What are “New” Potatoes?

New potatoes can be any variety of potato that is harvested as a small potato. The characteristic that makes them new is that they are freshly dug right before eating and before their skins get a chance to cure. And what is curing? Curing is the process of drying the potatoes in a cool dark place so the skins can harden and protect the potatoes for long storage. New potatoes have very thin skins, are moister and sweeter than their large older relatives and are very perishable.

Most baby potatoes that you buy in the grocery store are not new because they have been harvested many days before and stored on grocery store shelves. The best way to consume them is to grow your own! It is so easy to do and a fun rewarding project to do with the whole family! I left my grocery store baby potatoes in my cool garage for months this winter, thinking they would store there just like in my refrigerator. But to my surprise I found that most of the super size bag I got during Covid was starting to grow! I decided that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about new potatoes and planted some!

The best way to grow new potatoes at home is to plant them in containers. Containers provide an ideal growing environment. The soil is nice and loose for the spuds to grow and less likely to contain bugs that will dine on your crop. Make sure you give your plants plenty of room to grow, so space your potatoes at least 6 inches apart in the pot and plant them with the roots pointed down under an inch or so of soil. As the plants grow add more soil to the pot when any roots start showing above the surface. If you have at least 6 hours of sunlight at an indoor location you can start growing your potatoes inside. You can buy these cute fabric growing bags from Amazon that have a side viewing and harvesting pocket. (Affiliate link)

Beautiful green shoots will emerge from your pots in just over a week! Keeping the soil moist is very important so water daily until you start to see the plants flower. Flowering is the sign that the new potatoes will be ready for harvest soon. Cut back the watering so the plants will put their energy into growing the potatoes instead of the greenery at this stage. It takes about 10 weeks total for the new potatoes to be ready for harvest. Try to dig up a spud to check on the size without disturbing the plants too much. Once the potatoes are the size of a golf ball they are ready to be dug up and eaten!

Watch my client and friend Ana harvest her potatoes last fall in this cute video from a previous EdibleGardenGirl post Potato Harvest