Planting Time!
Beginning Spring Planting in Minnesota
It’s Spring! Time to start planting in Minnesota. It used to be you would plant potatoes on Good Friday. The last years it has been too cold to put anything in the ground. The farmers are out planting their fields and I feel a bit behind since I do not have anything in the ground yet. Tomorrow! That’s the plan. I hope to get some seeds in the ground hoping the soil is warm and tills up nicely.
Planting Potatoes and Seeds
A couple of days later and I was able to plant my potatoes, as well as some lettuce, spinach, radishes, and onions. I suppose I could have planted a few more things but the wind was unreal! Thankfully the wind was warm.
(Dave, our Shi-poo, trying hard to walk against the wind.)
Usually, I cut the eye off the potato and plant each eye separately which works great. However, since we had such a good potato crop last year, I used our smaller potatoes and planted the whole potato.
Planting a potato by hand.
I usually drop the potato or eye of the potato in the ground and push it in with my foot.
After all the potatoes/eyes are in the rows, I cover them. I push the dirt over them with my feet.
How We Plant Potatoes
We have planted our potatoes in a trench about 4 inches deep and space them 6-4 inches apart. It has worked well for us each year. Since we grow quite a few potatoes, I allow ample space between the rows for the tiller which helps me in weed control. Later in the season we hill (build up the dirt around the plant) the potato. Hilling helps prevent the potatoes to be exposed to the sun and keeps them cool. I have cut back on how many potatoes I plant since my family is getting smaller her at home and potatoes are quite inexpensive. However, the flavor of potatoes fresh out of the ground is delicious.
Despite the windy conditions, we planted onions, lettuce, spinach, and radishes. We certainly could have planted a few more things but those seeds can wait. We’ll finish a different day, hopefully when it isn’t quite as windy.
Happy Planting
Planting has always been therapy for me. It is like starting fresh again. It brings out feelings of hope and new beginnings. Happy Planting!
Good luck with gardening!
Thank you. Found out my soil is not ready yet. I need a bit more heat so that when I till there aren’t so many mud balls.