Potatoes and Parsnips

Hello... I'm new here.... (see my 1st post in the welcome forum). I have some questions about potatoes and parsnips.... TIA!

Potatoes:

I'm planting some Yukon Golds, mid-season potatoes, and my potato box is 12 in. deep. Because they are mid-season, I don't know how I should plant them.... do I do the "plant them at the bottom with a little Mel's Mix covering them, let them grow a bit, cover, grow cover, grow, cover, etc..." method, or do I just plant them deep-ish and let them grow without covering them progressively?

Parsnips:

a few squares of my 12 in. deep potato box will be dedicated to parsnips.... I've done a search on the forums, and found no threads about parsnips... are any of you growing them, or do they just not work in a Sq. Ft. garden? If you are/have, what is/was your experience? I've read that they have an uber-long tap root.... I'd love it if they work/grow... I think parsnips are quite yummy!

Thanks,

Jennifer

I seeded 2 squares of parsnips> Yummy!!! It should work out just fine, Think positive!!!!

That's what I was planning to do - 2 squares of parsnips. How many did you plant in each square? The seed packet (and on-line sources say to thin them to every 8 inches... would 9 parsnips per square be too crowded? I dunno... but that's what I plan to do... LOL! When did you plant yours? I'm hoping to get mine in the ground this coming weekend (may be late for parsnips, but oh well...), and I plan to do some chitted and some un-chitted (just trying to improve my odds... hehe).

I just direct sowed maybe 10 days ago. Im not worried about the time frame as I plan to leave 'em in the ground until after frost. JKD What climate zone are you in? Can you add it to your profile?

here

Hi, I've planted two squares of 4 parsnips each, and my beds are double height. I think I found the planting distance somewhere on this site (the old version), but I'm not sure. I love big parsnips, but if you're planning to harvest them small, I think it's safe to put in 9 or so.
I planted seeds as early as possible (see seed package), because they are really slow growers. It took weeks for them to come up, and they're not growing fast either.
In the mean time I've planted carrots around them (16), but I read about companion planting later and it seems those aren't the best match so when the carrots are harvested, I'll put in some lettuce or other above-ground-veggie. By then the parsnip plants will be big enough to recognize inbetween other leaves.

I posted about them last week, (I tried to put a link here, but I can't seem to get it anywhere other than on top of my text...wel, just click on the black "here" if you're interested )

Zone 4 (no clue if it's a or b, wouldn't know the difference either... LOL). I'm in the Twin Cities area of MN. Yes, I'll tack that on to my profile.

Thanks, Mirjam! I like having a pic to look at, as far as what the little seedlings will look like.... I think I'll stick with my plan of 9 per square in my 12 in. deep potato box. I also think I'll put 3 or 4 seeds in each spot, some chitted, some un-chitted to see what happens.

So, does anyone have any advice on the potatoes?

Potatoes....? Anybody....? Somebody....?

LOL! So, how do I go about planting the Yukon Golds (mid-season)? Progressively covering them up as they grow? Or plant them deep, cover them once/all the way, and let them go? Help!

Either way plant them both the same depth-in the middle of the soil. If you choose not to cover them, add a little soil on top of any potato that starts popping out to keep it from turning green. That is the purpose of 'hilling'.

Since you have a deeper box already, why not try it. Typically the plant is covered when it is 4-6 inches tall, so you'll only be covering them once or twice. I've used MM, compost, and straw to cover. Maybe someone else has other suggestions for what to cover with.

I would say yes.... but I have not SFG grown potatoes. Try the forum search feature too... Sorry gotta go back to work... I plan on planting potatoes this weekend...

I have my taters (Charlottes) planted in heavy Tyvek contractor bags (like they haul rocks and busted-up bricks in).

I've been told to follow the 6-3-6-3 method -- let them grow to 6 inches (25cm), bury the bottom 3 inches (12 cm) and so on -- 2 or three rotations is the most popular suggestion.

I like the idea of dumping the bag instead of having to dig potatoes.

Thanks all! That gives me something to go on.... Sorry for the impatience... the rainy/cold weather (my weather-bug on the 'puter says it's currently 42 degrees!) has me feeling a bit caged! I wanna plant my garden, dog-gone-it! *stamps feet and huffs*