Taters, precious

This year I decided to try growing potatoes, Kennebecs, to be specific.  Aside: I find it somewhat ironic that they are supposed to be planted around St. Patrick's day. (Irish potato famine, anyone?)  However, I would highly recommend giving potatoes a try in your garden! 

There are two not-at-all-difficult parts about growing potatoes.  One is that you have to cut the variety you get so that there are at least two eyes in  each part, and then let them cure for a week. (Read: Cut haphazardly and then leave them on your counter to dry out a little bit.)  The second is that you have to remember when you planted them so you know when to harvest.  Kennebecs take about 100 days to mature.

Seriously, potatoes are a beginning gardener's friend.  Since they are planted in the spring, it is cooler, and here in Kansas, we get the most rain that we see all year, so watering is minimal.  Pests are also minimal with the cooler temps.  

I was surprised by how large the plants actually grow.  For some reason, I imagined that since you dig them out of the dirt, that the plants wouldn't be very big.  Obviously, I was wrong... again.  =) 

The potato plants are on the right, and you can see that they gave my zucchini a run for it's money before they were harvested.  Taters, precious! They are so worth it.

Note: Many potatoes were harmed in the making of potato egg and cheese burritos and mashed potatoes.  Delicious!