just planted potatoes!

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I finally got the 2 veggie gardens planted!! 12 rows of potatoes. I am trying the straw method this year. Ever year I try to keep them hoed up but always I never do enough and they get sun burn, so this year I have decided to plant them on the top of the ground and cover them with straw. As the plants grow add more straw. When I harvest them they will not be so dirty either. The straw will also hold in the moisture better.

-- michelle (tsjheath@nci2.net), May 24, 2001

Answers

Hi, Michelle,

That's the way my Daddy always planted potatoes and we always had an abundance. Good luck.

dsb

-- Dianne in Mass (dianne.bone@usa.net), May 24, 2001.


Michelle, I just drove by someones house the other day and happened to noticed that they had planted their potatoes this same way. And they were nice looking plants, they were already blooming. Mine are planted the old fashioned way and they are only about 6" out of the ground. I guess I know how I'm going to plant mine next year!

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), May 24, 2001.

I planted my potatoes this way, and I am happy to report that it is working great. I don't have straw, so I used low quality hay that was cheap, and it has a lot of seeds, but as long as I keep it thick the seeds don't come up. Of course, nothing much IS coming up these days, since it is so dry here (Central Florida). The grass we did have is crunchy when you walk on it.

But back to the potatoes: I just scooped a low spot with my hand, and sat the chunk of potatoe in it, and covered with hay. The plants came up strong, and bloomed profusely--the most I ever had. About ten days ago I went through the patch, and lifted the hay, and harvested some of the bigger potatoes, and the ones that looked spotted. My garden area runs parallel with a limerock road, and each time a vehicle passes, the limedust fills the air, and covers my garden. Too much of it will usually cause scabs on my potatoes, but the hay seems to be protecting them so it's not so bad this year.

Overall I am very happy with the results of not planting potatoes in the ground. I could have never kept the sand wet enough to produce much in the drought, but the hay holds the moisture.

I'm also using hay around my beans, tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, and cucumbers, with excellent results.

-- Lela Picking (stllwtrs55@aol.com), May 24, 2001.


I planted a few potatoes on top of the ground, then covered them with about a foot of live oak leaves . Ihave not tiuched them except to dig down and see if I had potatos. Yes , but they are still small. I believe I will get a good crop, and it is a lot less work, which is alright with me as I will be 82 years old next month Big George

-- George Wilson (cwwhtw@aol.com), May 24, 2001.

What we do each year is dig a shallow ditch and then cover with hay or straw. It sure saves on the back when it comes time to dig them up and it a lot easier this way. Usually get a good crop too !! Good Luck !!

-- Helena Di Maio (windyacs@ptdprolog.net), May 25, 2001.


We plant potatoes using the method from "The New Northern Gardener". Dig a hole 8" deep and drop the seed potato in. Cover with 2" of dirt. Continue covering the stem as it appears but be sure that the leaves are not covered. We fill the holes with compost as our plants grow. This method has worked out really well for us.

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), May 28, 2001.

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