I grew up in a small village surrounded by potato fields.  The local farmers in my area supplied potatoes for big companies like McCain’s and McDonalds. It was something that happened every year. From the plants growing in the fields, to the tops dying off to show they were ready to be dug up, to the potato trucks taking them to there final destination, being made into those delicious McDonald’s French fries.  Potatoes are a food I would eat 5 or more times a week in a variety of ways and I would see hundreds of acres planted year after year… How did I not know the basic information about them? It really bothered me how little I knew.

The only thing I could say I confidently knew about potatoes is that they attracted potato bugs and using spray was the only way to get rid of them on a large scale. Summer of 2020, I decided it was my year to try growing my first crop of potatoes. I had an extra row in the garden to work with and wanted potatoes to store for the winter. 

It was late June, but I figured there was still time. I planted them next to my squash and for some reason I didn’t have a potato bug problem. I think I only saw 3 bugs from the time they started sprouting until being pulled from the ground late fall. I felt like I had won the jackpot! It gave me extreme confidence and I would now plant potatoes every spring to have our own supply for the cold winter months.

Spring 2021 came and I had started a lot more plants from seed than the previous year. We extended our garden an extra 10 feet and still didn’t have enough room for my potatoes. Once you experience picking anything fresh from the garden and immediately turning it into that night’s supper there’s nothing quite like it. I just couldn’t go without. 

Since we didn’t have any more room in the garden, we decided to use grow bags instead. Grow bags are a great option when space is limited. I only had 3 bags to work with on hand and they were all sold out everywhere I looked. When I tried to order them, they were out of stock. So I settled for the 3 that I had and figured it was better than nothing. 

One evening while I was washing dishes, enjoying the view from my kitchen window, and admiring my growing garden and greenhouse, I noticed my grow bags were COVERED in potato bugs! There were so many that my husband decided it would be easier to fire up the Shop-Vac to suck them up. It was a funny suggestion but it worked great… for about 20 minutes.

Once we went inside to have supper, they were covered with those irritating creatures all over again. It was like we never vacuumed them up! I was quite discouraged and didn’t want them to get into anything else. I decided to call it quits on the potatoes for that year and I pulled out the plants. I placed the plants in a garbage bag and took them to our garbage bin, thinking I had won the war. Little did I know, the war was just beginning.

Over the course of the next few days, the potato bugs had returned full force. They were crawling in from the fields behind us, and the invasion lasted for 3 straight weeks. They were crawling all over everything! Our chicken coop, barn, and our house were covered. They were even getting into the green house, and most importantly, into my 30’x60’ garden that was about to be in full production.

With a newborn, a toddler, and a perfectionist personality, I was not handling the situation well. I thought it would only be a matter of days and if I kept up with picking the bugs, it would be fine. But after 4 days, picking every 3 hours and feeling like I couldn’t leave the house for fear of losing the whole garden, I had to make a better plan to keep my sanity. With the goal of organic gardening, I wasn’t sure what approach to take. A farmer in the local area came over to have a look and said he had never seen anything like it.

I decided to call the Department of Agriculture for some advice. The man I spoke with informed me that they were crawling and not flying due to the warm temperature and they were trying to get to the nearest potato field. His first suggestion was spray, which I didn’t like the thoughts of. He also suggested a number of things, like digging a trench around the garden, lining it with saran wrap and putting water in it to catch and drown them. He also told me that potato bugs don’t like the scent of tobacco and I could make a mixture of cigarettes and water to use around the outside of the garden. His last suggestion was Diatomaceous Earth.  

Diatomaceous Earth is a non-toxic way to control pests in the garden. It is effective against all insect pests that crawl on plants because contact with the powder is extremely dehydrating. The fine powder is razor sharp and slices into the exoskeleton and dries the insect out. You can sprinkle it on the surface of soil and around the base of plants.  Gloves and a dust mask should be worn when using this. We sprinkled the Diatomaceous Earth all around the perimeter of the garden and around the base of all 30 of our tomato plants, since they were what the potato bugs were after the most. A friend told us this is because tomatoes are in the same family as potato plants.

The only thing that sucked about using the Diatomaceous Earth is that it needs to be reapplied after it rains… which it did more than once throughout the potato bug infestation. Rain is always welcome, so I gladly purchased the diatomaceous earth in bulk. I’m not going to lie… I’m still a little bitter when I see a potato bug and probably will be for a while.

We also did a wall of cardboard to help me spot them before they entered the garden. This helped keep my sanity and cut my picking down by at least 80 %.

I don’t share this to discourage anyone, but to let you know there can always be set backs on a homestead and some things are way beyond our control. I’m not saying I’ll never grow potatoes again, but I’m going to put them on the back burner for a season or two until I mentally recover. With that being said, I’m still a big potato fan and here is one of my favorite dishes to make…Especially in the dead of winter.

I have found that the best way to make potato scallop is to make the creamy cheese sauce before hand.