Growing Potatoes in a Laundry Basket

 

I bought the laundry baskets at a local dollar

store (I have 2 baskets).  I filled the baskets with about 2" of soil & compost, then put a seed potato into each basket (each potato was cut into about 3 pieces with 2-3 eyes each).  I then covered the potato with soil, and have been gradually filling the baskets with soil as the potatoes grow, simulating "hilling" the potatoes in a garden.  The garden center that recommended this method to me said each basket should yield 8-10 lbs of potatoes.  So far, so good!  It's been fun with our kids too, because the potatoes are growing out of the holes in the sides of the baskets. Be sure to keep the baskets watered well - it takes some patience (ie - slow watering) to not have all the water run out the sides of the basket.

You can use grocery store potatoes if need be, but most are bred and treated to NOT grow eyes quickly or easily, and they very likely may not be organic. You can order seed potatoes through a variety of online sources (Google organic seed poatoes and you'll find a ton) or you can likely find some at a local garden center. Heck I think last year I even saw them at the WalMart garden center (non-organic). You'll likely have quicker growth and a more plentiful yield from seed potatoes. I also now line the laundry baskets with straw to help keep the dirt in, but still allow the potato shoots to grow through the sides. And yes, when you "hill" the potatoes you cover up all but the top few leaves. It's best to hill every 7-10 days and add a little dirt more often than a whole bunch of dirt over a big chunk of the plant at once.