Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Growing potatoes in straw

First off nice to see the forum is up, had no idea it was here till I scrolled down just to double check. Was there a notification on the main board?

Anyhow on to the main question. Has anyone successfully grown potatoes in straw? I did so by accident a few years ago, and it produced a large amount of potatoes with nice thin skins and no dirt to wash off. Decided this was the way to do it. Tried it again last year at my new place, and it was a dismal failure, didn't grow at all. Anyone do this and know how to do it successfully?

I grew a few in the past. Two ways. One was to set the seed potatoes on the ground in groups of three that a tire would fit over. Put the straw on top and as the plants come up add another tire and more straw. I went three tires high. Produced a fair crop.

The second way was to put the seed potatoes on the ground in rows. I covered them with a foot of straw that was kind of moldy. Watered them and when the plants grew past the layer of straw threw another layer on and that was it. This was inside a railroad tie frame about 8x16 with the earth tilled up with a load of cow manure. This yielded more potatoes than the tires did.

The downside to both of these ways is mice will sometimes get into the straw and find the potatoes. I quit doing them this way because of it.

I was thinking of trying a half of a plastic barrel with no bottom and starting the potatoes and just throwing the straw on top as they come along.

Potatoes are a pain, but they are good! I had problems with moles getting to them. I tried using half plastic barrels and it worked fairly well.

We do this, and use straw, sawdust, mulch and compost.

Yes it is nice & I'm gonna see if I can round up some plastic barrels for the spuds... I seen an episode of martha stewart a long long time ago where she used chicken wire, stakes and mulch with straw...the potatoes looked great & she was raving on how much better they were from store bought...but what ain't??? Thanks Rick...

I plant potatoes in the ground and still lose a third of them to ants and moles

When I was a kid I worked for an old farmer who worked up his tater patch, then he hauled a couple of loads of manure and laid down about a 4 inch layer of manure. The potatoes
were dropped on the manure, and then covered with several inches of straw. He always had the best and earliest taters in the neighborhood.
Bill

I always grow a bunch of potatoes. Mostly in the ground, but also raise some in straw or old hay as a cover. They are always much cleaner in that straw or hay.

I always raised them in the ground as taters are not that hard to wash. Lots of work hilling the dirt up around them. Dad used a mule with an old turning plow(moldboard plow) and he could really get it right. I do not have a mule and probably could not do what he did if I had one. miles

I don't grow all that many, but I just till my ground up good, take a rake and pull dirt up around the plant to make a good hill. Sometimes, if ground conditions are just right, you can throw enough dirt up with the tiller to require only a little raking.

My grandfather tried the straw method a few times when I was just a kid and the mice always seemed to get into them ! I just grow them in the ground as others here have done ..