Built Another Potato Tower

Quite a bit of leaves remained after adding them to my square foot plot and filling up my potato tower.  I decided I like potatoes and another tower was in order.  I purchased a 50'/15m roll of 3'/.9m wide fencing. The fencing has 3"/76mm x 2"/50mm rectangular openings, as did the previous fencing used to build the first tower. This fencing differs in a few ways. The wire is a smaller gauge. It almosts feels soft, much easier to bend. The long side of the 2" x 3" openings changed orientation 90º so that the 3"/76mm dimension went from horizontal to vertical. 


I am guessing the gauge of the wire decreased to keep the price of the fencing low. I have no idea why the orientation rotated 90º. In any event, I constructed another tower using the same 64"/1.6m length of fencing. I cut the extra rectangle in order to attach both ends of the fencing to each other. I cut another wire coat hanger and made 5"/127mm staples to pin down the towers to the soil.


I changed the cloth used to surround the tower. I used all the remaining landscaping fabric on the first tower. I scrounged in my garage for something to use. I found a black single bed sheet in my rag pile. Bed sheets are saved to be reused before selling to the rag shop or entering the trash stream. (I am the son of parents that lived through the Great Depression. We save rags, aluminum, copper, screws, nails and lumber of sizable usable lengths. Our family has been recycling our whole lives. We are no strangers to the rag/scrap shop.)


I draped the sheet around the tower and overlapped where the ends of the fencing were joined. One edge of the sheet touched the ground and the remaining cloth flows over the top of the tower. I then placed 6"/15cm of leaves in the bottom of the tower. I didn't have any store bought potato seeds, so I opened my pantry to  scrounge for a suitable replacement.


I found a few sprouted Russet potatoes that were living under a large sweet white onion. They was easy to spot. The sprouts were a sickly white 6"/15cm and reaching around the Oso Sweet onion from both sides as though hugging the Oso in a lyonnaised sort of way, straining towards what little light entered the pantry.

I took the sprouting potatoes to the tower. This time instead of cutting the wire at the 6" level, I cut the sheet and bent the wire of one rectangle and squeezed in on potato leaving the 6" sprouts out in the sunlight. I did this again for the other potatoes. I expected to return to Lowe's to purchase more All Blue and Yukon Gold potato seeds to fill the rest of the tower. (I later discovered at Lowe's that the blue were dried and smelled bad and no gold remained. I purchased a bag of Russets.) The potatoes were planted Mon., May14.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Planting My Potato Tower

Once the tower was assembled, it was time to plant the potatoes.

I shoveled enough shredded and composted leaves into the tower to bring the amount of leaves to 6" above ground level.

I then cut three wires in the fencing to create a 4" x 6" port in the tower. I also cut the fabric to allow access to place the potatoes inside the tower.  

I purchased three kinds of seed potatoes - All Blue Potato, Red Northland and Yukon Gold.

There were only five All Blue Potatoes in the bag. I don't know how it happened but somehow, they got wet. They looked terrible.

      

                                  

                  view from the top opening of the potato tower

I cut off the seemingly rotten and or moldy parts and placed five sections from the five potatoes, each with at least one eye, into the tower through the cut wire ports.

I added 6" more of leaves to the tower. I was ready for more potatoes.

There were more Red Northlands in the bag than there were All Blue. The Red Northlands were dry and looked good. I cut those potatoes with more than one eye into smaller sections, each with an eye. This time I didn't cut the wires of the tower to place the potatoes.

I was able to reach into the tower from the top opening of the tower to place the potatoes.

I cut the fabric where each Red Northland was placed.  I cut quite a few openings to allow access for the sprouting potatoes to send out green foliage.

The last type of potato to plant was the Yukon Gold.  These were good and dry, also.  I cut them into smaller sections, again making sure there were eyes in each piece.  I placed 6" more of leaves into the tower and then the potatoes.  Cut some openings in the fabric and covered them with more leaves.

I expect to plant a patio type tomato in the top of the tower above all the potato plants. For this reason the top layer is at least 1' deep.

Once the potato planting was finished, the tower had a lean to it. That was because I was reusing old fencing. I became concerned a good breeze just might topple it over. So I set about to add some reinforcing.

I found two of the concrete reinforcing rods I used in the plot last year. I placed them very close to the tower and drove them into the soil about 2'(61c) with my heavy hammer. I then cut four 10" lengths of tie wire to tie the tower to the concrete reinforcing bars. I was confident this arrangement could stand a good breeze.

My first potato tower was complete. There remained more leaves and fencing. I building another tower was a possibility.
If I do, I need to purchase more seed potatoes.  I think I will get more All Blues.




©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved