This is my first season growing potatoes.  A friend had extra seed potatoes and passed them along to me.  Most people prefer to get certified seed potatoes to be sure they do not have disease.  I'm not sure I believe this is necessary and will probably try to save potatoes from this year's harvest to sprout and plant next year. 


Potatoes grow incredibly fast!  Tons of greens shoot up above the dirt within a couple of weeks and keep growing and growing.   have not yet piled additional dirt along the stems but will do that in the next few days. 


i was worried that all the heavy rains that came right after planting would rot the potatoes.  I think my soil was well drained enough that this did not happen.  


I planted the potatoes directly in the ground and there is no screen under the garden plot.  I'm hoping the rodents stay away, but I see a rodent hole right next to the row of taters, so i'm a bit worried.  For now, so far so good.