All Eyes On The Spuds!

Okay. It was a moment of weakness. I was in the feed store getting a sack of grain and a salt block for my horse. But since I was putting the purchase on my debit card, I really didn’t want to run it through for less than $20. Besides, there was this bag of Yukon Gold seed potatoes calling my name. (Good thing no one else in the store heard it.)

I grabbed the bag. All five pounds.



I have only grown potatoes once before. It has been so long that I actually had to read the instructions on the bag.

Here is what the seed potatoes look like just out of the bag.



The first task is to cut them into “sets”, which means chunks that contain at least one or two eyes on them. The eyes are the little indentations on the outside of the potato where the sprouts emerge.

Here is a close-up of some of the eyes. These sprouts are ready to go.



After cutting the potatoes into sets, they must dry for a day or two so that the cut end can dry and scab over. That helps prevent the potato from rotting in the ground before it gets a chance to develop roots and a stem.

I cut the seed potatoes into fairly good-sized chunks. I don’t have a lot of room to grow them so didn’t want to end up with more sets than I can handle. The very small seed potatoes, I left intact.



It’s definitely starting to feel like spring.