Homegrown Potatoes – All Grown Up
There’s nothing quite like the taste of freshly dug new potatoes. They’re simple enough to grow, but traditional rows can eat up a lot of garden space. Luckily, potatoes are flexible things. You can grow them in all sorts of places and spaces: old compost bags, sacks, big tubs, or even bottomless buckets sat straight on the soil.
Whatever you use, the key is in the backfilling. As the leafy shoots grow upwards, you keep covering them with more soil or compost. It’s this gradual layering that encourages the stems to throw out more roots, and the tubers of course (and that’s where the potatoes form).
That’s where the Spud Stacker comes in. It grows with the plant. You start with a base frame, then add pre-made shiplap rings as needed, backfilling as you go.
And the best bit? It’s moveable. If your soil gets hit with blight, just pick it up and shift it to a fresh patch next season.
How to make a Spud Stacker
Materials to use
- 6 X 1.8m (130 x 19mm) shiplap fence paling
- 6 x 450mm (45 x 45mm) wooden pegs
- 80 x 35mm screws
TIP: Repurposing any wood will achieve similar results however the shiplap fencing pails are cost effective and will enable each layer to slide onto the frame beneath. The corner pegs will assist in its stability regardless.
Method
Step 1: Measure and cut each 1.8m shiplap fence paling into 3 equal lengths (so you have 18 equal lengths in total).
Create the square base frame: measure and cut 1 wooden peg into 4 x 90mm rectangular blocks – these are for each corner of the base layer. They help keep the frame square and sturdy.
Take 4 shiplap lengths and form a square; place a 90mm block on the inside of the square in each corner to sit flush at ground level.
Screw wood to the blocks, allowing 4 x 35mm screws per corner.
Step 2: Measure and cut the remaining wooden pegs into 3 x 120mm blocks. Note that these are longer lengths than the first layer/base (4 x 90mm). This is so the upper layers don’t just ‘sit’ on the layer beneath, but are slotted together.
Step 3: Create the top frame layers: make each frame it situ whilst balanced on top of the base frame. Allow each corner block to sit on the adjoining base block below, screwing each side to the corner block flush.
Repeat for all 5 layers. Number the layers (base #1 etc) as this is their natural fit. Given all layers are of equal squares it may not matter, but it does allow for any mis-measures.
As seen in NZ Lifestyle Block Magazine, written by me!
