On 2010-05-23, MICHELLE H. wrote:
Hi all,


Hey back,

The other day when I went to my compost bin to throw away some banana
peels and egg shells, I noticed a bunch of green plants ( about 8 or 9
), growing out of the top of my compost bin, so I dug one up to see what
it was, and there were baby potatoes attached to the bottom of the
plants!!

Lucky you!

A few months ago, I threw a whole bag of potatoes which were starting to
rot, away in the compost bin, and now I have potato plants growing in
there.

So I guess my question is, if I keep letting them grow, will they be
SAFE to eat!? If so, I don't know anything about potato plants. How do
you know when the are ready to be picked? And how do you pick them? Do
you just rip the whole plant out?

Leave it to grow or eat the lil taters now.

I asked a guy in the Garden Center at "Home Depot", if the I can eat the
potatoes growing out of the compost bin, and his response to me was "I
wouldn't eat ANYTHING growing from a compost bin".

Well whattaya expect from "Home Depot"? Help from people who
don't know about gardening is what you find at the so called
garden center department.

You can pick potatoes at any time, if you want to keep them for a
long time then leave them in the ground until the tops dry. In
warm winter areas, say zone 6, mine BTW, I cover with straw and
leave them in the ground and pick as needed until there is a temp
that is going to be around 20F. Then time to dig them up. Yeah
some will survive and come back next year, then you can divide
and plant, pick another area though.
HTH
--
Bud