Apr 30 2008
Saving Money by Growing your own Potatoes in a Tight Space
When thinking of how you can save money, do you think of your food budget mostly? Are food prices so high that trying to find enough money for bread, milk, eggs, and butter everyday would require a small part-time job? If you have a large family, this might be the case. Everyone is trying to find ways of cutting back, especially on food purchases. I know that everyone suggests a garden, but how do you garden in limited space? What about on a small patio, or on a window sill? Believe it or not you contribute to your monthly food with even these small spaces available.
When your thinking of sustaining yourself, potatoes might be a good solution with a small amount of space. Before you laugh consider this, a space the size of four tires stacked can provide 20 to 30 pounds of food. Are you still laughing? For a single person that is 3 months worth of potatoes. For my family of 7 it is a month worth of potatoes. Potatoes can be grown in poor soil that is slightly acidic, actually they don’t grow well in any other kind of soil!
So how do you perform this miracle of potatoes from four tires? It is simple enough. You take a tire and set in on the ground or plastic sheeting. You fill the inside of the tire with dirt, mulch, straw or a combination. Remember it can’t be too fertile or the potatoes won’t grow. Place about a pound to two pounds of potato eyes in the tire. Make sure the eyes are well covered and from certified disease free potatoes. When the potato plant grows about 12 inches tall add another tire and cover the plant leaving 8 inches. Keep covering until he second tire is full and then add another tire. If you continue doing this through out the season, you should have wonderful tubers for the whole of fall and winter.
Some notes to consider, are that there are literally hundreds of varieties of potatoes. Make sure to choose the best one suited for your climate. Potatoes have more potassium than bananas, so you might stop buying bananas after your harvest for a while. Purple potatoes have the most anti-oxidate power.
When your worried about high wheat prices affecting your daily bread purchase or corn prices affecting how much your chicken will cost, I promise knowing that you have your own crop of delicious potatoes coming in a month or two will take some bitterness out of it for you. In fact, you might want to start learning how to use the humble potato today
For more information on how to grow potatoes click:http://www.thegardenhelper.com/potato.html
