Potatoes Ideas, Tips & Guides

With lockdown slowly easing there is a sense of hope in the air. The vaccination program is going really well in the UK and everyone over 50 has been offered their first jab. We’re all under 50 in our household, so our time hasn’t come quite yet, but hopefully will soon.

The structure that I lovingly constructed for my beans was holding together very nicely until we had the last lot of wind (which had nothing to do with me eating any sprouts). Because the runner beans had grown so thick on one side it was unevenly weighted. Therefore the wind broke all the twine and both sides had drifted apart. Fortunately no canes broke, but I needed something strong to hold them back together again.

The principal requirements of the potato plant are adequate available food, sufficient water, good drainage and the type of soil in which tubers may swell easily. An open, unshaded site is very necessary. Light soils are considered very suitable, provided they have been dressed with large quantities of moisture-retaining organic matter. A heavy soil may also be improved structurally by the addition of organic material. A reasonably light, easily worked loam is probably the ideal. Where farmyard manure is available, it may be dug in during winter digging at the rate of up to 50kg (1cwt) to 6 sq m (6 sq yd). Garden compost may be applied even more generously during winter digging or as a mulch after planting. If a compound potato fertilizer is raked into the soil before planting, use it at the rates advised by the manufacturer.

As winter approaches and we’re faced with another year of determining what's for dinner, we're sharing a glimpse at how BHG readers gather for a meal. Welcome to our new series, Dinner Diaries, where we're asking readers to anonymously share how they get dinner on the table including grocery shopping, budgeting, cooking, and their favorite family recipes. Here, a family of four in the Midwest enjoys eating seasonally. Right now, the menu includes hearty casseroles, soups, and homemade bread.

13 of the Best Purple and Blue Potato Varieties

Even if you’re growing on a small scale, rotating your crops is important. Grow the same crop in the same soil over and over again and you’re inviting problems, like a build-up of pests and diseases, or nutritional deficiencies in the soil. Another advantage of moving crops around your plot is that you can follow one crop with another that likes growing in the conditions the previous crop left behind: a win-win situation.

Nicholas Sampogna

eye of potato, monkey’s tail….

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Ranging from versatile and vitamin-rich vegetables like vibrant ‘Velvet Bean’ to the unique Violet Artichoke, each of these Vegetables that Start With V adds a unique flavor to your plate and a color to your garden!

Greenhouses have an abundance of benefits that can allow you to make the most of your plants. If you’re considering investing in a greenhouse but are still not sure whether to buy one, read on for our ‘need to know’ advice.

Black Vegetables are often overlooked in the traditional garden palette. They have a unique color due to the anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant that is known to have numerous health benefits.

Morning glory flowers carry profound meanings, from undying love to the resilience of life; they can symbolize many things!

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As winter approaches and we’re faced with another year of determining what's for dinner, we're sharing a glimpse at how BHG readers gather for a meal. Welcome to our new series, Dinner Diaries, where we're asking readers to anonymously share how they get dinner on the table including grocery shopping, budgeting, cooking, and their favorite family recipes. Here, a two-person household relies on garden-fresh produce and well-stocked pantry to get dinner on the table.

Karen Delahay

While picking out the ingredients for my Thanksgiving sweetpotato casserole, I found this sweetpotato full of holes. The holes are tell-tale signs of wireworm feeding.

A light-hearted weekend art project: making some of the pink fir apple potatoes I grew this year look like asteroids!

As this is my final gardening column of the year, I had plans of signing off with a neat garden ready for a winter of hibernation.

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With the holiday season rapidly approaching, it is time to consider how we can manage our health during a time of year filled with special food traditions. From Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing to Christmas candy to New Year lunches filled with hoppin’ john and greens, it is important that we look for meaningful ways to enjoy our seasonal favorites while also maintaining our commitment to health. In this blog, we will provide you with some tips and tricks for you when you attend your family’s holiday gatherings. We hope these suggestions help make this holiday season your healthiest one yet!

Plants have special super powers: the benefits of living with plants at home in general, and in bedrooms in particular, are countless. They make a room look more alive, and your bedside table brighter. Taking care of your plants can also help you wind down after a busy day. Studies have even shown that by simply touching the leaf of a plant for two minutes, you reduce your stress levels! For a healthy bedroom regime, don’t rely on plants alone, however: Good ventilation, fresh bed linens, a comfortable mattress, good pillows, and an extra blanket, if needed, help you sleep better and improve your overall well-being. But not all bedrooms are bright enough to grow healthy plants: maybe there is only one small window or you don’t have a window sill, or maybe you don’t like taking care of even more plants. If that’s the case, or if you don’t want to wake up surrounded by plants (really: who are you?), you may want to rely on some help for healthy fresh air in the bedroom. And that’s where Briiv comes to the rescue! Briiv is an air filter that uses plant power to purify the air. Briiv is as powerful as 3,043 medium size houseplants. So you can enjoy the benefits of having plants in your home without the hassle. 

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Cleveland, Ohio — Way back in 1904, a 5-acre community gardening program was built in Cleveland Ohio’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood. In 1922, the neighboring Ben Franklin Elementary School began to offer elementary-age students an education in growing food as well as the science involved in gardening. Unfortunately, in 1977 the school program was canceled. It was not revived until the 1990s when Ohio State University’s Extension agency, through their Master Gardener Program, resurrected the garden and renovated the old garden classroom. Over time, the Master Gardeners created and refined a complete 4th grade gardening curriculum.

When you dine in or order delivery from a pizza parlor, you’re likely doing so for the pies. Whether it'sDetroit-style, grandma, deep-dish, New York-style, Neapolitan, or pan, chances are that the pizzas themselves are luring you in.

Several times a year a visitor to our garden is shocked to find a rogue steak knife pierced downward in one of the beds, as if it were an escapee from our kitchen knife block. I’m always quick to tell them that it’s indeed where I meant to place it, and that I haven’t found any tool as great as a serrated knife when it comes to removing grass or root systems. It’s perfect for edging small areas or pulling up entire sheets of grass; all I have to do is start on one side and pull up as I carefully saw back and forth. It can be a cheap purchase from a thrift store—or in my case, the way I finally convinced my husband that we needed a new set of kitchen knives.

The fresh vibrant greens of summer begin to change when September arrives. Burnt oranges, buttery golds and rich reds dominate the garden canvas as leaves crisp and fall.

The mysterious Potato Flowers are a spectacle that sparks curiosity and debate among gardeners. These captivating blossoms, often overshadowed by the coveted tubers lying beneath the soil, present an intriguing question: What to Do with Potato Flowers? Well, time to find out!

Imagine cultivating an endless bounty of fresh produce right in your backyard, all from a single plant. Welcome to the world of Vegetables that Grow Many from One – where efficiency and abundance go hand in hand. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener seeking to maximize yield or a beginner looking for easy-to-grow options, these remarkable plants  offer incredible value, taste, and versatility for any garden.

Potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables, likely because of their versatility. Not only can you prepare potatoes in a myriad of ways, but there are so many unusual potato varieties to try. From russet to fingerling in hues of red, yellow, white and even purple, there’s a unique potato variety out there you will enjoy. Some unusual potatoes might be considered gourmet potato varieties, while still others are de rigueur, but all of them are delicious. Keep reading to learn about unusual potato varieties and which ones you should grow.

Wondering what to plant after potatoes? There are several factors to consider including crop rotation and the time of year. Crop rotation is a key strategy for reducing pest and disease problems, as well as nutrient depletion. The other point to keep in mind is timing. Potatoes can be dug in mid to late summer as a new potato crop or left to mature for a fall harvest of storage spuds. When you harvest your potatoes can influence what you next plant in the bed. Below I share my ten favorite vegetables to plant after potatoes to help you grow a healthy and productive garden.

Growth is vital for healthy people and plants alike. Writing blogs helps me grow as a writer. Some days, the words pour out onto the page in just the right order. On other days, they come in fits and spurts, here, there, and yonder, and it’s all I can do to wrangle them into some semblance of sense. The latter is likely where I learn the most, with an added dose of patience and persistence, all good skills to have for gardening.

Cherry Ong recently visited Seattle’s Pike Place Market, which is a famous farmers market; however, she was focused not on the fresh produce for sale, but on the beautiful plantings.

Potato blight, also known as late blight, attacks the foliage and tubers of potatoes, eventually causing the crop to rot. Caused by the same fungus responsible for tomato blight, it is a particular problem in wet summers. Potato blight was responsible for the Irish potato famine in the 19th century, devastating crops in the ground, and those in storage too.

Tomato blight, a fungal infection called Phytophthora infestans, spreads by wind and water-splash. It attacks tomatoes and potatoes and is triggered by warm, wet conditions, making outdoor tomatoes more susceptible than those in a greenhouse. The crop is quickly ruined and even if you pick the tomatoes at the first sign of infection, you can’t stop them rotting.

From stamping to sculpting, unleash your creativity with these Potato Craft and Art Ideas and turn this humble vegetable into a canvas for your imagination. Let the artistic journey begin!