The good old potato.
You can use them in so many different ways,
from salads to Sunday roasts.
Now I'm not going to show you how to cook them,
but I will show you how to grow them, care for them,
and harvest them so you'll have a good supply of spuds
for the pantry.
The first thing you need to decide is what kind of potato
you want to be growing.
And the easiest way to do that is
by deciding what kind of potato you want to be eating.
There are different varieties that suit mashing, roasting,
and boiling, so make sure you choose the right one to plant.
Potatoes can be planted once the risk of frost has passed.
And essentially there's three main types.
Early and salad crops mature within three months,
and main crops within six.
Potatoes grow best in a warm, sunny position.
They won't grow in shade or anywhere
where they need to compete for light or moisture.
Shelter from strong wind is also good.
When it comes to soil, rich, fertile soil is the best.
To improve yours, add some veggie mix like this,
and don't be shy to use heaps.
Potatoes are really hungry plants.
It's a good idea to top up with some potato food.
This will make sure you give them the best start.
There are a lot of different varieties.
I've chosen Jersey Bennes as my salad crop
and Agria as my main crop.
Make sure you sprout your potatoes before planting.
This is called chitting, and usually takes about a month.
Place your seed potatoes somewhere dry and airy,
away from direct sunlight, to start the growing process.
Once the sprouts have turned purple
they're ready for planting.
So what we're going to do now is dig a trench
roughly 45 centimeters deep, to prepare
the soil for our potatoes.
Right, now that we're happy with our trench
and that we've got it to a good depth,
we're gonna add some vegetable mix.
Work the vegetable mix through the existing soil
and then reform the trench.
So now that we've got our trench dug and ready for our potatoes,
we're gonna put some potato food into the bottom of the trench.
Time for the seed potatoes to go in.
Putting these in we need to make sure that they're
roughly 45 centimeters apart.
Next thing to do is to cover them back up.
Just gently mound some soil over the top,
being careful not to damage the sprouts.
As the potato grows, keep mounding
the soil over the emerging leaves for as long as you can.
This mounding helps produce abundant crops,
because new potatoes form on the underground stem,
just above the seed potato that you planted.
Potatoes can tolerate reasonably dry conditions,
but in very dry weather they'll need regular watering.
Potatoes are gross feeders.
So feed every three to four weeks.
They need a lot of nutrients, so I'm
gonna keep using this potato food.
It's got just the right NPK ratio.
Nitrogen, N, for foliage, phosphorus, P, for root growth,
and potassium, K, for fruit and flowering.
The higher mix of P and K are great for healthy tubers,
and if fed regularly your plants will produce more
and be more disease resistant.
There are a few things to look out for with potatoes.
Like late blight, potato tuber moth, potato scab, and potato
psyllids.
If you spot any of these pests, or diseases, just head in store
and we'll sort you out with the right product.
If you're not sure what you're looking at, just take a photo
and bring it in.
You can tell your early crops are
ready when flowers start to appear
and main crops when the foliage dies off.
To dig them up, gently use a fork being really
careful not to damage them.
If damaged they won't last as long.
Store them in a cool, dark place like a sack, or paper bag,
away from light.
So there we have it.
You're all set with the how-to to head off into the garden
and start getting your potatoes ready and growing.
Take care of them, and you'll have plenty of potatoes
to fill the pantry.