potato tower Archives - One Hundred Dollars a Month

Potato Tower Update

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By Mavis Butterfield on July 25, 2013 · 13 Comments

Well, the potato towers we planted this spring are still hanging in there. I kind of wish I could knock them over to see what’s inside but the leaves are still thriving and everything is green so I better not. {Plus, I know if I wait, the potatoes will get bigger!} 😉

Potato Tower #1 – I covered the potatoes with 6 inches of dirt. My plan with tower #1 was to add additional dirt {but no more potatoes} as the potato leaves begin to pop through the soil.

I’ve only added dirt twice so far and since the stems are not super huge, I just decided to stop there and see what happens. This is the only tower with leaves growing straight up.

So far so so good. Nothing to exciting to report other than leaves are popping out of the sides and I am starting to see a wee bit of yellow. I’m not sure if it’s from lack of water or if this spud plant is on it’s way out.

Potato Tower #3 – This tower was planted with alternating layers of potatoes, dirt, potatoes, straw, potatoes, dirt. Again, someone suggested this growing method because it had worked for them.

This tower surprised me. Because we packed so much soil and straw inside of the wire , I thought for sure we’d suffocate the plant and nothing would grow but I was totally wrong. Potato tower #3 seems to be doing the best out of all of the towers.

And then we have the compost bin made out of recycled wood pallets. What a show off. Do you see how dark and green those leaves are? Monkey Boy and the HH have been adding grass clippings to the bin each week after they mow.

Basically these potatoes have been drugged with whatever fertilizers they’re using on the grass {I don’t as questions because I have nothing to do with lawn maintenance}.

I think when it comes time to harvest these babies it will be interesting to see how they compare with the ones grown in the towers. I have a feeling thought that the potatoes will be huge. What do you think?

~Mavis

Are you growing potatoes this year? How is your crop coming along?

To find out how I built my potato towers go here: How to Build a Potato Tower

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Gardening in Oklahoma – Raised Garden Beds + a Potato Tower

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 5, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Wowza! Check out these pictures Michelle sent in…

Hi Mavis!

I’ve been Oklahoma gardening for four years now. Each year I learn more and my garden grows by at least one box.

My superman husband made me all of my garden boxes and my A-Frame cold frames.

We have a total of six garden boxes so far. Because we have such a small yard we have utilized our driveway for part of them! It was as easy as setting a garden box on the drive, stapling weed block cloth to the bottom inside (to retain the dirt) and then fill. I told my kids that if they didn’t play or ride bikes more on the drive I would start claiming more of it for gardening. Use it or Lose it!!!!

I do square foot gardening. This year I started making seed squares indoors while it was still cold outside. It’s along the same lines as seed tape but on the paper napkins that have been opened full to 12″x12″ (see photo). When the weather was cold and miserable, I was snuggled inside nice and warm making my seed mats.

With the first chance of planting, I just picked up a seed mat and ran out to plant. Easy peasy! Now its a no brainer with staggered plantings. I’ll just grab a mat and lay it in my garden. It takes five seconds. I time it! hah! Plus, this is a fun project I did with my kids. I dotted glue and they sprinkled the seeds. Next year I’m promoting them to glue dotter.

Money is tight and I had to get creative on making trellises for my garden. I made trellises out of bamboo canes from a friends yard, arbors out of tree trimmings for the peas and even a trellis from two old fishing poles with scrap wire in between. I call it my “English Garden” look. It’s a look that I’m really starting to enjoy.

The potato towers are an experiment. So far they seem to be doing well. The real test will be when we harvest. On the very top of the towers I’ve planted bush beans. I read they’re a companion to potatoes. I’m trying to grow in any spare spots of dirt I can find. Space is such a premium I’m thinking of growing squash and pumpkins out front among the flower

But, I think the BEST things we added to our garden this year were the cold frames. Superman husband did a fabulous job making them out of an old redwood swing set that was falling apart. I can now plant out warm loving plants much earlier than normal and start seed outdoors!! I have such beautiful tomato plants covered in blooms already!!

Happy planting!

~ Michelle

April From Santa Cruz, California Sends in Her Garden Photos

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DIY – How to Build a Potato Tower

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By Mavis Butterfield on March 27, 2013 · 43 Comments

Last year I built a few potato towers and had minimal success. But in hindsight, I think the lack of watering {and pretty much neglect on my part was to blame}. So I decided to give the potato towers another try.

First let me say, I personally believe the best way to grow potatoes is in the ground in a traditional trench method.

But, what fun would having a garden be if we all didn’t experiment from time to time and try new techniques. Right?

After reading everyone’s comments, I decided to try growing this years potato towers 3 different ways.

I used a 4′ x 4′ piece of coated fence wire and bent the edges of the wire inward to secure the two ends together. I then pressed straw into the sides of each wire cage and added about 6 inches of dirt to the floor of the potato tower.

I then placed 5 seed potatoes on top of the dirt.

Potato Tower #1 – I covered the potatoes with 6 inches of dirt. My plan with tower #1 is to add additional dirt {but no more potatoes} as the potato leaves begin to pop through the soil.

Potato Tower #2 – I covered the potatoes with 6 inches of dirt, then added 5 more potatoes. I ended up doing this 3 times. Someone had suggested I try this method to see if it would grow more potatoes. I have no idea if it will or not, but I think it will be interesting to see what happens.

Potato Tower #3 – This tower was planted with alternating layers of potatoes, dirt, potatoes, straw, potatoes, dirt. Again, someone suggested this growing method because it had worked for them.

I guess we’ll all find out in about 80 days or so which method works better.

What do you think?

Have you ever tried growing potatoes in towers before? Did it work out for you? What method did you use?

~Mavis

Follow the progress of the potato towers below.

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Mavis Garden Blog – Potato Tower Results

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By Mavis Butterfield on September 27, 2012 · 22 Comments

We didn’t have any potatoes left in the pantry so I headed out the garden to pull up the remaining potato towers this morning. The last potato tower I pulled up sort of bombed, so I was hoping for a much better yield this time.

I started to get a little excited when I saw a couple of potatoes dangling in the dirt.

And then they started getting smaller, and smaller and smaller.

I pulled up 4 towers. Guess how many pounds of potatoes were in those stinkin’ {waste of a time} potato towers? 29 pounds, 4 ounces. You’ve got to be kidding me. What a rip off. Luckily I still have my traditional potato beds to fall back on. I’ll have the Handsome Husband dig those up right before the first frost.

Something tells me, I won’t be growing potatoes in towers ever again.

What a total potato FAILURE.

Did you plant any potatoes in towers this year? How did YOURS do?

~Mavis

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