Planting More Potatoes. 3.12.19

 I planted another row of potatoes.  I may not be allowing them to grow long enough stems while chitting, but I think they will be OK.  The other uncertainty is with timing.  I need to check the ground temperature.  However, this is actually later than last year so, again, I think it is OK.

This time I planted some Red Norland.  Good for potato salad , new potatoes, and potato soup. 

I also added some organic 5-10-10 to the bottom of the trench, and hoed it into the underlying soil using a narrow garden rake / hoe.  I have not fertilized potatoes in the past.  I did so this time, after reading that yield and size might be improved.

Last year, this bed contained zinnias and cosmos.  The previous year, it was sweetcorn and onions.  Before that, it was a large, impenetrable blackberry bramble of uncertain age.  So no potatoes have grown in this bed before, which is a good thing.

I like the trenches better than planting more shallowly and hilling up.  I think the hills dry out more quickly, and I don't want to water more than I need to.