Grow Your Own Magazine

I went to a talk held by my local Allotment Association on Tuesday night, and the speaker had been growing everything on a bed system for the past 35 or so years, but his technique for potatoes was what really interested me.

Using a 4 foot bed, he planted potatoes in staggered rows, 1 foot between each plant, so the rows alternated between having 3 and 4 plants in each, across the bed. He used a bulb-planter to plant the seed potatoes, and then covered the whole bed in 8-10 inches of straw, and simply left them to it. The photographs looked very impressive - all the leaves providing a canopy that shaded the ground inbetween the plants and of course with the straw mulch there was no need to weed. No covering with black plastic, no earthing up, and at harvest time simply strip the straw back, take the potatoes up and then fork the straw in to bulk the soil up for next year.

The chap had been doing this for over 30 years and had a fantastic crop every year. I have to admit I'm tempted becuase it means more potatoes in less space, but surely there's a downside? Was just wondering if anyone had tried this system, and what they thought of it. I'm a newbie this year so the whole thing is a big adventure for me!

Cheers.

I grow earlies in staggered rows but I haven't got easy access to straw so I earth up. However, I've just bought (online) a boysenberry and a hildaberry for my new lottie and they came VERY CAREFULLY packed in half a haystack. I am seriously tempted to give this a go. Thanks for the info. I know Two Sheds uses grass clippings to cover her spuds - but again, I have been murdering grass for years and how happily have no clippings!

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That's pretty much the 'recipe' for no-dig potatoes that I use - except I don't plant the tubers, just lay them on the soil.

It's brilliant, particularly because harvesting is so easy.....

I use the same method! Only difference is I use a broken fork handle as a dibber and dib them in. A bulb planter would cause less compaction though, if I had one!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Doesn't the straw blow away in the wind? Otherwise it seems a great labour saving idea. I always have lots of waste hay from the horses, once they've trampled it they wont eat it (fussy or wot!). I havn't dug ovet the bed yet for my earlies, so if I just hoe it to get rid of the growing weeds, put the seeds in shallow holes, then a nice deep mulch of horse muck and waste hay, does that sound a like a plan??

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I you'st to have a Chocolate Labrador, but he sat by the fire and MELTED!

I like the idea - I wonder if you'd get problems with slugs in the straw though, like you do with strawbs mulched in this way?

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Resistance is fertile

I've got a thick straw mulch over one of my beds at the moment, and I gave it a quick 'stir-up' the other day, to let a bit of air in (to hopefully assist with the rotting down process). I didn't see any slugs in it at all, but I did catch a glimpse of a couple of fat centipedes scurrying away Also lots of worms in the bottom part where it was moist.
To stop it blowing away, you just have to water it down if it hasn't rained for a while.
I haven't tried it with the potatoes growing in it yet, but I plan to give it a go this year, hoping that it will help to suppress the weeds I'm still battling with (flippin horsetail )

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

I had very little slug damage last year , although I didn't do a control area without straw.

My feelings about any organic mulch, is that it is a more natural approach, works well with a no-dig policy,protects the soil surface and stops it panning,stops leeching of nutrients, increases surface worm activity,adds nutrients to the soil, improves structure, and is moisture retentive. Yes there could be more slugs, but there will also be more places for the predators to hide that feed on them!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

would there be any reason why I shouldn't try this with some hay that's been sitting in a barn for a number of years?

KC

Does anyone think shredded newspaper would work equally well? I have limited access to straw, but plenty of newspaper.

I would definitely like to give this no-dig approach using straw a go as I may have good access to the straw from the farmer. Sounds like you can't totally eradicate slugs but the slug damage is relatively minimal.

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Food for Free

Have a look at this! Unfortunately Supersprout is no longer with us but her gardening techniques live on!

Supersprout's Allotment.

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Thanks all for the advice. I'm off to buy a couple of bales of straw tomorrow then to give it a go. I was thinking about having a go with Nemaslug in an attempt to minimise slug damage. The chap who talked about it originally said he hardly ever saw a slug with this system, and the mulch didn't blow away because it matted together, and once the potato plant was through, that held everything in place. We'll soon see!

Cheers everyone!

Bump !
I,too, would like some opinions on this.