Growing potatoes in wood shavings

[thistlebloom]

Well I just read all the old posts in your links Steve and it sort of baffled me (and made me nervous too!)
I do use the hilling with straw method every year and I haven't had any issue with mice and voles, and also feel like I get a pretty good harvest, although I have never weighed them or kept any particular records. Last year my crop sucked but I think that can be blamed on my exuberant use of sunflower residue (that's in another thread). Maybe mice and voles aren't a problem for me because our
4 "barn"/pet cats do such a good job of patrolling the property. ??
Anyway, I know that I'm doing it again this year, and maybe I'll remember to keep records so I have some kind of definitive evidence of how it is really working.
I am really horrible at record keeping, except for when I have to, like when the taxman demands it ...

It was discouraging reading about the failures of a method that I have always recommended...

 

[i_am2bz]

You know, this will be my first year growing potatoes, & the more I read the more confused I get!! :/ For every method someone swears by, there's another post why it shouldn't be done that way (it seems).

 

[Kim_NC]

Well, we always plant in a deep row, hilling around them as they grow and finally mulching with spent straw or hay from the barns.

But I have been tempted to try a container method....like a tall bin. Mostly I wanted to see if it would work and what the yield really amounted to by growing 'vertically'.

 

[i_am2bz]

I have a feeling I'll be trying at least a couple different methods. I saw a video on youtube where the guy just made a sort of cylinder of chicken wire or welded metal fencing (can't remember which now), just kept piling compost & leaves as the plants grew up. He made it look easy, anyway.

I wonder, does the variety make a difference? I want white & red.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I am going to risk something:

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=28543

What is wrong with using a couple of shovels of soil? I can understand wanting a different medium for containers - if'n you are driven to grow potatoes that way. I can understand poor soil - altho' my garden has more rocks per square foot than probably anyone can imagine. (Now, if I ran that "soil" thru a quarter-inch screen, well . . . I wouldn't do that for spuds .) I can understand the expected ease of harvest but my experiences with voles/mice under alfalfa hay is documented in these threads . . .

What happened to these people in their potato adventures:

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=22561

Allow me to ask again: What is wrong with using a couple of shovels of soil?

Steve

There is nothing wrong with it, its just that we do not have much dirt.
We are on a gravel pad, and have trucked in 10 yards of soil so far.
We need about 50 more, so meanwhile, as we bring in more as we have the money, we are utilizing mulch.
We have almost zero pest issues (Alaska) so leaf mulch, straw and hay have worked very well for us.
And in the process, we are creating more dirt.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Well I just read all the old posts in your links Steve and it sort of baffled me (and made me nervous too!)
I do use the hilling with straw method every year and I haven't had any issue with mice and voles, and also feel like I get a pretty good harvest, although I have never weighed them or kept any particular records. Last year my crop sucked but I think that can be blamed on my exuberant use of sunflower residue (that's in another thread). Maybe mice and voles aren't a problem for me because our
4 "barn"/pet cats do such a good job of patrolling the property. ??
Anyway, I know that I'm doing it again this year, and maybe I'll remember to keep records so I have some kind of definitive evidence of how it is really working.
I am really horrible at record keeping, except for when I have to, like when the taxman demands it ...

It was discouraging reading about the failures of a method that I have always recommended...

Containers can be problematic, due to moisture buildup.
We do beds of mulch.

 

[digitS']

. . . my garden has more rocks per square foot than probably anyone can imagine. . .

. . . (Alaska) . . .

Well then, Bubblingbrooks -- I believe you can imagine the glacial till that I garden in, and worse.

I think "decomposed on the bottom, then fresh mixed with compost, hay and other junk over that, then fresh for mounding throughout the season" should be well worth a try and probably successful for you. Best of Luck!

Steve