EVERYONE should grow Spuds!

Anyone who has ever grown potatoes will know just how easy they are to grow.

So why doesnt more people do it?

I think next year I will give my urban friends a pot each with a few potatoes and let them see how easy it is, and how great the end product tastes.
I grew up on a farm, where every year we had to plant spuds in drills, in a field, by hand (as did every other country family). It was hard work, esp for us kids, but when the first of the crop were harvested, and my mother placed a steaming bowl of new spuds in the middle of the table for dinner, all that hard work was forgotten about.
All we needed was butter, and it is that memory that has me craving my own home grown spuds ever since!

I did attempt to grow them twice while living in the Dublin suburbs, once in a raised bed, and the second time in 2 large pots.
Both times were a great success.
Finally.............at 38 I have enough space to grow them with relative ease.

Our 16' long raised beds

So we got our boys to plant their first potatoes, 'second earlys' Kerrs Pinks in the raised bed on the right, and 'main crop' British Queens on the left, with a few left over British Queens thrown inbetween the Kerrs Pinks on the right (I didnt want to throw away any of our 'chitted' seed potatoes). That was the 30th March, this picture was taken the other day:

Main crop (L) second earlys (R)

Cant wait until we get our first harvest, but no need to rush out buying the 'real' butter just yet...

Got a close up pic of a neighbour this evening, thought I'd share!

He is in next door with his mum, but no other lambs. It seems he is one of the last lambs to be born to our neighbouring farmer, whose other 90 (or so) sheep have all lambed months ago.

I was out at our polytunnel when I spotted him, and he ran over to the ditch for a nosey, then dutifully posed for me!!