Starting in frost-free late winter or early spring, you can have multiple potato crops (up to five) throughout the growing seasons.
LOCATION
Potatoes prefer a well-drained light soil, although you can grow them in soils more heavy with clay.
Raised garden beds are gaining in popularity and are perfect for potatoes but you will need some well rotted compost to retain some moisture.
PREPARATION
Prepare the growing site by deep digging, removing any foreign matter from the soil, like stones or they will distort the potato and spoil their appearance.
Dig in some well rotted compost with animal manure added, preferably sheep or cow. If no manures are easily available then add a good sprinkling of blood and bone as this is the ultimate slow release fertiliser.
It is worth buying good quality seed potatoes from an accredited nursery. You can use potatoes that have sprouted in your vegetable basket but the results will always be more inconsistent.
Individual potatoes with multiple sprouts can be cut into two or three - but leave at least two sprouts on each piece.
Let them dry in a box in the dark for a week or so to seal the cut surface before planting (this will make it more resistant to disease).
PLANTING OUT
The best time to plant the first crop is in late winter after the danger of frost has passed and the amount of daylight is starting to increase again.
Its possible to have 5 crops a year - growing from spring right through to autumn.
When you are ready to plant, dig a trench - spade depth and plant the seed potatoes about 30cms or 12 inches apart with the main shoot pointing upwards.
Then backfill with soil. If soil is very acid add a very light dusting of lime on top of the soil.
When the top growth (humes) is about 25cms high is the time to ridge them up e.g. to make a raised collar of soil around the new foliage.
You may need to repeat this as they continue to grow.
They rarely need watering, the well-rotted compost retains enough moisture in the earth.
If you have a very hot dry spell then you might water them, a little - but don't overdo it as too much water will encourage the tubers to rot from the centre out.
When this growth has reached about 45-50cms high it will start to yellow and droop.
Now is the time to harvest but don't do it all at once, just enough to keep the larder well stocked - they'll store much better in the ground than in your veggie basket and be garden fresh for every meal.
If you do need to harvest them all in one go to free up garden space then store them in layers of straw in a dark and cool place then you'll have a consistent supply for many months without and degradation in quality.
VARIETIES:
The Department of the Environment and Primary Industries has the ultimate reference list of the main varieties of potato grown in Australia.
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