Let's Harvest Some Potatoes

My idea of buried treasure is a potato reproducing into more delicious potatoes underground—all while I do very little to tend the growing plant.

Potatoes do take a while to grow—each spud is, after all, a huge nutritional storehouse for the plant— but when you finally get to dig in with your shovel, the wait is so worth it.

How Potatoes Grow

Before you start digging, it's a good idea to know what you can expect to find.

Potatoes multiply themselves underground. Instead of growing from seeds, potatoes grow from pieces of seed potatoes, or older potatoes covered in "eyes", which are actually little sprouts for new growth.

Each seed piece produces stems both underground and above the soil, and it's at the edge of each of these stems that new tubers form. When you dig around the seed piece you planted, you'll discover that it's now connected to more tubers, a bit like a spoke and wheel.

Each seed piece planted is likely to have produced at least five to six new tubers. If only all underground treasure could multiply at such a rate!

How to Tell When Potatoes Are Ready to Be Harvested

A good place to start is to check the growing information from the company you purchased your seed potatoes from. They should tell you the time to harvest if the potatoes have been grown under ideal conditions.

From there, count forward. Most potatoes need about 90 to 120 days to reach maturity, though varieties like Yukon gold can sometimes be ready in as few as 75 days. Other varieties, like that baked potato classic, the russet potato, can take up to 135 days.

Once you're nearing the expected harvesting time for the potatoes you're growing, keep an eye out for a change in leaf color. Browning leaves are basically your signal that your potatoes will soon be ready to be dug up. Wait for the foliage to fully die back (about two to three weeks).

Any potatoes harvested before the plant has died back are "new potatoes" and should be eaten as soon as possible thanks to their delicate skin. In the gardening world, only crops with thick skin are storage material.

Steps to Harvest Potatoes

Step outside, grab a shovel, and roll up your sleeves. It's time to get a little dirty!

Step One

When it's just about time to harvest your tubers, stop watering them. You need to let the ground and the potatoes themselves dry a bit and do what's called "setting" their skin for harvest. If you skip step one, you could end up harvesting a too-wet tuber that will only end up molding. Yuck!

Step Two

Use a shovel to gently dig up the soil around your potatoes. Once you spot a spud, use your fingers to lift it from the dirt and brush it off. Bring harvested potatoes inside as soon as possible. Throw out any green potatoes.

Step Three

Lay out your potatoes somewhere cool and dark indoors to allow the skins of the potatoes to dry before storing them. This is called curing them, and it hardens the skin so that they can last longer. Let them cure for two weeks.

How to Store Homegrown Potatoes

Because they're literally nutrient storages for the plant, potatoes can be kept in the pantry for much longer than tender veggies.

Store your potatoes in a cool, dark place for up to six months. Keep your potatoes away from onions, which release a gas that causes potatoes to sprout early.

It's Potato Harvest Time!

Digging up potatoes at the end of the summer will very well be one of the simplest, purest joys your garden can give you. Here's to digging up some buried treasure in your own backyard!