wow. . .that is really cool. i am surprised that anyone is growing potatoes in tucson, but what a perfect way to do it. .

I harvest potatoes in late summer when the top (all the vegetation) dies back.

Thanks. It's such a different growing season here in the desert. I was so surprised to see them and such big ones! My father-in-law in Ireland grows a lot of them, but it's such a different environment here I didn't know if I should ask him. He just pulls them up when he thinks they're ready and shoves them back in if they aren't, but he's like me in that we are what I would call 'experimental gardeners'. It's all about trial and error. He also doesn't understand why I would want to grow them 'the hard way' (organic) and he uses all sorts of chemicals that I don't want anywhere near me. I'm going to bake them tonight and I can hardly wait. -Freya

My favorite way to grow potatoes is in old hay bales (my family has horses, so we have an unlimited supply of old, moldy hay bales). When they get old they begin to fall apart a little, so you can just shove potatoes into the middle of them. When they're ripe, you just peel apart the natural "flakes" of the hay, and there's your potatoes! then we use the old hay to mulch garden paths. I'm trying doing leaf/soil filled trenches this year though. I've never done it this way before, but have read it works well. Have any of you tried potato trenches before?

Congratulations!

I am also about to harvest my first potatoes. I also live in an apartment and I have VERY limited in-ground growing space so I made potato bins from three 30-gallon plastic garbage cans. Back in March I had my neighbor drill a bunch of holes in the bottoms of the cans, then I added 3 inches of gravel to the bottom and filled the cans 1/3 full of organic potting soil (A bit expensive, but I am told I can re-use the potting soil as long the potatoes didn't develop any diseases and I add some more compost to it.) I then placed 6 seed potatoes in each can and covered them with 4 more inches of potting soil. I miss-read the directions. I was supposed to add more potting soil every time the plants grew 6 inches up to the last two sets of leaves but I misunderstood the directions and didn't add more soil until the plants were peaking over the sides of the cans. I started havesting new potatoes about a week after I got my one and only flower. They were great and digging for them was really fun too! Now the plants are getting brown its going to be in the mid 90s for the next couple of days. I'm sure that will finish off the plants. I plan to dump the bins on Friday and will let you know how it goes. I want to re-plant so I can get another harvest in November.

Sara