Potato

Sowing:

Seed potatoes or potato tubers can be used to grow your potatoes. These are in fact little sprouting potatoes with root growths called "eyes".

Potatoes can be sown approx 10-15cm deep with the "eyes" facing upwards and around 20- 30cm apart. The wider apart, the more room the potatoes have to grow.

You can plant each tuber as one or if the tuber has many "eyes" the potato can be cut into smaller pieces making sure each section has at least one or two good sprouting eyes in it for maximum yield.

Harvesting:

Potatoes usually take between 4-5 months to mature.  

When the leaves begin to turn yellow or brown and fall over is the best sign that your potatoes are ready to harvest. 

Information:

Potatoes prefer light and loose fertile soil. The pH should preferably be between 5 and 6.

Potatoes can be sown as early or main crop. Sowing can begin in March-April time when the temperature is milder. 

As the plants start to grow, you should mound the soil around the base in a process called "hilling up" as this encourages the potatoes to grow deep and wide.

Potatoes grow entirely underground so you will need to rely on the foliage to know when it is time to harvest. Carefully use a fork to prise the potatoes out of the ground so you do not slice or damage them when removing from the soil. 

The main pests are wireworms and tuber worms, weevils and slugs.

Nutritional Information:

As is widely known, potatoes contain carbohydrates however they frequently (and unfairly) get a bad reputation for this. Potatoes are actually very good for you and contain less fat than rice and pasta. They are full of nutrients such as vitamin B, Vitamin C and potassium. 

Fun Fact:

Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to Ireland in 1589 but the earliest record of a potato goes back to Peru around 6000BC.