killing potato beetles and hilling the potatoes

a couple things are working against our potato crop.  one of them, is an onslaught of the appropriately named colorado potato beetle.  the other?  a late frost.  on may sixth, two thousand eleven, our farm froze in lexington georgia.  today, it's ninety five. 

the potato beetles overwinter in the ground and pop up just in time for destruction.  there are thousands, i dunno, maybe millions of them.  they can completely decimate an entire potato plant, and therefore, an entire crop.  some of the plants we walked up to had upwards of thirty beetles munching on it's leaves. 

luckily, the day before the frost, we hilled our potatoes for the first time, which thankfully provided some much needed protection from the surprise frost.  hilling potatoes involves exactly what it sounds like--pushing dirt into a hill--burying a large percentage of the growing plant.  the more dirt that surrounds the plant--the higher the hill--the more potatoes the plant can produce.  and so, we hill. 

potato beetle larvae

potato beetle eggs