Potatoes grow a long tap root, and from the tap root lateral roots shoot off. This is where your potatoes grow from. With all the lateral roots potatoes take up a lot of room in the garden. I have squared off about a 4 foot by 3 foot section for them. We’ll see how they do.

This is the first time I’ve grown them in the raised bed, so we’ll just have to see. I do know I will have to be very careful about what I plant in that spot next year. Potatoes tend to draw pretty specific pests and diseases. These can overwinter in your soil and can infect the plants you plant next year.

You must never plant potatoes in the same place within a 3 year period. You also need to avoid planting tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in that space  for the next 3 years as well.  When it comes to

crop rotation I think it’s great to have a garden journal. I always think I will remember from year to year what I planted where, but come on, I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night. I’m probably not going to remember 3 years from now where I planted my potatoes.

If you have a small garden, and don’t feel like you have the space for potatoes, or

even if you have no space at all you can still plant and harvest a great crop of potatoes. Potatoes can easily be grown in tires or even in a trash can. It seems crazy but it’s true!

Growing Potatoes in a Tire

You will need a few tires, some potting soil and some seed potatotes. You will probably need a couple pounds of potatoes by the time you are done.

To begin you put down a tire, rough up the soil below the tire just enough to allow for drainage.  In the inside of the tire put some potting soil.  Add a few potato pieces around the circle, make sure you have a few eyes on each piece. Fill in the hallow of the tire as well as the circle hole of the tire until it is filled.

Now you are going to let your potatoes grow for a while.  When your potatoes are about 5 inches tall you are going to repeat the process with another tire. Just set the tire on top of the plants, fill in the hallow of the tire and plant your potatoes. Then fill in the big hole with potting soil.

Again, let your potatoes grow to about 5 inches tall and repeat the process. Adding tires like this will encourage a longer tap root. The longer the tap root the more lateral roots will shoot off creating more potatoes.

Make sure to keep your tires well watered, especially through the hot months. You want to make sure your potatoes get at least 6 hours of sun each day.  You may need to water daily during the heat of the summer.

When it comes time to harvest your potatoes you can reach in and grab a few early so you have some early potatoes. These spoil quickly so use them right away. However, when your foliage starts to die off and turn brown you can begin harvesting your big potatoes.  Growing potatoes in tires has its advantages here as well. You can pull off one tire at a time for harvest. Get the potatoes out of the top tire.  When you need more potatoes you can go back and pull off the second tire and get more potatoes. Being able to harvest this way will allow you to have potatoes throughout the fall and winter seasons.

You can use this method with just about anything. You can use a trash can and use the same procedures. Just make sure you drill some holes in the bottom, and along the sides about 3 inches above the bottom of your can. You want to make sure you have good drainage so your potatoes don’t rot.

You can create a circle with chicken wire or anything else with holes in it. You may find your plants find their way to the sun through the sides of your circle, but that’s ok. This will just create more tap root and more lateral root, which means more potatoes.

Using something that is contained can make harvesting your potatoes a very easy process. If you plant your potatoes straight into the ground you will have to do some digging to harvest your potatoes, but that is half the fun of planting potatoes. The treasure hunt that is harvest.

I will keep you updated on the progress of my potatoes, and I this article has gotten me kind of excited about trying alternative methods of pototo growing. I’ve got a big ole stack of tires out in the barn, just waiting for some potatoes I think.

We picked up a 6 pack of  brussel sprout plants. This is a good time of year to plant them here in Kansas.  I planted them a week or so ago and they are looking quite happy, which is nice.

According to my square foot gardening I planted one per square foot section.  It takes about 90 days for it to produce and you know when it’s ready by whether or not the sprouts pull off easily.

Depending on the variety  you buy they may all mature at the same time. Which is good in some ways and bad in others. You have a bunch you can freeze at the same time, but you also have a bunch at the same time. It’s that good old gardening catch 22.

To make sure your brussel sprouts grow into healthy plants make sure, if you are starting from seed, you star them very early. You want to make sure you have your plants out in the garden early spring. As growing in the heat of summer can turn your brussel sprouts bitter. If you are going for a fall harvest, make sure you plant at least 100 days before the possibility of the first frost.

Brussels sprouts are grown much like the related cole crops, cabbage and broccoli. Apply one side-dress application of nitrogen fertilizer when the plants are 12 inches tall and water to keep the crop growing vigorously during the heat of summer. Without ample soil moisture, the crop fails. Insect control is also very important at this stage to keep the plants growing vigorously. Cultivate shallowly around the plants to prevent root damage. The sprouts form in the axils of the leaves (the space between the base of the leaf and the stem above it).

Commercial gardeners remove the leaves to accelerate harvest, but this practice is not essential in the home garden. Some gardeners believe that the sprouts develop better if the lowermost six to eight leaves are removed from the sides of the stalk as the sprouts develop. Two or three additional leaves can be removed each week, but several of the largest, healthiest, fully expanded upper leaves should always be left intact on top to continue feeding the plant. About 3 weeks before harvest, the plants may be topped (the growing point removed) to speed the completion of sprout development on the lower-stem area.

I hope you try growing brussel sprouts this year, I’ll let you know how my crop is doing as the year goes on.

1. If your growing season is short, as it is in the far north, make sure you choose an early variety. This will give you the best harvest.   Early season tomatoes ripen quickly which means they are usually ready within 4 months of planting seeds.

2.Think about if you want all your tomatoes at once or over time. If you enjoy canning the fruit, and want your harvest all at once for canning, choose a determinate variety. These plants grow as a 3- to 4-foot-tall bush and set all their fruit within a few weeks. If you want to enjoy your Tomatoes throughout the season, choose an indeterminate variety, which grows as a vine and needs staking.

3. Tomatoes are best started indoors. This needs to be done 5 to 7 weeks before the last anticipated frost date. The seedlings can then be transplanted into your garden anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks after the last actual frost date. If you don’t know the date of your last frost call your county extension service, they will be able to tell you.

4. When planting, bury the stem almost up to the lowest set of leaves, even if this means covering up several extra inches. They can root from the entire stem and will make them nice and strong.

5. Make sure you give your tomato plants enough room.  How much room depends on they type of plant you choose.

Determinate and compact indeterminate — 2 feet apart
Indeterminate grown on stakes — 18 inches apart
Indeterminate grown in cages — 3 feet apart
Container varieties — 2-gallon pot

6. Try very hard not to  plant your tomatoes where peppers, eggplants, or tomatoes were planted the previous year. These veggies all belong to the same plant family and have similar nutritional needs. They are also likely to get the same or similar diseases.  The plants that were there last year probably depleted the soil of important nutrients. This is also called “rotating crops”.

There ya go! 6 Easy tomato growing tips ~ stay tuned, there’s sure to be more.