Check it out! We harvested our potatoes!
Craig saw the above picture before he saw the actual potatoes. When he saw them in person, he started laughing. “Wow, those are some tiny potatoes. In the pictures they looked bigger, like…real potatoes.” I beg to differ, Mr.! They may all fit in my hand at once, but we are proud of these tiny spuds, and let me tell you why:
1). They are our first attempt ever at growing potatoes.
2). They grew in a pot…yes, a pot!
3). We didn’t even use potato ‘slips’ (pieces of potato with roots roots growing out of, which most gardeners buy especially for planting). We used an old sprouting potato from the pantry (click here to see us planting them).
4). This is just enough potato to make our favorite soup for lunch! (soon we will have our own peas to add to the soup, as well)
Better Than Campbell’s Alphabet Soup-Click Here for recipe!
Having success, even if small, is wonderful for boosting confidence. To the seasoned gardener, our tiny potato harvest may seem silly. However, the excitement we felt uncovering potatoes for the first time was akin to opening Christmas gifts– it was indescribable! We had waited for months, never knowing if something was forming under the soil in our big white pot or not. As we uncovered the brown tubers, we practically squealed. Or maybe that was just me. No, I’m pretty sure at least one of the kids squealed, too. 😉
We all have to start somewhere…and now that we know it is possible to actually get potatoes using a container, we are motivated to try it again next year, perhaps using a bigger container(s), and using actual potato slips. Puny potatoes=huge success, in my eyes!
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| Using Teamwork to drag our pot of potatoes to the side garden, so we could dump it out |
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| It was quite heavy! But these kids were determined! |
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| Taking a breather before dumping it into our garden bed |
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| The hidden treasures!!! 🙂 |
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| We put our treasures into the now empty pot. Hmm, what can we plant in there now? 😉 |