Does planting potatoes on Good Friday really work?

Did you get your potatoes planted on Good Friday? I didn’t either. Planting while there’s snow on the ground seems wrong. And chiseling frozen soil seems imprudent.

Ever since I was a little boy, I heard old-timers talk about planting potatoes on Good Friday. I can understand if we were in Louisiana, but in the Northland?

This longtime adage has some interesting theories of origin. Legends say Good Friday was a rare day off for peasant laborers who might have used the day for home gardening.

In Irish folklore, when potatoes were introduced in the 16th century from South America, some religious sects wouldn’t plant the tubers because potatoes weren’t mentioned in the Bible. According to the same legend, Catholics were OK with potatoes, but they first sprinkled them with holy water and planted on Good Friday for good measure.

In reality, potato planting on Good Friday is difficult because the date varies. Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon of spring, mobilizing Easter and Good Friday between March 20 and April 25. That’s a monthlong swing in planting dates, and late March is a lot colder than late April.

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The tradition also seems odd because we would be planting potatoes in Fargo on the same date as gardeners in Baton Rouge. Maybe Good Friday transcends all hardiness zones.

One theory proposed for making potatoes grow better on Good Friday is the practice of planting by the phases of the moon, advocated by some, which science has neither proved nor disproved. The moon’s gravitational pull causes the earth’s ocean tides, and some believe the same force affects water in plants and soil, influencing growth.

Gardening according to the moon’s phases involves planting crops which produce below-ground edibles, such as potatoes, during the “dark of the moon” when it decreases in size from the full moon to the new moon.

Because Easter Sunday is calculated after the full moon, Good Friday normally falls during the dark of the moon, which is an easy date to remember for planting potatoes. But the dark-of-the-moon phase will occur again next month when it’s warmer, and less likely to produce frozen spuds.

Planting potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is a similar tradition for some gardeners, in celebration of the Irish affinity for the nutritious tubers. Whether planted on Good Friday, or March 17, it’s a harmless tradition, although chances of the plants being killed by frost in North Dakota and Minnesota are high, unless Good Friday falls in late April.

Let’s discuss planting potatoes in the Northland. The recommended planting date is about two weeks before the average date of spring’s last frost. For much of North Dakota and Minnesota, that translates to sometime between late April and mid-May, when soil temperature has warmed to at least 45 degrees F. Potatoes take several weeks before they emerge from the soil, and will tolerate light frosts of 30 to 32 degrees F.

Rather than planting true seed as you do other garden vegetables, “seed potatoes” are used, which is the term given to whole tubers or sections used to plant a new crop. Small tubers, about golf ball in size, can be planted whole. Larger tubers can be cut into sections, making sure each piece has two or three “eyes,” which are the depressions from which sprouts arise.

Chris Flynn / The Forum

I always buy certified seed potatoes from garden centers, because the tubers have been inspected and declared free of tuber-borne diseases that can decimate a crop. Don’t use potatoes from the grocery store, as they’re usually treated with chemicals to inhibit sprouting.

My favorite potato variety is Red Norland, which was developed at North Dakota State University in 1957. Its smooth skin and shallow eyes make peeling easy, and is a great all-around potato. It produces well and has a good storage life, and remains a popular garden potato.

Other favorites include Red Pontiac for its large size and its long storage life. Kennebec is a highly productive white-skinned type. Yukon Gold produces buttery, yellow-fleshed tubers. Norkotah and Goldrush are russet-skinned baking-type potatoes.

To plant potatoes, space the rows about 18 to 30 inches apart. Within the row, space the seed pieces about 12 inches apart and plant three-to-four inches deep.