Potato
Solanum tuberosum
Plant seed potatoes, not grocery ones; hill them as they grow.
Hardiness: zones 2 to 11
Light: full sun
Size: about 2 ft tall, 2 ft wide
Harvest: July to September
From: Andes
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.
Good for: food.
Native to: Andean highlands. Hardy in zones 2 to 11.
The story
Potatoes were domesticated around Lake Titicaca 8,000 years ago, and Andean farmers still grow thousands of varieties and freeze-dry them into chuño; the Spanish carried them to Europe, where they fed the poor and, when blight struck in 1845, starved Ireland. They yield more food per square foot than any other crop in cool climates.
Planting
Full sun, loose, acid soil; plant certified seed pieces 4 inches deep in early spring, a foot apart, in trenches or under straw.
Growing
Hill soil or straw around the stems twice as they grow; water steadily while tubers form. No lime, no fresh manure. Rotate beds yearly.
Harvest and use
Dig new potatoes when plants flower, main crop two weeks after the tops die in late summer. Cure in the dark a week; store cool and dark. Green tubers are poisonous.
What to watch for
Colorado potato beetle, late blight in wet summers, scab in alkaline soil, and wireworms in new ground.
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General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home