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Potatoes under straw |
Today the temperature hit 70 with no rain...in the forecast and no frost... Warmer days to continue for at least a week so I decided to plant the potatoes. Our soil is not the best but potatoes seem to thrive. we have amended it with topsoil, straw, and horse manure and compost. It still appears to have lots of clay...so I am trying something new this year with re: the potatoes. I have read potatoes can be planted in straw... so after preparing the ground with two 35ft rows one for of Yukon Gold and one Red Pontiac and placing seed potatoes in the shallow trench I covered them with a bit of soil and then several inches of straw...As the potatoes grow through the straw I will pile on more until the plants are 2 feet tall.. making sure they are not pushing potatoes to be exposed to the sun, as this causes them to turn green and that is not good..
Next the rows have been laid out for my beans, peas, broccoli, beets and peas.. Now I know Carrots love tomatoes and those will be planted as soon as there is no threat of frost..( I have 8 heirloom plants in the garage ready to set out) along with started spicy peppers..for salsa and sunflowers for the birds. Today was day one and I think its going to be a good year..I know I need to pace myself and do a bit each day.. my allergies are awful this Spring..so tomorrow morning I'll try to get an early start...
1 comment:
Cheryl, it will be fun to see how the potatoes do-I have read about that method and it seems foolproof! I wish I had room for a garden.
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