Sowing the Seeds

There are so many ways you can grow a humble spud. Just as there are so many fabulous ways to cook them! During a recent visit to our local community garden, I noticed that one of the gardeners were growing potatoes in tyres.

I have grown them this way before, when I lived in the city and was short on space. It is a very simple and excellent way to grow your spuds.

You will need a few old tyres. It’s good if they have been lying around in the weather for a while and are clean. I don’t recommend removing the tyres on your ( or anybody else’s) vehicle! The older the tyres are the better so then you wont have a problem with possible lead or other toxins leaching into your soil.

Place one tyre on the ground, throw your seed potatoes into the middle of it and cover up with a good heap of cow manure and straw. Make sure you use certified virus free seed potatoes. There are so many excellent tasting varieties, it will be difficult to choose just one….Maybe select a few.

When the green growth shoots out the top of the tyre, like in the picture, put another tyre on top and repeat the process with the cow manure and straw. Its a bit like making lasagna, lots of layers! My potato/tyre stack was around 5 tyres high. Make sure the stack is watered well and regularly.

When it is time to harvest your spuds, its just a matter of pulling the whole thing apart and reaping your rewards. I think this is an excellent way to grow your own potatoes if you don’t have a large garden, or even if you just have a balcony.

The hardest part will be trying to decide what delicious tasting treat to make!!

There is a lot of stuff packaged into just one little seed. There is a ton of genetic material and there is also the potential to feed a whole family. Just one little bean seed can produce a beautiful plant with a bountiful crop of food. Giving people the knowledge and skills to grow their own food, is giving them empowerment and food security. Food security is a basic human right.

Community gardens are a wonderful way for people to learn these skills and share information, swap seeds and food crops. Through my own experience in community gardening I have found that they bring all people together who share a common goal. Community gardens are popular the world over, from large scale acreages to rooftop gardens and small urban high density housing areas. Community gardens are a helping hand and often a listening ear to many marginalised people struggling with hunger and poverty.

Another benefit of growing your own food is the ability to be able to sell it at a profit. This is certainly the case in many communities where we are now seeing more and more ‘Farmers Markets’.

The local community garden near where I live has a community lunch every week. People from the area pitch in on the day to help beautify the gardens by weeding, raking, digging or planting. The food that is harvested on the day is cooked up for a special communal meal that is shared amongst everyone.

There are so many community gardens that I am sure if you were to look you would most probably find one in your area. It may be at the local school where students from all economic backgrounds can share in and enjoy the bounty! If you find that there isn’t one then maybe that’s your cue…approach your local council or lands authority and help to create food security in your own backyard.