As part of my foray into container gardening this year, I decided that it would be fun to try my hand at growing some potatoes. I’d done a fair amount of reading, and it seemed like growing potatoes in containers was pretty workable. I’d seen several examples of people growing them in old tires stacked 4 high, fencing towers stuffed with straw, and some much more elaborate wood sided towers that allowed for taking the bottom rung off and pulling potatoes out from under the plant.
The re-purposed container that we already had, potatoes already planted.
When it came time to plant my potatoes, I decided that for the first time around, I’d just use one of the larger containers that I already had laying around the yard. I’d previously used it to try and grow some flowers in, and while those turned out fine, some produce would be even better. I also found and picked up another container that I wanted to give a try with potatoes. It’s a bag made specifically for growing potatoes in, called, wait for it, Potato Planter. It’s kind of cool though. It’s made out of the same material that those blue tarps are made out of, and is designed with a velcro flap near the bottom of the bag to allow for you to open the bag and pull some potatoes out of the bottom while letting the rest of the potatoes grow near the top.
So, armed with my containers and a couple of bags of topsoil, I set about planting some potatoes!
After the plants have flowered, and the plant itself starts to yellow and die off, give the potatoes about a week to two weeks to mature, then harvest them. (This step and the ones following are purely from my research, and not from experience yet. I could be way off!)
When you harvest the potatoes, set them out in a warm, dry place to dry. This is supposed to allow the skins to harden up a bit for better storage. (One downside here is that the second the potato gets to a harvested state, the natural sugars in the potato begin converting to starch. I’ll be trying a few fresh from the ground and some that have been “hardened” and see how much of a difference there is.)
Repeat next year!
So far, I’ve gotten as far as planting, and adding soil to the potato containers. I’ve got one more batch of soil to add to the containers to fill them up with soil, then it’s just a waiting game as the plants grow potatoes and I wait for harvest time. This year is a bit of an experiment, as it’s our first year of dedicated container gardening, as well as the first time I’ve ever grown potatoes. Rather than add too many variables to the mix, I just planted some seed potatoes that I got from our local grocery store. If I recall, they were the Red Pontiac variety.
Next year, should this year be a success (and it’s looking like it will be), I would like to order some seed potatoes of different varieties. In particular, some purple potatoes. Mostly, just because I think they look cool! I’d like to try a few of the heritage/organic varieties too, and see if there’s much of a difference.
Have any of you ever successfully grown potatoes in your gardens or in containers? Got any hints or tips for me? Suggestions for varieties to grow next year?
This article on CNN caught my eye the other day. It’s about an “Accidental Millionaire” who discovered that a keying error by his bank resulted in him having a $10,000,000 line of credit instead of a $100,000 line of credit. Instead of notifying the bank of the error, he withdrew 6.8 Million of it, disbursed the money into overseas accounts and then promptly fled the country. About 2 and a half years later, he was caught and brought back to New Zealand to stand trial for his theft.
The whole thing brings up an interesting question though. Obviously, the right thing to do would be to notify the bank of the error, so that it could be fixed and all could continue on their way. And, I think it’s fair to say, most of us would do just that. But, what if it was for such a high amount of money? Sure, if the bank makes a $10,000 error, you’ll let them know. But, what if they make a $10,000,000 error? Just how tempting would it be to do just like this guy did, take the money out and put it into overseas accounts where it couldn’t be recovered by the bank, and make a run for it? Even if you knew you could make it 2.5 years before getting caught, would it be worth it to live like a multi-millionaire for that amount of time?
I think that the penalty would likely be high, and will likely involve some jail time, but would all that be worth living the rich life for a few years?
I can’t see where it would be for me, personally. But, obviously, for this guy, the answer was that it would be worth it. Or, maybe he truly thought he could get away and not get caught. I’m not sure how one really thinks that they’ll be able to get away with something like that. But, he obviously did, or at least thought the trade off was worth the possible penalty.
Me, I’ll settle for making my money the old fashioned way, and making it work for me. The trade-off of not making it as fast as he did, but staying out of jail is well worth it.
What are your thoughts on that. Would you trade a few years of living as a millionaire on the run be worth the possible penalties?
Retirement can sometimes be like that one cousin at family gatherings. The one that nobody likes to talk about. I think that, like that cousin, it’s easier to put our retirements out of our minds simply because, for many of us, it’s still so far away. We’ve still got 10, 20, 30, or even 40+ years before we hit that golden age of 65.5 and start living the good life of retirement. Naturally, our nearer goals are at the front of our minds and take up most of our thoughts. After all, which are you more likely to worry about? Your upcoming performance evaluation next week, or your retirement in 35 years? Retirement never stood a chance. But, like that cousin, you’ve got to think about your retirement sooner or later. And, the sooner you start thinking about it, and preparing for it, the better off you’ll be when it comes time to face it.
In fact, the sooner you start saving for retirement, the better off you’ll be. Not only will you have to save less because of the wonders of compounding returns, but you’ll have more to show for it when it comes time to retire. At an average of 7% return, any money that you save for retirement will double every 10 years. What does that mean? If you wait an extra 10 years to start saving for retirement, you’ll have effectively cut your retirement fund in half, and will need to either drastically increase the amount you’re saving each month, or learn to live on less in retirement.
Saving for your retirement doesn’t have to be complicated either. Sometimes, it’s downright easy! How do you make the most of your early retirement saving? Stop leaving it on the table. Get active with your savings. Go beyond being active, and be pro-active. Start with your employer. If you’ve got a 401(k) through your employer, take advantage of it. Contribute up to the full amount that your employer will match. Your HR department will help you get it set up, and give you the information on the match so that you can do that. Most 401(k) programs will have a set of target date funds that can be used to effectively set your 401(k) on autopilot. If you don’t want to be involved in the choosing of funds for the money to go into, the target date funds can be a great choice.
Once you’ve gotten the full match from your employer in your 401(k), you might want to look into a private pension plan or an IRA as well. For most, the Roth IRA, with it’s tax free growth and withdrawals is probably the right choice. If you’re under 50, you can contribute up to $5,000 every year into an IRA. Use your tax refund, if you get one, to give yourself a boost each year on meeting that $5,000 limit. If you’ve still got more retirement saving to do after you’ve met the contribution limit, you can up your deduction into your 401(k).
If you need more help with your retirement, or help figuring out what, how much, and when to save, find yourself a retirement expert. Your CPA or a certified financial planner should be able to give you a detailed plan for your retirement savings. The most important thing you have to remember with all this retirement talk is that if you don’t save, you won’t have any retirement funds to worry about. Unless you want to count on Social Security to fund your retirement. I’ve seen people who have done that. You don’t want to be in their shoes. Get your retirement saving started today. It really is important. Even more than that performance evaluation.
