Dog Food Bags for the Garden

Cincinnati Homestead Mom is SO EXCITED to test this out....



I've been wanting to grow potatoes but my soil is a lot of clay.  I've been doing some searching on the ole Internet and seen something about "potato bags" to grow potatoes in.  But they were anywhere from $5 - $25.  Being the prepper hoarder that I am, I thought of the stacks of empty 50lb dog food bags I have. 

I am trying 3 kinds of potatoes: Russet, Yukon Gold, and Norland Red.

Take your potato (hopefully it has multiple eyes) and cut it into several pieces so that each piece has 2 or 3 eyes. It is best to do this the night before and let the cut potatoes sit out overnight.

Then you just start with an empty bag. Start rolling the top (open end) of the bag down. 
Roll it down until it's about 8 - 12 inches deep. 

(Harley made sure the bags were empty)

I added a couple inches of straw to the bottom of the bag, then about 4 inches of dirt, followed by another small layer of straw.

Add your cut potatoes (eyes up). I used about 5 per bag. One in each corner then one in the middle (think of a dice).

Once the potatoes are in place, add another layer of straw, topped off with a few inches of dirt.

POTATOES GROW UPWARD

As the potato plants start to grow, roll the bag back up some, and add some more dirt.  Continue to do this as the plant grows.

At the end of the season (when the plant starts to die off) simply cut the bag open or dump it out to harvest your potatoes.

When I started this project I realized these dog food bags make excellent growing pots and containers.  They can be used for all kinds of things.....Tomatoes, Peppers, Zucchini..... the possibilities are endless.  I currently have potatoes and carrots started in some. 

I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress of this Cincinnati Homestead Mom  and all of my projects.

Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to subscribe, follow, like, and share.