What Happens if You SURFACE LAY Potatoes Instead of BURY?
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
- In this video, I show you what happens when you surface lay potatoes instead of burying them under the soil. I take you through the experiment and process and then we harvest the crop to see the results.
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#Gardening #garden #preparation - Jak na to + styl
G'day Everyone, Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy the video. This year, I didn't upload all the videos I wanted for various reasons, but just like gardening, things don't always go the way you imagine them. I will bring you more videos in 2024, including the ones I missed, and I'm already looking forward to it! Thank you very much for your ongoing support, and if you get the time over the holidays, make sure you "get into it" because growing things grows us. Cheers, Mark :) P.S The recipe for our potato salad is very easy:
Method:
Cut potatoes into chunks
Boil until tender to eat and then let cool in fridge
Boil some eggs, cool and peel, cut in halves
Fry some chopped bacon pieces (approx a cup or enough to notice when combined with potatoes later)
Chop up some garlic/onion chives and also some spring onions (about a cup altogether)
Place all the cool ingredients above in a serving bowl
Sauce (Amounts depend on quantity of potatoes etc and also on your own taste but there is plenty of room for error):
Dijon mustard - tablespoon
Squeeze lemon juice - 2 x tablespoon
Vinegar - tablespoon
Sour cream - half cup
Mayonnaise - half cup
Salt and pepper seasoning to taste (less salt if bacon is extra salty).
Mix the sauce well into the other ingredients, serve and enjoy!
P.S Experiment with the sauce and other ingredients to get the potato salad exactly to your liking but I hope this recipe gives you a base to start from.
I enjoy all of your videos mark, ive been a better gardener since i have been whatching you . There is a compost bin called the areobin 400 litre its aussie made i hope you end up getting one becuase they are really good . Merry Christmas mark
Merry Christmas, Ya Big Lug! Continued success throughout the New Year!
Merry Christmas Mark! Thanks for being an awesome youtuber!
Merry Christmas Mark and family !! Thank you for all you do; I e learned so much !!
Happy Christmas and a Joyous New Year! In South Carolina US, I’m planting daffodils and garlic. Then I will start seeds indoors for a cutting garden interplanted with veggies. There’s always something to do for gardeners.
I’m a wheelchair using guy who has recently started a new gardening project and will be using tall raised garden beds inspired by watching this channel for a while. I’m showing the project on my own channel.
Well done! Will check out your channel
This is so good, gardening is good for the soul.
I just subbed up to watch your journey.
There is this youtube channel called JerryRigEverything and they have a couple of gardening videos with raised beds and his wife is also in a wheelchair. They were doing great! :) You should check out their gardening videos as well I'd say!
@@soniawillats4358thank you 🙂
@@TG.34295thank you 🙂
We tried the Ruth Stout method of planting potatoes in 2022. I put 40 pounds of potatoes in and got less than 10 pounds out. I was very disappointed, especially since my best friend has had great success with this method. This year, 2023, I planted 40 pounds 6 inches into the ground and we harvested over 150 pounds at the end of the season. In ground is how I will plant from now on.
Good to know! I plant 5 lbs of potatoes and get out 5 lbs. I'll try your method.
Could it be that you planted them too late? I know I struggled getting a good crappie old because I planted my potatoes later than they should have been planted. I would be interested to hear if you planted them as soon as you were able to or if you waited a while...
after how many days did you harvest them? which variety? there are some varieties who need longer than 100 days or some really have to b really have under the "earth" and piled up
@@MikeBius I planted as soon as the soil is workable in Spring and harvest when plants are wilted. My soil is mostly clay, so burying them deep has been difficult. I'm adding to the clay to break it down and make it better.
@@Hasenkind1 I've waited until the leaves have withered to harvest. I think it's a soil issue.
This science is approved by the Department for Watching You do the Work.
I live on the opposite hemisphere of the world from you and I don’t grow anything, but I truly enjoy what I learn from your channel and your optimism is infectious and wholesome. I’m happy people like you exist in the world. You’re like the crocodile hunter of gardening 😊
No truer words have been spoken, he gives the exact same vibe, but in his own way!
Thanks for the video, the result confirms my thought. Do not use more than 4 to 5 tubers per square meter for seed potatoes. The new tubers are formed on the underground stolons that grow on the stems. Planting deeper gives higher tuber numbers and yield. Make sure there is at least 10 centimeters of soil on top of the mother tuber. Mulching is always good. With this growth method you will achieve a yield of 5 to 8 kilograms per square meter. Harvesting is more of a skill than difficult work. I have only been working in potatoes for 40 years and I also try to explain something about this on my channel. Greetings from a potato breeder from the Netherlands.
I agree tuber=root you have to bury them. I would like to see shallow bury in loose soil then mulched. I would expect good growth and easy harvest, what are your thoughts?
@@gregryeii403That's exactly right, and harvesting is so easy as you can see in the following video with subtitles. czcams.com/video/Lf42_wz7DaE/video.htmlsi=BKWembTuZTj9Xs5J All much better results and little costs and work.
@@scout7060 It is important for your soil to only carry out operations when the conditions are good. Not too wet and not too dry. I collect as much organic material as possible to improve the soil.
Great potato growing tips - thank you! 👍🙂
What's your chanel please???? Happy Christmas
I found the same thing as you when I tried to do no dig potatoes. So my next round, I placed them on the soil, added about 3 cm of homemade compost on top, then mulched, and the difference was amazing. I did find I needed a small fork to dig them up. But way better than digging them up and less loss from putting a fork through.
We've been doing no dig with potatoes for a few years now. I have found we get a bigger harvest if we put well rotted manure (chicken or goat or donkey) about 3 to 6 inches deep, then slip a potato underneath about every 2½ feet. The rows need to be about 2 feet apart. If you give the potato plants more space, they will grow larger spuds for you. When the plants come up you can add the mulch to keep the baby potatoes from turning green. Thanks for the videos. You're a blessing to all of us who are privileged to watch your channel!
Thanks for your input 👍
Wouldn't it be easier to put the potatoes down first and then cover with 3-6 inches of manure?
FASCINATING, Mark! Merry Christmas mate, hope you're having a great one - KEvin
A wild Kevin sighting! 😂
Merry Christmas Kevin and happy gardening this holiday season mate! 👍🙂
@@teebob21LOL...👍
@@teebob21 I thought his name was Eric? 😁
@@daisyblooms4813 I'm sure you did. You wouldn't be alone.
Texas gardener here, have followed you for a couple years. Just wanted to say I appreciate your style, demeanor, & info you present in your videos. I had the same type of results from my “no dig potatoes” & its nice to reaffirm my thoughts on it watching one of my favorite gardening role models. Thanks mate. 🙏🏼
I don't have a garden just a balcony. Last summer I have grown tomatoes, paprika, chillies, green beans, and some potatoes in plastic containers. It worked out fine, i am very happy with the results. The beauty of nature, you plant a seed and look what you get in return. Thank you for inspiring me! Merry christmas.
We planted 24 yellow seed potatoes in the ground, much smaller patch than you have there (less than half the size) and we harvested 44lbs of potatoes last summer (Canada). We had a good growing season, good amount of rain (I barely watered it). We dug to plant the potatoes and then left it, no hilling and no mulching. The potatoes were quite large too. We harvested in Sept and still have some in the cupboard for Christmas dinner. This was a very interesting and informative video
I've never seen anyone grow potatoes this way before. I always bury mine and add soil as they green. I don't mind digging them up; they're safer below the surface anyway.
Merry Christmas to you Marc, from New Orleans, Louisiana!
Good on you for experimenting with the Ruth Stout method. I have been a fan for over fifty years. I did my own experiments twenty years ago and had good results in western Washington state (US) EXCEPT for massive slug damage. You are correct in thinking you will get better success in digging a trench and putting them down in the trench before adding mulch. Also, it looks as if you planted too close together. I suspect you would have gotten at least the same poundage or more - with bigger tubers - if you had just done 3 wide instead of 5 wide. I am now living in southern France and the slugs are not as bad. I do some raised beds with straw cover but have been low on straw up until this year. I now have a reliable source. Most of my half acre of garden is row cropped. I have just done a balanced organic fertilizer up until now, but after watching your videos I bought enough blood and horn meal to do all my potatoes at least. I also do extensive composting and cover cropping. Also, it is good you use potatoes from the store that sprout. I have been doing so for years and I even look for different varieties that are sprouting in the bag AFTER they were sprayed against sprouting. The theory is that these potatoes are extra hardy and really want to grow in my garden. All the best.
Thanks for sharing your feedback and experience of growing with this method. I didn't realise it had a name Ruth Stout! All the best for 2024... Cheers :)
Pretty cool experiment. I loved that you shared this with the community of gardeners as a whole; we live and learn from one another and advance in just this way. Looking forward to what you might try in the years to come. Kudos.
I love watching you experiment with these type of thoughts. I don’t have much time to spend in the garden so seeing what works well and what doesn’t is very helpful. Thank you Mark.
something that is helpful, is after putting on the 1st layer of mulch, through a little compost on top of the mulch , then add more mulch after the compost. hope this helps.
Just finished watching this video with my 2 year old granddaughter and she immediately recognized the potato for what it is. I have a backyard garden and grew potatoes twice this past growing season. And both times she helped harvest them with me.
i love this guy. his accent and his down to earth (literally) wisdom is so refreshing.
I used a raised bed like yours but planted them about 4 inches deep. We had a great harvest. Love growing potatoes.
An interesting concept for growing potatoes. I'm in Canada so leaving a lot of potatoes easily accessible to wildlife would make for some great photo ops but little else. Love the look of your garden area. I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ☃❄☃❄☃
Exactly what I was thinking, love the video but where I live in Vancouver this would be a 2 day feast for the rats and raccoons. The Lil buggers even ate some of my ghost peppers last year
I wonder if us, Canadians, could do that in our basement on a smaller scale? Fill in a deep container (5 gallon buckets or something) with soil, plant 1 or 2 "mother potatoes" in it, put mulch on top and place them near windows so they get sun, and water them occasionally. I live surrounded by either corn or soy fields, so I think I would be good... but still, it could be much easier to control moisture/light exposure (could add a light on a timer or something) and limit the amount of bugs that could cause issues.....
@@PunkR0ckz09 The only way to find out is give it a try on a small scale size and see what happens. The worst that will happen is you are out a few potatoes and maybe a little frustration. Good luck :)
@@moe4561 LOL, I can just imagine the look on their face after the first bite.
I was thinking the same thing! I live in the southern US, but it would be the same thing here. We have too many furry things that would love free potato snacks, especially since I live in a wooded area!😅
I tried no dig this year for the first time as an experiment as well. I did the same technique you did with the mulch and backfilling every few weeks. The only difference in my approach was to bury the seed tubers in 3-4" of soil first and then the mulch on top. I got similar results, alot of small tubers and a few larger ones with the bumps all over them. I did not experience much rodent ir insect damage and I did plant a little late. Overall I was happy with the experiment and will try a larger plot next year, just earlier in the season.. good luck to you all! Mike in Northern NY, zone 4B
Oh, and maybe Tony O'Neil recommendation to chit the seed potatoes to only Teo sprouts might provide larger tubers?
I love this time of year to be able to watch your videos and get inspiration for my own allotment in a few months time 😊 Thank you for everything you do, I hope you and your family had a great Christmas.
Happy Holidays Mark!! I hope you enjoy time with your family! I’m excited to see what experiments you accomplish next year!
I live in outback NSW, arid climate, and I have found the Spunta variety to be very good, and covering with a plastic hoop tunnel, or greenhouse, produced 10kg every 2m of garden bed. Our soil is clay, so we do no dig gardening, so have 100mm of compost on top of that hard clay. We push out potatoes down about 50mm, and when plants are about 200mm tall, we side dress about 100mm of compost around plants. Even though we have temps of mid 30s to mid 40's, which is a temp of about 50C in the hoop house, they grew fantastic. We grow the same outside the greenhouse, but we don't have any where as much success. All the best. Love watching your videos.
Really appreciate seeing experiments like this. In my potato patch this year I have buried my spuds a full spade depth and more deep. Last year I didn’t plant deep enough and too many ended up being exposed to the sun.
Hope you have a great Chrissie!
Informative experiment. Thanks for walking us through it and summing up the PROs and CONs. Peace and health to you and to all a Merry Christmas~
Thanks so much Mark. We watch your videos and talk about you like our mate thats helping us out. We have finally become the owners of a property. Plenty of area to grow and pretty bare land to start with. Have planted fruit trees and set up four semi-tempory vege gardens to get things going until I'm able to get our raised gardens going. Have also been watching the sun and seeing what will work best in what areas. It was pretty much turning up and saying "let's get into it"
Congratulations on your new property! All the best getting into it for 2024 - how exciting! Cheers :)
Thank you for the honest results. It's my first year growing potatoes and my harvest was small but very healthy. Looking forward to planting more with the extra knowledge I have including your stuff. 🎉
Thank you Mark. I always enjoy your videos and your warm and chearful personality. I learn so much when you share your knowledge!
Merry Christmas!
Good to know! Thanks for doing our research for us and sharing your findings.
Several years ago I lived in the Colorado Rocky mountians outside Denver. I put out white potatoes on the ground, covered them with 6 inches of straw, watered them once a week. When the plants died off I rolled the straw off and picked up a LOT of potatoes
Your potato salad looked SOO nice. That was a cool experiment.
My family and I all love your videos, Mark. Have a good Chrissy, too.
After watching a You Tube video, I placed sprouted potatoes on top of a bed that was tilled a couple of years ago. As I didn't care to purchase mulch, I used several inches of oak leaves, which are everywhere here in Virginia. These taters outdid the ones I planted in the traditional manner. Productive and clean.
Thanks for being so nice and for sharing your garden knowledge. Merry Christmas!
I'm growing my potatoes in washing basket size pots and I'm doing your small potato experiment as we speak
I grew all sorts of different potatoes through winter in Victoria Melbourne and had great success. it's so easy to pick up the basket throw it into the wheelbarrow and go through and get the potatoes. Have a great Chrissy and we'll see you in the new year
Interesting experiment. Thank you.
I sowed my potatoes a bit later in the season this year (UK) and they definitely took less time than usual to mature. Planted in June. Ready by end July. Planted much further apart than yours and got much larger potatoes. Ruth Stout method. But they didn’t keep for longer than a month. They were harvested early because of blight appearing. They were large and firm on harvest but rotted within a month.
It was a particularly nasty blight!
Thanks for your sacrifice. This low of a yield really helps us know that timing and how deep we should be doing it.
You're on the right track with the minimal bury. I did that in my raised bed this past season and had a phenomenal harvest. I went about 6" deep in soft soil. Then straw on top. It was still no dig, since the soil was so soft, I just pulled up the tubers. I used my hands to pick up the potatoes.
Thanks for a great year of videos! Enjoy watching. Just a note... you can eat the potatoes that turn green AS LONG AS YOU CUT ALL THE GREEN OFF. Sometimes that means taking off about 1/4 to 1/2" of potato so that all the green is gone. We grew up just eating what was on the garden and have always done that without any ill effects.
Correct. The solanine is only in the green parts. The rest is ok to eat
Thanks for the green potato-eating tip! All the best for 2024! Cheers :)
Merry Christmas Mark, thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. I am really impressed with the process and progress. God bless you and your family. Kind regards ❤
Thank You For All Your Videos. All Your Time You Put Into Everything And Your Hard Work Giving Us So Much Knowledge! I So Thank You!!!
I find this experimenting to be really interesting! You learn why things are usually done a certain way by purposefully not doing it the recommended way! Great video!
Great video, I love the experimentation and thanks for sharing this!
Hey Mark hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe and healthy and plant a whole bunch of good stuff to grow. Great video thumbs up.
I'm a Texan who listens in and continue to smile at your local sayings like the Rellies or Chrissie. Truly enjoy the tips you provide and hope y'all have a good Easter.
I want to say thank you so much; I have been watching your videos for some time now and I have learned so many gardening skills and small bits of plant information that will change the way I garden…we are in Florida and it seems like our climate is very similar. Again thank you so much and happy new year
I think the key point you said was that the easier the spuds are to get at, the more critter and sun damage you will have. We prefer putting them in the ground, but thanks for the experiment and results. Happy Christmas to you and yours, Mark. Cheers from Northern Ontario, Canada.
I’m in lower SE of South Australia (Siberia to you Queenslanders!) and I planted out Desiree and Nadine potatoes on 3/9/23. Some were in large pots and most in raised beds. So far, I’ve harvested close to 7kg with still more to harvest. I love just going out and digging out a handful of spuds for dinner knowing the rest a just waiting for later.
I have had minor insect damage (tiny nibbles) but that just gets peeled away and they’re still perfect to eat. We’ve had mashed, steamed, scalloped, potato salad, oven chips. All delicious! I do think next season, I’ll plant a little later to get me further through the summer months. Anyone thinking about growing potatoes? Give it a go!
Merry Christmas to you all! 😊
Merry Christmas, Mark, and Happy New Year!
"Bye for now, have a good Chrissy." Love it. Love all your videos, and honest, yet always positive attitude. Going to try minimal bury due to this video.
Great video!
Here in the States, and even tho we’re in winter, I’m looking for info for spring planting!
Experimenting is always useful, providing we learn from it!
Marry Christmas!
I've grown this way before and it produced a fantastic big crop, this year I planted my seed potatoes into the soil and still had a crop of about the same size. I really think it heavily depends on weather conditions as to the size of the crop more so than the way you plant them. Past seasons when we have had to much wet weather the crop was very average to small with some of the crop rotting in the ground.
These experiments can yield very useful info for the gardener. Will be watching. Thank You. 👍🙂
Always lovely to hear from you,
UK, growing a bit inhibited, grounds prepped,
Working on my tomato frames 😄👍
Hi Mark.
Thank you for your informative and very personal videos. Always a pleasure to watch and learn from. The tropical vegetation in the background is simply stunning since we are "up over" ie. Canada where we are in the brace of a mild winter, so far.
From our family to yours, wishing you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful 2024 New Year!
Norm 🍁🎅🍻
The best size/quality potatoes I ever get are the ones that have grown under the pavers I use as a walkway through my veggie patch, I'm thinking about putting a layer of pavers with gaps for the plants to come up through. You can always tell where the potatoes are as they lift the pavers.
Potatoes love consistent moisture which is probably what your pavers are providing. I might try that trick next year as I have some scrap plywood that is rain damaged and can't really be used for anything productive anymore other than in the garden.
Same result. Biggest potatoes was harvested from underneath my woodchips paths. I think most nutrients and moisture leaches from beds to paths
@@user-pb6nm6yb6e Herrick Kimball invented an entire garden method based on ths concept. He's in YT and it's his Mini beds on Plastic series. I bought some scrap billboard tarps and started last year. Next year will be my first full year using the method, but last year's results were promising.
Thanks for doing the experiment and showing the results!
Merry Christmas, Mark. Quite a fun video and a fascinating result. I'm looking forward to doing more gardening this spring and summer.
A very Merry Christmas to you and everyone you love, Mark! Thank you for making the effort to do this experiment. I'm so glad you pointed out the fact that the potatoes have to be covered, so it's not to let Sunshine get to them. I'm also glad that you pointed out that the potatoes were easy for rodents and other pests to get to them. I think, perhaps, I would not grow potatoes this way, thanks to the work you did on this experiment. Thank you!
So, tell us, did these potatoes taste as good as the other ones you've grown the regular way?
Yes, the potatoes tasted great! No difference really... All the best for 2024! Cheers :)
@@Selfsufficientme Thank you! I hope 2024 brings you happiness, keeps you surrounded by love, and brings you prosperity. Looking forward to all the videos you will put up for us, and everything we will learn from them!
I have found over the years I get more but smaller potatoes from a no dig , but I always use several near the house and harvest more often for meals.
I place my dig potatoes in my orchard and mulch them. When I dig them at the end of summer for storage you always mis some and so they reseed themselves for next year. The most I have let them seed is three years then I get a different variety started.
I am in Brisbane and have followed Jerry Coleby-Williams who doesn't aim to grow potatoes much here, but instead grows Asian starches like coco-yam and other yams. I am glad you can grow some up here and to read other successes as I do adore potatoes and harvesting them feels like striking gold!
You just made me feel much better about myself because I always fail at growing potatoes and I regard you as a really successful and knowledgeable vegetable gardener.
I think you are right about the minimal depth and then mulch. The mulch probably harbored direct pests and bacteria. Even 1/2 inch would insulate and moderate.
Merry Christmas! I’m a big fan of “no dig” and minimal disturbance, but only where it makes sense. I feel like potatoes, sunchokes, and other tubers need to be thoroughly dug in or they’re not going to perform well. I think of them as a large seed that needs to be sewn at the appropriate depth relative to its size. In that respect, burying them is still the appropriate amount of soil disturbance.
Looks like you still got a good haul for your salad. Cheers! 🎅🏻
Merry Christmas Mark.
Enjoy all of your videos.
Kudos and thanks! An experiment never fails because the purpose is to find out if something works!
I think this was a good experiment. You may not have harvested a ton of large ones, but you did harvest good info. I had not thought about the rodents and slugs having easier access. Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas Mark from NWArkansas! (Arkansaw).We are in zone 7 a/b and our frost free date is April 15. I usually plant potatoes in ground mid February and hill up around them with dirt as soon as the green sprouts get about 6 inches, then continue as they grow. We also throw on leaves and straw. I'm harvesting by June or July. Ive tried different methods such as containers and cardboard boxes with similar success, but nothing outstanding, kinda like your harvest here. The only thing i would suggest would be leaving them in the dirt longer. Since you get these rains now, maybe you can start them 1 month sooner, since A) you want them for Christmas, and B) they might all rot from the rain. I left mine in linger last year and i got bigger spuds. Take care and God bless your coming new year!
I loved watching your terrific experiment! Fascinating Mark, thank you! I’ve been hearing about no-dig and I appreciate you showing me what it’s all about ! That Potato salad looks good! Merry Christmas!
Wishing Mark and his family, a Very Merry Christmas. 🎄⛄️ 🎁
Merry Christmas to you and your family Mark. My sister and I grow potatoes and it’s so funny to see what shape or size they are when you dig them up.. Always enjoy watching your videos. Take care.
Love these experiments! Because we all have these questions sometimes...
Kudos for keeping it real you don't hide the rotten or the tiny one unlike some CZcamsrs.
Useful experiment. Thank you for your work
Interesting experiment. I think what this shows is that there is no one-size-fits-all method of gardening. If you prefer no-dig gardening, not everything should be no-dig, because it isn't always best. It may be best to have no-dig sections of your garden and dedicated sections of your garden where digging is a regular occurrence. Things like potatoes and sweet potatoes are going to require digging for best results. Things like tomatoes and peppers that are very susceptible to root knot nematodes are going to require soil disturbance to rip out those infected roots. I don't think I'll ever be a no-dig gardener, but I do try and practice minimal soil disturbance.
I've personally found that my favorite way to grow potatoes are in large grow bags, because you don't have to dig for them. You just dump the grow bags. That way, it allows you to bury them deeply, pests can't really get to them, but you get ease of harvest. The 20, 25 and 30 gallon grow bags are my favorite size.
Good Christmas Eve Mark, have a great Christmas with your family. This is a good video as usual.
Merry Christmas and thanks for your efforts here and there(in the garden) Mark! (y)
Bah Humbug Mark! (Sorry, I don't 'Do' Christmas much!) I have been an avid lurker of your channel for quite a few years. Your tips and tricks have REALLY helped me a LOT!! So, thank you very much! Living in South East suburban Melbourne, I grow my own veg in pots in the back yard. I guesstimate that I grow about 90% of the veg we eat. Your comments and information about each backyard having it's own micro climate really opened my eyes to what I could/should grow and when. I really just wanted to say a massive thank you for giving me the 'push' I needed to really delve into backyard growing. Much obliged to you mate! Sorry for being a bit of a Grinch but happy holidays to you and the fam!
Christmas Day started 20 minutes ago and I’m watching surface laid potato’s. And I’m ok with this.
Hi Mark. First, I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas. It's a wet Christmas Day here in NZ. Secondly, I have grown no-dig potatoes a few times over the years, and love the method, but I do things slightly different to you (and I grew the no dig potatoes method a lot when In lived in the Pukekohe region of Auckland, which IS known as the potato area of NZ - so I guess the climate is just right for spuds anyway). A couple of things you did different to how I do it.
Firstly, I don't use a raised bed. I just lay newspaper or cardboard on a patch on the ground. I don't use any fertilizer either. Then I sit the sprouting potatoes on top. Then I get full bales of unbroken-up hay that has started to 'rot' or mulch, so is not suitable for feeding to stock. I then break up the bale of hay into about 6" wads (and making sure not to loosen the wads up, but leaving them solid lumps) and just plonk the wads on top of the potatoes. If the hay bale is at the right stage of 'rot', it usually just falls apart into about 6" slices once you remove the bale string anyway.
After a few days or so, the sprouts come up through the hay, so when the sprouts are only about 1-2" in height, I add on another 6 inches or so of solid, unbroken-up hay, and then wait again. A little later, the sprouts break through again, and I just keep repeating the process until the hay tower is about waist height or a little less.
Then I let the potatoes go and do their thing, grow big, flower, and die off.
Meanwhile, as they are getting close to the end of their life cycle, I just 'tickle' the potatoes through the unbroken wads of hay and select potatoes that I want to eat, leaving the rest of the plant untouched to continue growing more potatoes and larger ones. I can harvest from my potatoes plants for several weeks before the crop actually comes to a final end.
I think one of the biggest problems you had, was you used 'loose mulch' which gave too much air through it, and also allowed for holding in too much water, and easy access for rodents etc. Plus, yes, our climates are very different.
I now live 400km away from those days, in the Central Plateau of the North Island, which is much drier and cooler than Auckland, and I've yet to find a source of old hay bales to give the no-dig method of gardening a go down here in this climate. So... yes, I will be experimenting again with that one day soon.
Good luck if you want to try again. Cheers! Glenys
Last summer I harvested about 5 pound of volunteer potatoes out of my compost pile. The compost pile was mainly blackberry vines in the bottom layer then grass clippings above it. I noticed the potato leaves growing up through the pile and knew that there were at least 2 potato plants growing in it. When the leaves finally died off I went out with my kids and started flipping the pile over. We had so much fun finding the big bunches just right on top of the soil then some in the pile of compost then some just under the ground only having to brush away the soil. You video is exactly how mine grew but we used a pole to push in the pile the lift up like a lever to expose the. It was the funnest time to have a random volunteer plant harvested. I couldn't believe how many were in there and we didn't even mean to grow them. It was a good learning experience for me and my kids. Have a good one and I love watching your videos. I also live in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon around the Portland area. Thank you for the knowledge you share I've learned a lot watching your videos.
Working the land is the most noble thing a person can do, very impressive!
Thanks for all the great videos and Merry Christmas Mark! The potatoes may have been a bit of a flop, but that potato salad looked amazing! Made me hungry just looking at it.
Thank you, and Merry Christmas! 👍🙂
Have a great Christmas, Mark. I might contact you in the new year. I am planning on going 'on the road' permanently and have an idea that a mate and I talked about a long time ago. I plan on finding random spots off the highways and by-ways and plant a non-invasive fruit tree (ie, no Guavas etc) that is suited to the climate zone, as well as some true-to-type vegetable seeds that can regrow. I also want to plant native foods as well in those spots. Warragul Greens grow in a lot of places for example.
Then, after having planted these spots and mapping them, I can do a big circuit and check on the progress of each patch. Eventually, I hope to make a food trail around the country for myself, and when I fall over, my kids can have the map and do what they want with it. A wild food trail like that might encourage more people to hike/backpack on a holiday.
I'd love to hear your considered thoughts on this idea, based on environmental aspects, and practicality. I won't be doing this in National Parks of course, and won't attempt it on private property without gaining permission from the station manager/owner etc. But I'd love to spend a few years planting around the place to see if is a viable proposition.
Glad to know there's a NEW " JOHNNY APPLESEED" among us!!! I❤ LOVE❤ your idea. Do you happen to know of any edible trees; invasive or not for my own land, which grow food above and below; edible roots say? That, upon root harvesting one doesn't harm the tree? Bonus would be if the bark could be uses for beverage like tea, or journey! I'm in NC/USA. Blessed Luck for your journies!
Brad this sounds wonderful.
I have to admit that I did start planting potatoes all over my city already.
Just five here, five there and so on. At nice places on parks, always close to playgrounds for kids.
If times are getting difficult, parents and children can find those potatoes and survive.
We need to get access to free food.
You don't need to plant one whole potato for one plant.
Just cut out the small tribes with a small cube of potatoflesh around it.
This will grow into a potato plant.
Put the small tribe up in direction to the sunlight.
In good earth there is enough nutrition for the potatoes. You may put in some sheep's wool as this is great fertilizer.
Stinging nettle in the earth is great healthy fertilizer as well.
Just don't use the chemical crap from those big companies. They poison more than they help us.
It's an interesting idea but wouldn't you have to stay in the area for a month or two to ensure the plants get established? Otherwise if you plant them and nobody waters them they will probably die pretty quickly. I suppose if you stick to native species this will be less of a concern. Will you also be taking into account the soil type? e.g. the climate might be fine but if you take a plant that needs well-drained soil and put it in clay soil it will likely get root rot and die. Will you be protecting them from grazing animals? Often small trees don't make it because native wildlife eat all the leaves off and then the plant can't survive, so it needs protection until it's tall enough that kangaroos etc. can't reach the leaves any longer. I do like the idea of "guerrilla gardening" as it's called, but it could be a bit of a challenge do it on the road.
@@Berkeloid0 I've considered a lot of those issues. I've thought of timing my journey so I plant during the rainy seasons of areas, or employing the water bottle with a tube underground idea to get moisture under the seeds and plants. Or even planting in a natural overland water path. There's many options to consider for a particular area. And yes, it may entail having to spend a few weeks in one area. But the setup I have is fully self-sufficient in terms of power, water and sleeping. It's also a full workshop. I have looked at a lot of protection methods for saplings over the years and I'll use a combination of those water-catching tubes and fine bird mesh. The vegetable/herb thing may be a little harder to do easily. It's all still a thought bubble at the moment. Either way, I will definitely be planting fruit trees. Native preferably but will also plant hardy exotics. Being able to plant fruit trees everywhere has been a bit of a thing for me since I was about 18. The traveling planting thing is an extension of that passion.
@@BradGryphonn Well I certainly hope you can figure it out! It would be great to have more fruit trees scattered all over the place in public areas.
I commend you, sir. I love that you show your experiments even when they don't turn out great. I've had bad luck growing potatoes in the past but I think I'm going to give it another go this coming year. Thanks!
Great idea sgt mjr mark. But too many seed potatoes = less and smaller potatoes. Next time maybe 1/2 the amount of potatoes = more space for the others to grow
Love learning from your experiments. I personally prefer my potatoes, smaller because of how I use them. This might work for me.
I really enjoyed this video. You showed pros and cons. Which gave me ideas about other things as well. One thing I thought I would share is the secret to having the best cooked potatoes for potato salad... Cook them scrubbed and whole (with a few fork holes in each) in the instapot pressure cooker (it's the only one I am familiar with), and when they're done, those potatoes are fluffier and also can absorb more of the potato salad "dressing" than when they're just boiled. Everybody kept asking what was different in my potato salad because it was so much better than before
Epic work man. Thanks for being a scientist.
I know it is more fun to peel big potatoes but after your potato salad is on the table you don't think about the size of the potato. You think about how yummy the salad is! Actually, I cook my potatoes in the skin and peel them after they cool down a bit when I make potato salad.
I never peel now , theres so much goodness in the skin, mashed potatoes with skin on are actually really tasty
I grew spuds in bags.
4" OR 100mm of compost in the bottom of the bag, place 4 spuds on top and leave them until the leaves start to grow,.
then add more compost to just below the top of the leaves every couple of weeks.
did this for 120 days.
Then tipped out the bags for a mahoosive harvest of taters .
...Gonna do this again with Jersey Royals ( most expensive spud in UK) next spring in seaweed compost ...just because.
Gotta love and give a big UK thumbs up for your videos Mark.
Thank you for sharing your experiment. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas brother! thanks for the videos. They're awesome been watching you for a couple years now love the trial and Error we all got to learn somewhere ....epic brother epic ....Time lapse video was awesome,to see the beginning till the end.❤and video is Very well put together good job.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Your videos are always inspiring. I love seeing your experiments, and gain wisdom from them all. Also, your potato salad looks amazing. I'm was wondering if you would share the recipe?
The recipe for our potato salad is very easy:
Method:
Cut potatoes into chunks
Boil until tender to eat and then let cool in fridge
Boil some eggs, cool and peel, cut in halves
Fry some chopped bacon pieces (approx a cup or enough to notice when combined with potatoes later)
Chop up some garlic/onion chives and also some spring onions (about a cup altogether)
Place all the cool ingredients above in a serving bowl
Sauce (Amounts depend on quantity of potatoes etc and also on your own taste but there is plenty of room for error):
Dijon mustard - tablespoon
Squeeze lemon juice - 2 x tablespoon
Vinegar - tablespoon
Sour cream - half cup
Mayonnaise - half cup
Salt and pepper seasoning to taste (less salt if bacon is extra salty).
Mix the sauce well into the other ingredients, serve and enjoy!
P.S Experiment with the sauce and other ingredients to get the potato salad exactly to your liking but I hope this recipe gives you a base to start from.
Cheers, Mark
@@Selfsufficientme Oh my goodness, it sounds so good. I'm looking forward to trying it. Thanks so much posting.
i would have thought a wetter environment possibly might lead to a more floury potato... which are far better tasting than the soapy ones.
im surprized youve planted them so close, i will try growing mine more densely next year.. ive done king edwards this year in no dig, was unhappy with the taste of kenebek last year.
im also allowing pumpkin plants to run across the bed to give extra sun blocking
its also a normal outcome for no dig potatoes to generally be a bit smaller.
marigolds in the previous crop will help with nematodes. i havent suffered with rats as there are too many cats here
If you didn't like Kennebec, try Shepody next year. They are similar but have a creamier texture without being waxy, and good flavor.
Thank you so much for this video. I've often wandered about this way of growing potatoes
I dig your experiment my dude, keep on being awesome
Merry christmas, i put in about 9 store bought potatoes that were in pretty rough shape and sprouting.
I got quite a few but pretty small.
They never flowered at all in the 3 months, wasnt the greatest harvest but you cant expect it either when they arent seed potatoes