Growing potatoes in a barrel sounded as easy as. . . shooting fish in one, perhaps.
I thought I did everything right–I used certified seed potatoes, I planted them to the suggested depth. I covered them carefully as they grew, up and over the top of the barrel, and watered them judiciously. 
They looked fine, or so I thought. No prior potato experience, though, so what do I know?
Here is the harvest of one of the barrels:
So what do you think? How’d I do? Time to give up my day job and become a potato farmer?
I always have an abundant crop of potatoes and never buy proper seed pototoes to plant. I just save the ones that have started to sprout and pop them into the ground after cutting and allowing them to heel up. In past years I’ve used the traditional row planting covered with hay, but it takes up too much room. This year, I put on my frugal thinking cap and asked my husband to build a side by side compost bin and potatoe bin from free wood pallets. He sawed them in half and added strips of wood so the front could slide open. Then I asked him to add a frame on the top so I could hang homemade topsy turvy planters made from 3 liter soda bottles and other recycled plastics. So far so good. They looked a little drab, so I popped petunias in the top for color. I placed books of old hay in the slots to keep in the moisture and stop the soil from falling out. As an added bonus, the space in the pallets is the perfect size to hold small flower pots and I have a variety of vines, copeopsis, rudbeckia and herbs growing there. By poking around I can already see that there are LOTS of potatoes growing in there. All this was installed on a strip next to my driveway and was coupled with You can see photos here: http://www.catholichomeandgarden.com/food_security_2009.htm
I love your potato/compost bin! Like a huge version of one of those coir-lined wire baskets, with your hay liner. Very clever and compact. Thanks for showing it to me.