Early potato planting begins in Finland amid unusually warm spring

Finnish farmers have started planting this year’s first early potatoes in southwestern Finland, taking advantage of exceptionally warm spring weather, public broadcaster Yle reports.

In Naantali’s Rymättylä archipelago, grower Mika Törne began planting on Thursday, covering about seven ares (0.7 hectares) of his fields. The area is known for its early potato production, with south-facing fields that thaw quickly under spring sunshine.

Törne plans to plant roughly three hectares in total but is preparing for unpredictable weather by initially covering the seed potatoes with plastic and two layers of protective fabric. “What we need now is sunshine to dry the soil and provide warmth for early growth,” he said.

While this March has been unusually warm—with spring arriving up to a month ahead of schedule—potato planting remains on its normal timeline. Last year, Rymättylä’s first early potatoes went into the ground on March 7, and the earliest planting in the past decade occurred in 2015 after a mild winter.

Törne aims to have Rymättylä’s early potatoes on store shelves by late May, in time for school spring celebrations, with the main harvest season in June. “Of course, we hope for a good yield, but nature ultimately decides,” he noted. Planting will continue on his fields on Friday.