Cook Garden to Table with Potatoes and Garlic

These tips will guide you in growing the best potatoes and garlic, and show you how to prepare a few simple potato recipes and delicious garlic recipes.

By Barbara Damrosch
Updated on September 13, 2024
article image
Photo by Barbara Damrosch
Growing potatos and garlic will give you new appreciation for just-dug new potatoes and tender garlic shoots. Three simple potato recipes will get you started.

Discover how to grow and cook garden-to-table meals with potatoes and garlic.

Potatoes and garlic, together or separately, are pillars of the kitchen. Of the major carbohydrate crops of the world — wheat, rice, corn and potato — the homely spud is the easiest for a home gardener to grow in a meaningful amount. And for adding flavor to daily fare, earthy and pungent garlic is almost as essential as salt. “Why should I grow either, when they’re cheap to buy and easy to store? What would a fresh harvest add?” you might ask. Growing your own allows you to try out unusual colors or varieties, such as blue or fingerling potatoes, that are seldom commercially available, and to choose organic seed garlic and potatoes if you wish. Their flavors may not be as fleeting as that of just-picked corn, but after you’ve tasted just-dug potatoes or tender fresh garlic heads from the summer harvest, you’ll look forward to them each year.

Growing Potatoes

Seed potatoes are those specifically for planting. You can find them at many garden centers and mail-order companies, or save them from year to year. They can be whole, or cut into pieces that each include at least one eye.

Put them in the ground when grass starts to grow, no earlier than two weeks before your last anticipated frost date, spaced 12 inches apart and 3 inches deep. Chitting potatoes, or pre-sprouting them on a tray in a warm, bright place, will give them a head start.

When your plants reach about 6 inches tall, hill up potatoes with soil or mulch deeply with straw to protect them from sunlight and keep them from turning green and bitter. Though mulch may attract voles, which nibble the tubers, it does help keep the soil moist — a good defense against another important pest, the Colorado potato beetle. Reduce the beetle population by rotating your potato crop; laying spun-bonded polyester row covers over your potatoes after planting; and picking off any eggs, larvae and winged adults.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368