Summer garden seeds started this week

Summer garden bed

Sunday, April 19, 2026

I started my larger summer seedlings outdoor this week.  I do the indoor seed starting routine for most of my edibles but the larger ones like cucumbers, squash, beans and melons I start outdoors in peat pots.  It is fun to go outside every morning and evening to see if I have any little green shoots poking through the soil.

I planted all my spring edibles indoors mid February.  I started my smaller summer loving seedlings indoors at the first of March.  You can start your spring crops outdoors, too.  I have done that in the past. 

A spring edible garden

Now that we are well past any chance of frost (our average last frost date is April 2) and they are not calling for any lows in the 30's for the next 2 weeks, I am going to start the bigger summer veggies on peat pots outdoors.  You can start them indoors and earlier but they grow so fast you need larger pots for them and they take up a lot of indoor space.  I just start them outdoors once it is warm.

A summer edible garden

 Beans-Planted snap and shell beans to climb up on a trellis. Going to go with asparagus beans as snap beans this year.  Replanting Chinese Red Noodle and adding Yancheng and Taiwan Black.  Shell beans are 1500 Year Old Cave Bean and Christmas Speckles lima bean. 

Cucumber-trying a few that are supposed to be disease and pest resistant this year.  Aonaga Jibai, Shintokiwa, White Heron and Poinsett 76.

Herbs-I started Cardinal basil, Purple Ball basil, Chinese Pink celery, Pink dandelion, Butterfly Papalo (heat loving cilantro substitute), Red Shiso, Chervil. 

Squash-Ayote Green Flesh winter squash, Zucchini Rampicante summer or winter squash, Zapallito Del Tronco summer or winter squash, Thai King Kok pumpkin, Buttercup winter squash. 

Melons-Lemon Drop watermelon and Kajari melon.

Okra-a Red Burgundy and Heavy Hitter.  Have tried Heavy Hitter before and it did not produce as well as advertised but thought I would try it again as I don't need that much okra anyway.

Flowers-Blue Queen butterfly pea vine, Chaters Double, Summer Carnival Blush Pink and Summer Carnival Yellow hollyhock, Empress of India and Sahin's Paso Double nasturtiums, Borage, Orange King zinnia.

Resow-Starting Regina alpine strawberry, OTV Brandywine tomato and Black goji berry again.

This should be the last major seed starting I do until mid summer's fall planting starts.  Could do some June starts of tomatoes and squash if the first round isn't doing great.  

      Happy gardening!

The summer edible garden

Early May garden

Saturday, April 18, 2026

A summer edible garden has the crops must of us associate with backyard vegetable gardening like peppers, eggplants, cucumbers and the fresh favorite tomato.  The summer garden is planted in May to early June.  Summer crops love warm soil and air temperatures.  Most are subtropical in origin so a frost can kill them.  Plant seeds or transplants after all danger of frost has passed.  Since summer lovers thrive in warm temperatures, they don't really grow until the soil has warmed up so starting early outdoors isn't an advantage.  You can start them indoors early and then transplant when conditions are right to get a head start.  

For the summer garden, you plant in late spring, early summer for the heat lovers and then in the middle of summer for fall and winter crops.  You will need to save space to plant edibles for fall and winter harvests in July through early September.  For more on timing and types for planting the fall and winter crops, Time to plant for fall and winter harvests!.  

 There are two categories of edible garden crops, cold crops and warm season crops.  Cold crops like lettuce, spinach, peas, radishes, carrots, cilantro, kale, chard, cabbage will bolt and become bitter as the temperatures start hitting the 80's.  For us, this used to be the end of May.  Now, we can get 80's in April.

Warm season crops love the warm days of May through September and start waning in October.  Most will continue to have some production into November or the first hard frost of the year, including tomatoes and peppers.  There are many herbs and vegetables that love the heat and humidity of summer, too.  Folks here in Kentucky say Derby Day week end is the time to plant out summer veggies.  The Kentucky Derby is always the first week end of May.  Others swear by Mother's Day.

You can start your warm season crops indoors from seed or buy plants to get a jump start on getting harvests.  There are many options nowadays at the local hardware store, local nurseries and big box stores, from hybrids to heirlooms.

For indoor seed starting, here are some pointers.  Indoor seed starting tips, Ideal soil temperatures for starting your seeds

Crops that do well with just planting seeds directly into the ground outdoors are corn, cucumbers, melons, squashes, and beans.  They have large seeds and very sturdy stems.  Outdoor seed starting tips  Sweet potatoes are started using slips that you buy or start indoors and then plant directly into the ground.

Everyone loves to brag about their first ripe tomato, but tomatoes don't appreciate cold feet so resist the urge to plant too early.  Once it warms up, they will really take off.  If you just can't resist, use a plastic covering on the ground to get the soil warm to plant early or use something like Wall o Water around each tomato to give it a coat to keep it toasty in spring.

Be sure to fertilize when planting and then monthly.  Water during dry periods.  Even moisture is important.  Letting the soil get very dry and then giving a good watering can give you split tomatoes.  For more on summer gardening, Summer garden tips

Warm Season Crops for the Summer Garden-Vegetables

Artichokes Growing artichokes and cardoons

Arugula  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

Beans (fresh and shelling)  Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer 

Celeriac  

Celery  Give celery a try, an easy to grow garden staple

Chard  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Corn  Growing corn

Cucumbers  Cucumber info and tips for growing  Quick tip-Grow Up!

Cultivated Dandelions,  Grow Cultivated Dandelions

Edamame (soy beans)  Growing beans

Eggplant Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

Kohlrabi  Kohlrabi-a less well known spring vegetable

Malabar Spinach  Growing summer salads

Melons  Growing melons and cantaloupe

New Zealand Spinach

Okra  Growing and harvesting okra

Peppers (sweet and hot)  Peppers are for every taste and garden

Sorrel Want a vegetable and fruit garden that you only have to plant once? Try perennials!

Sprouting broccoli  Sprouting broccoli- a year round fav

Summer squash  Growing zucchini and summer squash

Sweet potatoes  Growing sweet potatoes

Tomatoes  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

Zucchini  What to do with all that zucchini?!

Mid-May garden

Herbs are the easiest thing to grow.  They thrive on heat and don't mind dry conditions.  If you are just starting out, this is a great one to start with.

Start a kitchen herb garden!

Make your own "Herbes de Provence"

Warm Season Crops for the Summer Garden-Herbs

Basil  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

Bay

Bee balm

Borage

Catnip

Chives (Garden and Garlic) Add chives to your garden

Cilantro (heat tolerant variety)  Growing cilantro (coriander)

Comfrey

Dill

Egyptian walking onions  Egyptian walking onions

Horseradish

Mint

Lavender  All about lovely lavender

Lemon verbena

Lovage

Marjoram

Parsley (flat leaf) Self-seeding crops, plant once and forget 'em

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

Salad Burnet

Summer savory

Tarragon

Thyme

Mid to late summer (July-September) is the time to plant for fall and winter harvests so be sure to have a spot for these tasty vegetables.  For more on late summer plantings for fall harvests, here is more information.  Time to plant for fall and winter harvests!

Crops Planted in Mid to Late Summer for Fall and Winter Harvests

Broccoli, Cabbage and Cauliflower (for fall harvests)

How to grow broccoli and cauliflower  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Beets, Carrots, Radishes, and Turnips (for fall and winter harvests)

All about beautiful beets  Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes  All you need to know about growing carrots  All about turnips

Cilantro  Growing cilantro (coriander)

Escarole, Radicchio, and Frisee (for fall and winter harvests)  Fall and winter greens

Fennel Growing fennel

Greens (Lettuce, Kale, Mustard, Pak Choi, Spinach)

Everything you need to know about growing lettuce  Collards and kale in your garden  Mustard greens  Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green

Leeks (for fall harvesting)  Everything to know about growing onions

Winter squash  Everything you need to know to grow squash

 You can procrastinate until June and still have a productive edible summer garden.  It is not too late to start a garden in June!

I always interplant my garden with flowers.  Flowers bring pollinators and other beneficial insects into the garden.  For fruiting veggies like tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, the more pollinators around, the more fruits you get.  If you want, you can grow edible flowers that are fun to add to salads.  Flowers that are edible

I use borage, amaranths, zinnias, marigolds, petunias, snapdragons, old fashioned Cock's Comb which is ruby red and grows 4 feet tall, red flowering Hummingbird Vine, Moonflower vine, Blue morning glory vine, heirloom sunflowers, and alyssum for annuals.  For perennials, there are spiderwort, delphiniums, hollyhocks in a variety of colors-Summer Carnival and Peach, day-lilies, irises, dahlias, fairy lilies, and gladiolas.  Five years ago I started a pollinator garden that is primarily natives like yarrow, echinacea, Black-eyed Susan bee balm, sedum, violets and many others.  Starting perennials from seed takes 2-3 years for them to really start filling out.  Now it will be survival of the fittest as flowers like bee balm and yarrow vie for space.

Summer is an exciting time in the garden.  Every day you go out, you can see things growing.  Just be sure to keep ahead of the weeds and provide even watering.  I garden in my flower beds so they are always mulched, providing protection against weeds and keeping even moisture.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds

What's happening in the mid-April garden

Egyptian walking onions

Sunday, April 12, 2026

I have been busy seed starting, putting transplants in the garden and pots, watering and fertilizing! I plant a combination of herbs, fruits, vegetables and flowers every year.  The flowers attract pollinators that help the fruiting plants like tomatoes and peppers to produce more as well as just looking good.

Status of our garden

We have fertilized, composted, mulched and added sulfur to all our flower/edible beds.  Wood mulch increases pH of garden soil so we add sulfur to keep it in the range that edibles grow the best in which is around 6-7.

We didn't have many weeds that needed to be pulled before we mulched the garden bed last month so I have been busy planting flowers and other transplants.  We have onions, shallots, garlic, Egyptian walking onions, chard, sorrel, arugula, carrots, celery, lettuce, cultivated dandelions, parsley and plantain that overwintered and are going strong right now.  I use the bottoms of the walking onions in cooking and the tops like chives.  The greens I use in salads and also as wilted greens.

My rosemary did not make it in the garden over the winter.  It always makes it into January, then we have a big warm up and another deep freeze and that gets it almost every year.  One of 3 tricolor sage plants survived and a couple of the green and gold a a few of the garden sages so I will have plenty of sage plants this year.  Thyme, oregano, tarragon, celery, pea shoots, garlic chives, parsley, garden chives, a few of my sage plants overwintered greens all are green and ready to use.  I can have many basil volunteers so I am waiting to see if they come up or if I need to start some from seed.  I use basil as a companion plant to tomatoes and for pesto that I freeze for year round eating.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

The bay, pepper plants, lemon, tamarillo and moringa tree I overwintered in the basement are adding leaves.  The pepper, lemon and tamarillo plants are full of flowers and baby fruits.  I moved them all outdoors a couple of weeks as the extended forecast has the night time lows staying at least in the 50's.  They should be fine unless it gets below 28F.  Our average last frost date was April 2 so we should be well out of frost/freeze danger.  

The lettuce plants I started indoors in February and transplanted into pots are looking good.  I also bought one 6 pack of Red Romaine lettuce and transplanted them into a pot, too.  Have plenty of greens for daily salads.  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

I dug up the volunteer garlic chives and parsley and re-potted to give to the local master gardeners for their annual plant sale.  They are both winter hardy and prolific self-seeders.  My best performing self seeding edibles

April and May are fun to watch to see what volunteers will come back from last year's seed.  I will likely have marigolds, tomatoes, chives, squash, and lettuce plants pop up yet this spring as the soil warms.  Looks like I have plenty of Snow on the Mountain, zinnias, and flame cockscomb flowers coming up already.  I'll thin them out and move the extras to the steep bank by the road.  It's tough to mow so adding self-seeding flowers will make it pretty instead of just scraggly looking.  Try self-seeding veggies and flowers

I took a look in the freezer and pantry to see what we were running short on to develop my garden plan for this year.  My 2026 Decorative and Edible Garden Plan   I'll take one more look at the end of the month to fine tune how many squash, melon and cucumber seeds I'll need to plant.   A summer edible garden   The old timers around here say to wait until Mother's Day to plant out the frost tender annuals like squash, cucumbers, melons and tomatoes.  They don't grow until the soil is warm anyway so waiting doesn't delay harvest.

I think I'll also try to go to the farmers market more this year to see if there are other fruits or veggies that do well in this area to add to the garden.  We have a couple that are close by that starts up in early June.  You can find a farmers market near you through this web site.  www.localharvest.org

Tips for successful transplanting

Seedlings "hardening" outdoors on the covered patio

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Here are some tips for giving your seedlings and transplants the best chance at surviving and thriving from the move to the garden.

 

For almost all of us that have started plants from seed indoors, we have experienced the sadness of our cute little seedling that we nurtured for weeks croaking after planting outdoors.  For myself, I can name a few reasons for the premature death of my seedlings.  

 

Here they are along with tips for successful transplanting:

 

1.  Transplanting a seedling in a season too cold or too hot for when it likes to grow.  A good example is cilantro.  Cilantro and lettuce do not like heat.  If you buy seedlings late in the season and transplant them into your full sun garden, they can quickly die or if they survive, they will immediately bolt into a flower stalk with no harvestable leaves.  Cilantro and lettuce should be planted in early spring or fall when temperatures are cool.  So, first tip, only plant in the season that your veggie likes to grow.  Look at the seed packet or plant tag for growing information.

 

2.  Transplanting near other plants that put out toxins in their roots.  Some trees like walnut and hickory and some plants like sunflowers put out exudes in their roots that are toxic to other plants.  Tree roots just by themselves can rob the vegetation near the tree of moisture and nutrients they need to thrive.  If your space is limited to those near trees, you can use raised beds with protected bottoms to keep tree roots from infiltrating the veggie's soil.

 

3.  Transplanting into an area of the garden that the plant does not get what it needs to thrive.  For example, fruiting vegetables like tomatoes need lots of direct sunlight to get big and bushy to support the energy needed to produce fruits.  Planting where they will only get a few hours of sunlight will result in weak plants that will struggle to produce fruits.  Another example is planting cool temperature loving plants in the hottest part of the garden.  Think southern exposure with no shade.  Crops like lettuce do enjoy 6-8 hours of full sun but produce longer with sweeter leaves if given afternoon shade.  If you grow in pots, you can have the pots with southern exposure until it warms up and then move to the east or north where it will be cooler in the afternoons.

 

4.  Transplanting too soon.  It is best to wait until your seedlings have at least their second set of leaves.  This signals that the seedlings root system is robust enough to support on-going growth.  

 

5.  Transplanting seedlings with weak stalks.  If you handle seedlings by their stalk, you can crush the stalk which will kill the seedling.  Handle the seedling by its leaves if the stalk is thin.  If you transplant a seedling that has a weak stalk on a windy day or week, the wind can blow the seedling stalk in half, killing the seedling.  

 

6.  You'll have the best luck "hardening" the seedling to outdoor conditions gradually before planting in its permanent spot.  Take your seedlings outdoors when it is warm, gradually increasing the exposure to the sun and wind.  Like us, plants need to build up protection from the rays of the sun.  Exposure to wind causes the seedling to strengthen its stem.  You can gently brush your seedlings indoors daily or put a small fan to blow over your seedlings to mimic the outdoor wind.  Give them a week or two, gradually increasing exposure to sun and wind in a protected area before moving out into the garden.

 

7.  Transplanting on a full sun day.  Even after hardening, the transplanting process is hard on a seedling.  I look for cool, shady days to transplant to give the plant some time to adjust before getting hit with the full power of all day sunshine.

 

8.  Breaking the roots of the seedling as you are removing the plant from their growing pot to put them in the ground.  Be as careful as you can to remove the entire root ball of the seedling.  You can slide a knife around the inside of the pot/cell to make the plant easier to remove.  Their root system isn't very robust when small. 

 

9.  Transplanting into the wrong type of soil for the plant.  For example, if you are growing in a pot, you should use potting soil not dirt.  Or if growing blueberry bushes, they need acidic soil not regular garden soil or potting soil to flower and fruit.

 

10.  Not giving the transplant the water and nutrients it needs when you plant them.  I like to give the seedlings a good watering before I transplant them.  At transplant time, I add char, worm castings and a balanced organic fertilizer or starter fertilizer and mix into the soil of the planting hole before adding the seedling.  After planting, I water again and keep an eye on them daily for the first few days to make sure they are getting the moisture they need.  If a nice, slow rain comes the day after planting, this is the optimum for the transplant!

 

For more gardening and transplanting information, see these blogs:

Spring edible garden

A summer edible garden

"Hardening off" seedlings

What to plant in the April garden

Seedlings

Sunday, April 5, 2026

April is a beautiful time of year with the leaves coming on, the grass turning green, the first flowers blooming and lots of plants poking their heads out of the ground.  There are many veggie and fruit seeds and transplants that can be put in the edible garden.  It is still too chilly for most of the summer lovers until the end of the month.  Big box stores, hardware stores, local nurseries, flea markets and farmers markets all have plants right now.  This makes it easy to get your garden going in the spring.  You can find many heirloom fruits and veggies transplants and seeds nowadays.  For the unusual plants, buying on-line from seed companies is the way to go.

In preparation for spring planting, I completed everything on my spring checklist-cleaning up debris, composting, fertilizing, adding sulfur and mulching for my garden beds to be ready for planting.  Spring garden checklist

I have already started salad greens and snow peas in pots and am harvesting for fresh spring salads.  I also planted marigolds, Sweet William, flame cockscomb in the garden bed and petunias in my pots. 

I have my summer loving veggies and fruit starts hardening off on the patio: eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, husk cherries, huckleberries, and some summer greens.   I always look at the extended forecast to make sure we are not getting an unusual cold snap coming before putting them into their permanent pot or garden bed spot.  Check your seed packet for the best time to sow the seeds.  I like starting seeds in pots outdoors this time of year so they are already acclimated to the temperatures and strength of the sun.

Spring and summer loving transplants are in your neighborhood stores that you can pick up now.  I almost always buy some lettuce and spinach transplants to get more plants to harvest from this time of year.  This year, I had several lettuce and chard that overwintered and different varieties that I grew from seed so I only bought one 6 pack of red romaine lettuce.  Veggie plants have arrived in stores!

Even though you will see summer lovers like basil, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant plants in the store, it is still quite chilly for them in April.  They do much better in the warmer temperatures that come in May. 

Starting seeds indoors is a great option too.  What I started indoors this week  You can grow unusual varieties you may not find in stores.  Being inside lets you keep a very close eye on how they are doing, too.  You just need to make sure they are acclimated for the outdoors before transplanting.  "Hardening off" seedlings

Here is a list of plants and seeds you can put in the April garden: 

April-transplants or seeds into the garden or pot Zone 6/7

Amaranth

Artichoke  Growing artichokes and cardoons

Asparagus  All about asparagus
Bee balm (monarda)

Borage  Flowers that are edible

Broccoli  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower

Brussels sprouts  Growing Brussel sprouts

Cabbage  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Catnip

Cauliflower  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower

Celeriac

Celery  Give celery a try, an easy to grow garden staple

Chard  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Chives  Add chives to your garden
Cilantro  Growing cilantro (coriander)

Dill  

Endive

Fennel  Growing fennel

Horseradish

Kale  Grow one of the super greens this year-kale

Kohlrabi  Another spring veggie-kohlrabi

Lavender  All about lovely lavender

Leeks

Lemon balm

Lettuce  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Lovage

Mizuna  Fall and winter greens

Mustard  Mustard greens

Onions  Onions-everything you need to know to grow 'em

Parsley  Self-seeding crops, plant once and forget 'em

Peas Time to plant peas!

Radicchio

Sage

Spinach  Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green

Strawberries  Back yard strawberries

Tarragon  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Thyme

Valerian

Any of the above can also be started indoors and then transplanted outdoors into their permanent garden  spot or pot.

April-start directly in the garden or pot

These edibles do best when started directly in their permanent spot.  Almost all root vegetable do best being directly sown (onions and leeks can be started from seed then transplanted to their permanent spot).  

Beans (snap-bush & pole) at end of April  Growing beans

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Carrots  All you need to know about growing carrots

Corn at end of April  Growing corn

Fruit bushes (bare root or potted)  Fruit for small spaces and pots

Potatoes (seed potatoes)  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

Radishes  Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes

Turnips  All about turnips

April-start indoors for transplanting in early May

Basil  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

Cucumber  How to grow cucumbers-in pots or in the garden

Eggplant  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

Lemon verbena

Melons  Growing melons and cantaloupe

Okra  Growing and harvesting okra

Peppers  Peppers are for every taste and garden

Stevia  A sweet alternative-grow your own

Summer and winter squash  Everything you need to know to grow squash
Sweet potatoes  Growing sweet potatoes

Tomatoes  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

For tips on starting your seeds in the garden:  Outdoor seed starting tips  I also like to put a pot on our covered deck and start seeds there.  Once they are to a good size, I transplant them into their permanent pot or into the garden bed.  Vegetables you can grow in pots

For tips on seed starting: 

Seed starting tips

Ideal soil temperatures for starting your seeds

Make your own peat pots

How much to plant?

Trying to decide what to plant for this year's garden?  Here are some garden ideas:

Easy kitchen garden

A French vegetable garden you can grow in a small ...

Start a kitchen herb garden!

Pizza garden for the kids

Heirloom Sicilian kitchen garden

Mediterranean diet garden

Colonial Vegetable Garden

Veggies for small spaces

Fruit for small spaces

The First Victory Gardens 

Growing potatoes 101

Drawing of a potato grow bag

Saturday, April 4, 2026

If you love potatoes, try growing some of the exotic varieties that are out there, like fingerling or blue potatoes.  You can find all kinds of great varieties in today's seed catalogs.  Along with the surprising number of different kinds of seed potatoes available, there are also many different ways to grow them without actually planting in the garden! Or you can get inexpensive seed potatoes locally.  Early spring is the optimal time to plant.

Seed catalogs are not the only place you can buy seed potatoes.  You can get inexpensive seed potatoes at our local Ace Hardware store, Rural King, and Tractor Supply company.  You can also get them at big box stores, just make sure the ones you get are firm.  I went with Yukon Gold (which is widely available) because it is a good storage potato. 

The potato is a native of South America and can be found in the wild from North America to Chile.  There is an amazing variety of potatoes grown in South America, many color and sizes.  The potato originated from an area in southern Peru/northwest Bolivia.  It was cultivated 7000-10000 years ago.  It took until the 1700’s for the potato to arrive in the colonies by the way of Irish immigrants.

Tubers are good source of fiber, B vitamins (B6, thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, folates), vitamin C, and minerals iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, and copper.  Most of the nutrition is in the skin.  If you want even more nutrition, try some of the wonderful colors available today. 

Potato plants produce tubers along the stem so the more you can build up soil around the stem, the more potatoes you will harvest.  Since most of the action of potatoes occur underground, a light, well drained soil will give the highest yield of potatoes.  Adding sand and compost can be very beneficial.  In our potato boxes, I alternated a layer of raised bed bagged soil and a layer of composting leaves in this year's planting.  My husband also put a 1/4" mesh wire sheet across the bottom to keep the voles out.   

If gardening in a small space, there are lots of options of potato growing bags on the market now.  It follows the same concept as trenching or mounding in a garden bed.  They also do well in repurposed whisky barrels.  A pot 30”deep and 20” across is best.  Fill a third with potting soil, then add soil as the vine grows.  We are growing ours in a self-built box that we will add another tier to as the vine grows.

Here is the link to the plans that my hubby used to build the below box:  Potato box video

Potato box

To give your potatoes plenty of loose, rich soil in a garden bed, dig a trench down about a foot, mix in compost, put mixed soil and compost 4" in bottom of trench and place eyes up in the trench.   Adding bone meal gives the tubers the nutrition needed to produce large potatoes.  The pH of the soil is optimal in the 5.2-6.0 range but potatoes will grow in any soil.  Plant seed potatoes 3” deep and 10-12” apart.   When the potatoes have leaves showing, add another 3-4" of soil.  Continue to add as potatoes grow until trench is filled.  If planting in hard soil, you can mound the earth, mulch or straw around the plant as it grows. 

Seed potatoes can be planted 4-6 weeks before the last frost (when the early daffodils bloom).  You can plant successively to extend the harvest until the dogwoods bloom.  You can continue to plant until May, but may only get fingerling size potatoes before the vines die back in the summer.  For Yukon Gold potatoes, they recommend 1-2 weeks before the last frost for planting and we did have a frost last week and a potential frost tonight.

Early potatoes can be harvested when the first flowers appear.  Dig the potatoes when the foliage has died back in the summer.  Do not allow the baby potatoes to be exposed to sunlight.  If your potatoes turn green, do not eat them as they are poisonous.

Seed potatoes in the sun to sprout before planing

You can grow potatoes from the “eyes” of store bought potatoes.  The risk is putting any disease they may have into your soil.  Many recommend to always buy sterile seed potatoes.  To be safe, I am sticking with sterile seed potatoes for garden beds.  

If you are growing in a pot or potato growing bag, you could try using store bought eyes.  Let your potatoes age and when they start sprouting, they are ready to cut and plant.  Be sure to cut out a sprout, or "eye", to plant.  A plant will emerge from each sprouted eye.  Cut seed potatoes leaving 1-2 eyes per section.  Let cut dry overnight, then plant.