I received a sample last fall of Purple Majesty potatoes. I have been looking at these super nutritious potatoes that are packed with anthocyanins for quite some time. I hope to have an offering in the catalog soon.
This past December I am typically itching to get out and plant something; to quell this urge, I took 4 of the Purple Majesty’s and put them in a 15 gallon Grow Tub. That was on December 7th. I put the container in our production greenhouses and sort of forgot about them (luckily for me they are under an irrigation system so they got adequate water). 
Ninety seven days later, today, I harvested the bag after the vines had all died back. I was amazed at what I pulled out. Twenty five little purple beauties. And when I say purple, I mean Purple Rain!
There were only 25 edible potatoes and the total weight was only 2.5 pounds, but the color was so amazing, I could have gotten one and been happy. In normal growing conditions and under much more heat than what we keep the greenhouse at, I would have expected 10 times the weight. This little harvest will allow me to have fresh “new” potatoes, boiled and coated in butter, this weekend. I also was able to share some with work colleagues so that they can get a taste of spring as well.
St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner. For me in the Midwest, it marks the first day to start planting vegetables. I will talk a little more on that in an upcoming post.
Keep Growing!
– Craig
Purple Majesty Potatoes in Grow Tubs
Harvesting my purple potatoes.