] those are potato bins in the lower right-hand corner: 4 of them, for late varieties. 2 more potato beds for earlies. Lots [...]
Comment from Phil
Time: April 12, 2009, 7:10 pm
In Hawaii we just made an Okinawa Sweet Potato bin by tying 4 wooden pallets together with plastic twine. We don’t know whether the bin method affects the maturation time. Normally they take 6 mos. in the ground. Will bin growing be faster or slower?
Comment from Kathy
Time: April 13, 2009, 10:34 am
Has anyone tried using old tires with this same stacking principle? I tried the barrel, and drowned my potatoes the first big rain…no drainage..oops
Comment from Dan Morrison
Time: April 14, 2009, 5:10 am
Wonderful journal. Will incorporate thie spring. Question: Will sweet potatoes grow deep like this?
Dan
Pingback from Produrre 40 kg di patate in mezzo metro quadrato | FloraBlog - Il Blog dedicato al regno vegetale
Time: April 14, 2009, 5:06 pm
[...] volte. Se la mia arzigogolata spiegazione non vi è chiara potete vedere l’ottima e esaustiva sequenza fotografica relativa a ogni fase della lavorazione e in ogni minimo dettaglio su Sinfonian&… che ha messo in pratica i suggerimenti riportati in un articolo del Seattle Times di qualche anno [...]
Pingback from Sitez » links for 2009-04-17
Time: April 17, 2009, 4:57 pm
[...] Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden » 2) Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bins [...]
Pingback from Grow 100 lbs. Of Potatoes In 4 Square Feet: How To : TipNut.com
Time: April 17, 2009, 9:31 pm
[...] Square Foot Garden that details his attempt at growing potatoes with this potato box method: Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bins. The info was from last year (lots of pics) and he’s promised updates of this year’s [...]
Pingback from Sitez » links for 2009-04-18
Time: April 18, 2009, 7:30 am
[...] Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden » 2) Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bins [...]
Pingback from Thought is Quick » Working on Other Things
Time: April 18, 2009, 6:36 pm
[...] only four square feet of space. Some real life tests of this prove that this figure is high, but an amateur’s first attempt netting 25 pounds is very [...]
Pingback from Planting Potatoes « Sustainable Eats
Time: April 19, 2009, 4:11 pm
[...] more complete growing instructions, as well as instructions on making your own potatoe box visit Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden, a great Seattle area gardening [...]
Comment from Rosemarie
Time: April 25, 2009, 2:47 pm
First I would like to say this is awesome. I think your pictures are incredible and your dialog interesting and precise.
I have all the wood needed.
It is human nature for us to want to do better, I am no different but as I see it you guys are the best so I am going to take one suggestion about the bricks. My friend gave me bricks from her folks’s historic home,the bricks are over 100 years old. I want to do about 2-3 layers of brick and set the wood atop those. This will help with the wood rotting from moisture and save some money, even though I have the wood why waste it?
One point, I may be wrong but if the early potatoes do not do so well in the tall pile how about using the early ones in 5 gallon buckets? I only ask because I already bought half seed that were early and half late. 8^) This way you don’t have to come up with so much soil or mulch. I live alone and really do not need 50 lbs. whichever way I might get it. I also like the grass clipping idea I have been doing tht for my regular veggie garden for over 30 yers. Works great
Thank you so much of this site: since I am obsessive I will return many times. So please do not delete it.
Comment from Bob
Time: April 25, 2009, 10:06 pm
Rosemary,
I am trying both ways this year - late potatoes (Bintje) in a bin and early potatoes (Warba) in 5-gallon pots. Last year I tried the Warba’s in a bin and my experience was the same as others; the potatoes were only at the bottom. But we really liked the Warba’s so I thought I’d try them in the smaller containers. Hopefully I can let you know within 4 - 6 weeks b/c I have them in my greenhouse.
Comment from Darren
Time: April 26, 2009, 2:06 pm
This is a great idea. I have been wanting to try the barrel idea for a couple years now but I think this will work better than that.
Also for storing the potatoes after harvesting them I have heard placing and apple with the potatoes is suppose to stop them from sprouting to soon or from going bad, haven’t tried it yet but will this year.
Pingback from Totally Random » Blog Archive » Potatoes for a Townie
Time: April 30, 2009, 5:00 am
[...] to try for yourself? Check out Sinfonian’s Square Foot for an excellent [...]
Comment from Harley
Time: May 1, 2009, 11:57 am
Has anyone tried adding potato seeds with each new layer that was add? If you can get 10 to 25 pounds of potatoes in each newly added layer. I can see you easily getting over 40 pounds of potatoes or maybe 100 pounds.
Comment from kate henshaw
Time: May 10, 2009, 7:15 pm
a wonderful and inspiring tutorial.my daughter wants me to rush outside and build one right now. fantastic. thank you so much.
kate
Pingback from Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins | Shed Kits
Time: May 26, 2009, 7:27 pm
[...] Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins Posted by root 22 hours ago (http://ft2garden.powweb.com) I 39 ve got over a dozen bags of mel mix stored on the side of my shed well i 39 ve now chronicled a year worth of design gardening harvesting and storage so i hope you come back often to read the rest of my blog and comment powered by wordpress theme des Discuss | Bury | News | sinfonian square foot garden 2 build as you grow potato bins [...]
Comment from Judy
Time: May 27, 2009, 9:54 am
Hi Rich — I just ran across a blog post over at Green Roof Growers! They mentioned your build-as-you-grow potato bins 
http://greenroofgrowers.blogspot.com/2009/05/potato-box-experiment.html
Comment from Jessica
Time: May 28, 2009, 2:57 pm
Hi! We are doing this for the first time, did you plant your potatoes whole or chop them up? Thanks, We love you site!
Comment from Am
Time: May 30, 2009, 9:26 am
I am doing a trial and error on my potato “bin”. I need some inexpensive fencing to keep the rabbits out of my garden, so I bought enough of the vinyl covered (no rust) chicken wire and some cheap landscapping cloth. I put small pieces of wood on the ground and put a large enough piece of chicken wire over it like a mat. Then I covered that with landscaping cloth. I then made a round shape for the top of that, and put landscaping cloth inside of it with more land scaping cloth and pushed it down after adding my peat/compost dirt mix. Put the potatoes in, and over them. As the potatoes grow, I just lift up the landscaping cloth and add more dirt. I can also add more chicken wire to the top of it if I start out with only two or three feet high. I used cheap bamboo sticks to keep the shape better. I will let everyone know how it goes!
Pingback from Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins | Portable Greenhouse
Time: June 1, 2009, 3:06 am
[...] Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins Posted by root 1 minute ago (http://ft2garden.powweb.com) So i hope you come back often to read the rest of my blog and comment hopefully i can let you know within 4 6 weeks b c i have them in my greenhouse comment from darren hi rich i just ran across a blog post over at green roof growers powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins [...]
Pingback from Growing potatoes « Optimum Health
Time: June 1, 2009, 3:53 am
[...] enough to get me started, but it’s a little short on practical advice. For that I turned to Sinfonian, who meticulously documented his potato-in-a-box efforts last [...]
Comment from Christine
Time: June 4, 2009, 7:53 pm
LOVED your potatoe bin. So beautiful, but too complicated for me. But you inspired me to make my own. Take a look:
http://www.catholichomeandgarden.com/food_security_2009.htm
Comment from Kay W
Time: June 5, 2009, 6:00 am
I’m a new gardener who is trying this method for the first time. My potatoes are all planted and I have 5 boards on my bin. The problem is I jus read your comments abot Yukon Gold not producing well with this methods. Yukon Gold is all my garden center had. Should I go hunting for a different kind of potato and add it to my bin now? I live in Ohio and it is Jun 5 now. By the way, I didn’t screw my boards to the support after the base was done. I made square boxes and just slipped them over the supports. This way I didn’t have to drag a drill to the garden.
Comment from Richard Lord
Time: June 5, 2009, 12:28 pm
Thanks for your potato diary which was clear and easy to follow. I’ll be (am) using plastic sacks and will incorporate some of your tips. I’m about to charge out to the garden to bank up the exposed stems- there’s five inches showing!
Pingback from Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins | Toe Nail Fungus
Time: June 8, 2009, 10:52 pm
[...] Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins Posted by root 11 minutes ago (http://ft2garden.powweb.com) This may not work but i can 39 t use straw in the pnw it rots and molds you answered my questions now to find a good spot for them is the real trick often to read the rest of my blog and comment powered by wordpress theme Discuss | Bury | News | Sinfonian Square Foot Garden 2 Build As You Grow Potato Bins [...]
Pingback from Veggie garden planning help needed - Page 3 - Nappycino Forum
Time: June 9, 2009, 6:56 pm
[...] planning help needed Me thinks going up is a great idea if you’re a little space challenged. Sinfonian’s square foot garden has plans and pics for build-as-you-grow potato bins. There’s other garden designy bits on that [...]
Comment from Tom
Time: June 17, 2009, 6:40 pm
None of the images are loading, anyone else having this problem ?
Comment from Eric Stoffer
Time: June 18, 2009, 6:29 am
i am trying a potato tower this year also.
http://baybranch.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/potato-tower/
so far so good.
thanks for all this great information!
the pictures are not displaying for me also.
thanks
Pingback from More on the potatoes and todays harvest | Agriculture
Time: June 20, 2009, 1:07 pm
[...] To fill the potato condo I very gently hold the leaves up and lightly fill around the plants with my potting soil scope. I have been hilling the condo every time the plants grow about 4″-5″ high and I make sure to leave a good inch of foliage above the soil. This and further instructions can be found on Sinfonian’s Square Foot Garden. [...]
Pingback from Tomatoes, Raised Beds and Garlic — Michael and Jaspenelle
Time: July 24, 2009, 8:37 am
[...] all my herbs around them in an irregular shaped bed. I am considering building a 4×4′ potato bin in front of that bed too. As all those plans develop, I’ll share more [...]
Comment from Leiann
Time: April 30, 2008, 6:00 am
Hey, thanks for the excellent description and pictures…keep ‘em comin’. I am considering a potato bin and wondered if I could do it with untreated 2X6’s and my leftover compost. You answered my questions! …now…to find a good spot for them is the real trick!