The Trusty Gardener-Growing Potatoes in Straw (Update)
The Verdict is Still Out
Welcome back, fellow gardeners! This spring I wrote an article (April 11th) about trying a new technique for growing potatoes. In contrast to the traditional method of planting potatoes, this method involves using straw and there is no digging involved. The seed potatoes are planted directly on top of the soil and covered with straw. Let’s take a look at the results thus far.
It appears that this method has a good chance of being successful. The potatoes sprouted as expected and are growing nicely. I have added straw several times as the vines have grown to give the potatoes a place to form. However, the final results won’t be known until August or September. Once the vines start dying off, I will hunt through the straw to see if there are indeed any potatoes to harvest.
The only drawback I can see thus far is that it takes a good amount of straw to use this method. I only have 2 rows of about 8 or 10 hills each. If I were to use this method growing 75 to 100 hills, it would take quite a few straw bales.
Stay tuned for further updates. I am looking forward to “hunting” for the potatoes as Fall approaches.
