If you live in more Southern climates, (South of England/Ireland) the recommended best dates to get your tatties in the ground is somewhere between St Patrick’s Day and Good Friday. Given our latest weather in South Scotland however, you might think us mad to be starting off our first earlies already.

We kicked off at the LIFT Easter Sunday event planting a variety of early breeds of tattie seeds, and will be doing some more in the near future – which we will announce, and hopefully once the cold weather has subsided.

Some good things to bear in mind about your tatties:

• Keep them watered, but not too wet. Potatoes don’t want to grow in a bog.
• Potatoes also don’t like the cold. Even just keep them in at the backdoor will help them from getting frosted until this cold snap subsides.
• Once they start to sprout you are on to something! If you start to see potatoes peeking out get them covered up with some extra compost. Green tatties won’t be any good for eating.

There are lots of different ways of growing tatties! In your special tattie grow bags they shouldn’t need a lot of hassle, but if you’d like to know more about growing tatties here are a few good places to start:

• https://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/planting-potatoes/
  Our tatties seeds are all local and grown by JBA Potatoes in Annan
• https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/potatoes

Good luck!
We will announce the date towards the end of the school holidays when you can bring back your tattie bag and we can compare the results, and select our winners. Dates will be announced on the Creative Futures facebook page, and the event will be held at the Tattiefields site on the corner of Carrick Road and Balcary Avenue, by the new Meadows houses.

Like to take part? Live in Lochside? Please get in touch, as I will be doing another couple of events and can help you get started with a tattie of your choice.

What is Tattiefields?

Tattiefields is a site on the edge of the new Meadows housing in Lochside. The inspiration came from local stories remembering tattie howking in the area before it was built up, and this summer a series of artworks are being installed to share the history of the Lochside area. The project is supported by The Stove Network and DGHP.