Potato Mountain: getting taller by the day

This year is my first attempt at potatoes. I have enviously heard tales from last years crop when GGF tried them for the first time. Something about how different they tasted, flavor and texture, how fun it was to just shove your hand under a plant and be able harvest just a few perfect baby potatoes for dinner.

"What the heck have I been doing all the years!? How come I have never done potatoes before?" my inner voice hollered at me.

So, I am on the potato bandwagon now; GGF shared lots of her 4 fancy variety seed potatoes with me. We cut them up with 1 or 2 eye on each piece, making sure to let them cure a day or so and heal that cut edge. The planted them 6-10 inches apart in a trench. I planted about 40 or so.

And, that was the easy part.

Now, as they grow, I have to berm up and continue to berm up dirt around the stem. I guess the potatoes sort of come out the sides of the plant and by berming up more dirt around each plant it makes more potato growing area and more potatoes. The actual plants are thriving and seem to be growing inches a day with no end in sight.

I have been piling barrow after barrow of dirt an these things. I mix normal top soil with some wood shavings (not cedar) to make a little lighter and fluffier. But, it is still heavy work and lord knows how much more I still need to do.

Currently it is a small mountain of lovingly mounded soil around these plants.

Do I resent all this work? Yes. Am I annoyed at my beautiful Potato plants? No, but they better be pretty darn yummy! Will I do potatoes next year? Jury is still out. Let's see how yummy these homegrown spuds are then I will say!