Welcome to Grow Your Own Potatoes
Registrations for 2023 are now open.
We are currently investigating ways of funding GYOP and will confirm more details once we have them.
The Grow Your Own Potatoes project is under new ownership and we need to raise funds to keep it going.
With the help of funding received from McCain Foods, Potato House and the BPTA we successfully sent out over 3,000 free potato growing kits to primary schools nationwide, at very short notice.
Some of you will have missed out on kits this year and there is still plenty of time to grow potatoes before school breaks up for the summer. With that in mind and to help raise funds we have have developed a Children's Patio Kit that replicates the kits in schools.
These kits are being sold at a reduced rate with free delivery and the best part is Potato House have agreed that 20% of the proceeds will go towards the Grow Your Own Potatoes project.
For more information contact sue@potatohouse.co.uk
Register NOW
Registrations for 2023 are now OPEN.
Registrations will close Friday 28 January 2023
Kits will be dispatched in February 2023
Chitting to start Tuesday 21 February 2023
Planting day Tuesday 7 March 2023
We need your help
To help raise funds for GYOP 2023, we have a number of Children's patio kits for sale at a reduced rate, with 20% of all proceeds going towards funding the GYOP project.
The purchasing of these kits gives you access to the same advantages as the schools kits:
- Regular email updates
- Access to the website and all support resources
- Help and advice, if needed, from Sue, GYOP project manager
For more information contact sue@potatohouse.co.uk
Remember: “experience of where their food starts out is a vital ingredient in the battle to excite and engage children about their diets” Dr Aric Sigman
Chitting
Start chitting your seed potatoes on Tuesday 21 February 2023, this will take about two weeks.
Please note: If chitting day falls in your half term holiday don't forget to leave your seed potatoes on your chitting tray (built into your kit box) in a warm place, before you break up.
Chitting will speed up the ageing process of your potatoes, by exposing them to light and, more importantly, a bit of warmth. This will cause the eyes of the seed potato to start sprouting and should result in a better crop.
Planting
Tuesday 7 March 2023
All schools taking part in the GYOP competition will be planting on this date. This year you have 14 weeks to grow a successful crop before harvesting on Tuesday 13 June 2023
By now, you should by now have chitted your potatoes but don’t worry if not, you can still plant them, just be extra careful not to over water them before they have had a chance to get established.
Also, don’t forget to label your grow-bags to help identify the variety growing.
Growing
14 weeks from planting to harvesting.
To grow a successful crop of potatoes in your grow bags, your potatoes will need: light, water, food, space and air.
Make sure you find the perfect spot to stand your bag, keep the soil moist but not wet and don’t forget to top up your soil as the plant grows, to give the potatoes plenty of room.
Watch out for late frosts too, potato plants hate frost!
Harvest
Tuesday 13 June 2023
This is the exciting time, when you find out if all of your hard work has paid off, just 14 weeks after planting.
If you remove the green tops from your plants, it makes them easy to pull out of the bag without damaging them, this means you can re-use the bags to grow something else.
Once out of the bags, the fun begins; roll up those sleeves and rummage through the soil to find your potatoes, just watch out for the mother tuber!!
Competition
All entries for GYOP 2022 must be received before the end of August 2022 - please enter regardless of your weight harvested
This year only we will be randomly selecting one winner from ALL the entries received before the end of August 2023.
The successful school will win £50 of National Gardening Vouchers and will be notified in September 2023.
Don't forget to keep your two crops separate and weigh them separately once you have washed the dirt off. The more weights you enter the more chance you have of winning. Remember also, you must weigh your potatoes in grams
Featuring
Registration for 2023 are now OPEN
Seed supply 2022
