makes me jealous. What's a garden without some potatoes?

Happens every time I plant potatoes, and is a source of shame for me. A couple generations back, my family produced huge potatoes out in East Grand Forks.

Dad has tried twice to grow them and they failed for some unknown reason. Tomatoes and onions? Good Lord they practically take over every space they are in.

Potatoes fail in the south.

Bugs get mine. They come from no where and eat every leaf within a day or two.

We tried and aphids destroyed them .

They will leave nothing but a inch or two of stem sticking out of the ground where your plants was in 48 hours or less. First couple times, I thought some dirtyname pulled my plants and stole them, until I realized the ground was undisturbed and there were these bitty little pieces of stem where the plant had been.

I hope you have better luck this year.

Are you talking bunnies or other such critters? Broccoli grows well here except last year the darned rats harvested all of it, and climbed my corn to ear the tiny little ears that finally matured. Grrrrrrr.

Try growing tomatoes here though and I average 3/plant, even tiny tomatoes. If I'd ended up in MN this summer I was going to grow a big salsa garden but came home instead.

My potato plants get eaten by bugs. When they hit, they make quick work of it. Residential neighborhood, just a backyard garden plot.

Potatoes are interesting to grow, but they don't grow well in the Deep South (my experience, dad tried a few times and it was a disaster).

Good for you

I have grown the purple majesty(as did my great grandma), they are supposed to have higher antioxidants, and they have a slightly different taste. My kids really liked the purple mashed potatoes and purple fries. I would recommended anyone who raises potatoes try them once. I bought the seed potatoes on eBay, I believe they are heirloom.

glacierated area and we have lots of rocks. Purple potatoes and rocks look enough alike that it took forever to check each and every one. I did end up with having only half the rocks in that bed than I used to but it was annoying at the time.

I have thought of buying some to eat again, now that I've grown more different kinds, to give them another chance though. They are different, end up not being fluffy but good in their own right.

I had good luck with Red Gold, Caribe, Yukon Gold, All Blue, a few others...I may try some in straw bales...pondering exactly what I want to test in bales this year.

I never managed to row potatoes in the garden, but the ones I tossed in the compost heap and some of their descendants grow like gangbusters every year.