Growing Potatoes in Healthy SOIL (Nature’s way ). Plus 3 things I do not do.
VIDEO: Growing Potatoes in Healthy SOIL & 3 Tips ( Nature's Way )
Growing Potatoes in Healthy SOIL (Nature’s way ). Plus 3 things I do not do.
Growing Potatoes in Healthy SOIL (Nature’s way ). Plus 3 things I do not do.
That is one cool machine
I'm inspired! I have a bag 'o taters growing eyes in my kitchen right now. Gonna plant them this evening in my compost pile and see how they do. Do you think a zucchini would play nice with them or bully them?
No compost or manure? Was that one of the leaf mould or wood chip fields? Whats the fertility source, just the weedy cover crop?
Thanks a lot for the information on the purple dead nettles!
Can you collect the nettle seed? If so you could let a patch go to seed and mix it with winter rye and place it wherever you want it and keep cover crop cost down
I live in 6b also and planted my garden .weather looks good for the next 10 days
Problem with the weeds as cover is they don’t produce nitrogen. Pulling protein out of that soil is for sure going to lower your yields and you will get deficiency. The leaves put everything else back. I would continue with the covers. Some of them are dirt cheap. Common vetch is one. Guar is a dirt cheap summer cover crop. You might be seeding at too high of a rate.
Please share when you seed the Clover into your potatoes.
So all 3 of my traditional practices disproven ! 🙂 Lol….tater planting has been more of a tradition around our garden. When my kids were little, they loved helping me plant / dig taters. Mostly cause good excuse to "play" in dirt. Now I get my great grandkids to help plant / dig taters with me for same reason ! Wouldn't trade it for the world. I enjoy your vids bunches !
Chickweed is also good and good for you 🙂 Isn't it amazing that dandelions, with their long tap root, bring much-needed nutrients to the surface, and to your plate 🙂 I am hoping for you to have a great potatoe crop!
Always enjoy your vids Mark
Sorry but chick weed is no good. Those tiny flowers make too many seeds. I started with one bunch and it has taken over my garden.
The info about better yield from the full potato is enlightning.
I have to grow my potatoes in containers(totes) or they always wind up getting some kind of scab. I just planted them today. Can I just fill the containers from the get go or do I have to use the practice of layering?
I love to dry the purple nettle and make tea. So good for you.
Do you have to see eyes with white growth to plant them with success?
Hey, Mark. Good video, have you tried to use Paul Gautschi’s technique of placing the potato on the soil and covering with 8-12 inches of mulch? If so, I’d like to know how it went
Where in PA are you? I'm just assuming PA or southern NY from your accent…
As for hilling potatoes, you are using farm equipment, I don't know its limitations for hilling height. If you grow determinate potatoes (most early/mid-season types) the 8 inches is enough. If you grow indeterminates like russets & late season varieties (Burbank Russet,
Katahdin, etc) they will continue to grow higher up the vines the more they are hilled…
great vid!
I’m succession planting my potatoes. Hopefully when I do my next planting this weekend the dog won’t dig them up.
I grew up on a potato farm
Why do you plant the so far apart?
I read an article in potato magazine
Were they left the seed on top of the ground and cover with straw
Then as the plant would emerge up through the straw they would keep piling on the straw
The plant would put on more sets (tubers) every time they piled on more straw
They were getting over 50 tons per acre
WSU Washington state university
This would be fun if I lived out of town
In need to man up and just try it. This year
As a bonus you have free storage all winter long
just leave in them in the straw
Had to watch this again. Planting red potatoes today. My white ones are small and delicious. My test plots are small and surprising me. Now I've got the "can do" attitude.
Brilliant!
Love your videos! I was curious though, is the way you’re mounding the soil over the potatoes disturbing the soil? It seems like it’s tilling to an extent. Still figuring out no till gardening, appreciate the advice
Thanks Mark..your teaching me things l didn't know.
Mark I realize you have to plant a lot of potatoes. All that soil disruption, soil compaction. After listening to you preach about disturbing soil and not compacting soil in all your videos, I thought another clever planting technique would be coming.
Last year I grew only 40 feet of Kenabecks. I placed them on top of soil and covered them with decomposed wood chips. I billed them once with more decomposed chips.(which was a lot of work with vegetation). Worked remarkably good. Nice yield easy harvest.