This gardening season I’ll once again be planning and taking care of raised beds in a community garden for a human services organization. Smart Pots came to my rescue.

They’ve wanted to grow potatoes but just haven’t had the right space. Potatoes, as you know (or maybe you don’t!) produce their crop under the soil. The 10-inch deep raised beds that the garden uses just aren’t deep enough for growing such a crop.

Growing in the ground at these residential programs is not an option. Why?

Problems with ground soil

There are several reasons it’s not appropriate.

1. Unknown Soil. As urban land, what exists in the soil is a big unknown. Toxins from construction, painting, cars, and all sorts of factors can be in the soil. True, we could do a soil test to find out exactly what is in there. The sure result is that SOMETHING foul is in the soil, so it’s easier, really, to just grow crops above ground in fresh soil brought from outside.

2. Excess Labor. Even if we did take a soil sample and find out what the soil holds, we would have to do a lot of manual labor to dig out the soil, amend the soil with fresh compost and such, and turn the soil over. We don’t have that type of labor available to us. Again, fresh soil brought from outside is the best solution.

Smart Pots Aeration Containers

Unfortunately, the organization’s raised beds are not deep enough for growing what could potentially be a bountiful below-soil crop.

The folks at High Caliper Growing have donated eight of their 20-gallon Smart Pots, aeration containers. These containers are made of a heavy but breathable fabric. Because the fabric is breathable, the roots within this above-ground container stay cooler than they would in a conventional pot. Also, the air that circulates within the container helps the roots to stay “air pruned,” which helps to develop a constant system of new, denser and healthier roots.

All I have to do is fill the container with a combination of bagged garden soil and compost, plant the seed potatoes, and provide ample moisture.

I’ve grown potatoes in a 2-foot-tall, 3-foot-wide raised bed made out of wood, and I’ve had great success with it. I’m interested in seeing not only how the fabric material benefits the roots and developing potato tubers, but also how it affects the health of the above ground plants. Fingers crossed for a great tuber crop this summer!