Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.

As the main stem grows towards the top of the barrel it sends out potato bearing side shoots all the way up. These will eventually be crammed with delicious new potatoes.

The high barrel height makes it hard to plant and hard to water evenly. And very heavy and hard to harvest. This applies to plastic barrels as well. Cut them in half for best results! INSTRUCTIONS To Make Potato Barrels: RULE OF THUMB! The darker the flesh and leaves of your veg the better they are for your health. Full of antioxidants. Prepping Potatoes for planting: Any new shoots that have grown too long and spindly can be rubbed off, so that new 1 foot (25cm) shoots are produced ready for planting. The Apollo Potato Barrel has an attractive victorian style designed in a decorative terracotta finish. Over the next few weeks and months the potato plants will grow and mature and it is often helpful to stake up the plants to give them a bit of support.

Another advantage is that using barrels makes harvesting easier since all the soil dries out from aboveground level rather than having roots deep down under the ground. Plus, they require less water as compared to growing them outdoors. Choosing Your Barrel These are the 2 types of water timers I use, I love them and highly recommend them to make your gardening experience more pleasant. This is our 19.4lb red potato harvest! Drill small holes along both sides of each stave just beneath where they overlap — these allow air circulation between layers which helps keep temperatures cooler inside; Metal barrels are easily corroded and difficult to work with. They could be used if you need to plant potatoes in a small vertical area for a single season and they are lined and no corrosion is evident. I used pre plant fertilizer (measure the height of your soil in the barrel and times it by the width) and weekly feed described in the Mittleider course book. About once a month I added a little bit of 21-00-00 which is ammonium sulfate which addsa small amount acid and nitrogen that help tomatoes and potatoes to grow. Without acid and nitrogen potatoes will be small or non-existent. To get this high yield you’ll need to use pre plant fertilizer, weekly feed and 21-00-00(very small amounts).

Next Generation Vegetable Barrel Washing

Once your container arrives safely home, rinse thoroughly with warm soapy water before beginning preparation stages: