Is your urban lot plagued with shade from neighboring trees? Mine is and due to this I decided to grow my potatoes in containers placed where the sun shines most. It worked out so well that I will continue to grow them this way.
This summer I only potted up two pots but next year I plan to do larger pots and more of them. All you need are seed potatoes available at the local grange or nursery or you can mail order them from seed catalogs. Store the potatoes in the refrigerator taking them out about a week before planting time. Place them in a warm bright window to break their dormancy. Potatoes like cool weather and can be planted 2 weeks before the last anticipated frost for your area. Cut the seed potatoes making sure there are 3-4 eyes. Let them harden off in a warm place for a few days. The eyes may start to sprout. That is okay. Once the cut edges of the potatoes are dry fill the pot about 1/4 full of soil and place your cut pieces about six inches apart around the whole surface. Cover the pieces with two inches of soil. Keep the soil moist and fertilize well during the growing season with fish meal. As the plants grow continue to add soil leaving a few leaves sticking out at the soil surface. Continue this until you reach the top of the container. The plants will flower and then begin to fade. When the foliage is turning yellow and dying back it's time to harvest. You can harvest potatoes from the bottom of the pot during the late growing season while the plant leaves are still green. These will be the first to mature and will be large enough to harvest as 'earlies'. To do this you will need to cut out the bottom of the container.
Next year I will plant more potatoes. These were fingerlings but I want to plant a variety that I can store over the winter. If you have had a successful experience with a storing variety please tell me about it!
No digging required. Just dump over your container and sift through to find treasures galore! I have heard of gardeners using large garbage bags and large garbage cans to grow potatoes too. I re-used nursery pots that I saved from large plants I've purchased.
