How to Grow Organic Potatoes: No. 1 Potato Expert Shares His Best Tips

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You’ll be amazed how much better fresh, homegrown potatoes taste.
You’ll be amazed how much better fresh, homegrown potatoes taste.
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Mulch with a material such as straw to conserve moisture and keep light off developing potatoes.
Mulch with a material such as straw to conserve moisture and keep light off developing potatoes.
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Use a shovel or digging fork to harvest, taking care not to spear your spuds.
Use a shovel or digging fork to harvest, taking care not to spear your spuds.
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Greensprout, or “chit,” your potatoes by exposing them to light in a cool spot for a few weeks.
Greensprout, or “chit,” your potatoes by exposing them to light in a cool spot for a few weeks.
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After you harvest your potatoes, store them in a cool, moist place (such as a root cellar or basement) for up to six to eight months.
After you harvest your potatoes, store them in a cool, moist place (such as a root cellar or basement) for up to six to eight months.
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Control Colorado potato beetles by destroying their eggs.
Control Colorado potato beetles by destroying their eggs.
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Plant sprouting seed potatoes when your soil warms to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Plant sprouting seed potatoes when your soil warms to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Potato expert and GMO-labeling advocate Jim Gerritsen speaks out against GMOs at a rally in New York.
Potato expert and GMO-labeling advocate Jim Gerritsen speaks out against GMOs at a rally in New York.

Jim Gerritsen and family have been growing seed potatoes for 37 years at Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater, Maine. Gerritsen, a potato farmer whom many consider the No. 1 organic potato expert in North America, has a lot to say about the benefits of homegrown spuds.

“If you do a good job, you can harvest about 70 to 90 pounds per 100 square feet — that’s a lot of calories and a lot of nutrition,” he says. To get to that point, though, a grower first needs to learn the ins and outs of how to grow organic potatoes on a home-garden scale. Gerritsen agreed to share his potato wisdom with MOTHER EARTH NEWS, and his tips are sure to raise your potato-growing IQ. Let’s dig in!

What’s the No. 1 most important key to growing organic potatoes? 
I would say it’s the seed. Seed is the most important key to growing any organic crop, and that’s especially true for potatoes. There’s a wide variation in seed potato quality, and certified seed potatoes will always do best in terms of yield, storage and overall quality.

How do you grow your seed potatoes?
We start with tissue-cultured, diseasefree mini-tubers that are produced in a greenhouse or hydroponically. We plant them in spring, and after a couple of generations we have enough to sell. Currently, we cultivate two to four generations each of 23 varieties.

Why can’t gardeners just plant potatoes sold in grocery stores?
You can use supermarket spuds, but they won’t grow well because they’re sprayed with chemicals to inhibit sprouting. Some people buy organic potatoes, thinking they haven’t been sprayed, but even these won’t do as well as certified seed potatoes that have been handled properly and are physiologically young. The proof’s in the pudding — or, in your mashed potatoes.

  • Published on Jan 10, 2014
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