If you want to grow epic potatoes, there’s no one better than Jim Gerritsen, founder of Wood Prairie Family Farm in Bridgewater, Maine. Jim has over 45 years of experience growing organic potatoes and he came on the Podcast to share everything you need to know for a successful harvest, from preparing the seed potatoes and the soil to storing the tubers so that they last for months.
Jim is a third generation farmer who founded Wood Prairie Family Farm in northern Maine at the age of 21 and has passed the baton to his son Caleb in recent years. The farm covers 115 acres and has been certified organic by the USDA since 2002. He also holds the Maine Seed Potato Certification Program seal of approval, which means he can sell seed potatoes — the small tubers that farmers and gardeners plant to grow a new potato crop — that are certified by the state as free of ailment and damage.
Maine was the n°1 potato producing state in the country about 70 years ago, and Aroostook County, where the Wood Prairie family farm is located, was the center of the “potato empire”, explains Jim. Potatoes have been grown in the region since the arrival of the first European settlers, and today Maine continues to be the national leader in the cultivation of seed potatoes.
This week’s reminder presentation of my conversation with Jim in 2021 is very relevant as the potato planting season approaches. For a detailed summary of everything we discussed, with photos, check out the notes from the original show.
While you are here, let me take a moment to remind you that I have published a new book: “The vegetable garden book: your complete guide to growing an edible organic garden from seed to harvest.”It’s full of insider tips and new information to help you up your gardening game and take on challenges.
And for this spring, my new Premium Online Gardening Academy™ organic gardening course is on the program. Register on the waiting list here.
Why choose organic seed potatoes
Conventionally grown seed potatoes were treated with a fungicide and a systemic insecticide and a synthetic fertilizer was added. But an organic seed potato has not been treated with chemicals, which means that it is a “survival of the fittest”, says Jim. Therefore, organic seed potatoes are resistant, with more strength and better resistance to ailments. In good soil, organic seed potatoes turn into healthy plants that do not require chemical pesticides or fertilizers, and the tubers are richer in nutrients.
Why Maine is a great place to grow epic potatoes
Two things that make Maine a great place to grow potatoes, Jim says: the climate and the soil.
Maine benefits from being far up north, where it’s not so hot in the summer, he says. It also has a good distribution of rainfall, cool nights and sunny and warm days. And the soil is sandy and well drained.
Potatoes are a cool-season crop with shorter growing seasons in the south. But in northern Maine, potatoes can grow all summer and be harvested at the end of September and October.
