G'day, Everyone. This is a special note to those affected by Hurricane Helene in the USA. I know that many of you in that part of the States are kindly subscribed to my Channel due to our similar warmer climates. I was in our deadliest cyclone here in Australia (Tracey), which hit Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. It was one of the scariest things I have experienced. Condolences to those who have lost family, friends, pets, and property. May God bless you and give you all the strength to rebuild your lives and recover from this terrible disaster. All the best, Mark and Family :)
BTW Nut sedge or Nut grass, is a member of the sedge family, it's not actually a grass at all. Might be good information for ya when trying to get rid of it. It won't die from things that kill grass, because it's not a grass.
Mom always said that the first thing you should plant in a new bed is potatoes, one, to condition the bed and, two, to see how the plants grow, to spot any possible problems.
Good idea, I like that. I have a couple of new raised beds we've been composting in place into, but like with Mark, the rodent pressure is heavy. We've had the supplies to make tall cages for the veg for some time, but Illness+long Covid+heat... it's so frustrating. The heat, even at night, was just too much. Anyhow, I was just considering planting some potatoes deep, especially after just watching Kevin's results on going down a foot, and putting in some faster-maturing crops over top (and with) them. Some African sorrel as well. I believe you just convinced me that's the way to go! Sorry for the long-windedness. I'm just catching up on Gardening YT in the middle of the night, failing at not being nervous about Milton. The length of this post tells me I just need to get up and try to get any work done that I can, but I'm thinking I'm too tired, lol! Thanks again for that suggestion! FL, USA
Thank you! My brother-in-law is originally from Pietermaritzburg (he now lives in Australia), but he's totally obsessed with his Braai, hahaha. And we don't mind because whenever we visit them, you know you are in for a great feed and entertainment watching him display the art of cooking with fire on his braai! Cheers :)
@@SelfsufficientmeI love the PMB connection! I grew up in the 1960/70s in Lincoln Meade, Pietermaritzburg on a 16 acre smallholding. We had a fantastic garden and fruit orchard, also a few Jerseys, chickens and turkeys. Unfortunately it's now suburbia. Such a shame.
Hi Mark. I am from Mangawhai Heads, about an hour and a half north of Auckland, New Zealand. I grow potatoes in 35 litre grow bags. I place the seed potatoes in the bottom third of the bag, and top up the soil mix, and then cover with straw mulch. Then I just water and feed them until maturity. When it is time to harvest them, I just empty the bag into a wheelbarrow and sort through by hand. I don't get any with damage from forking, and I don't tend to miss any and leave them in the soil. I then tip the soil back into the bag for storage until I top it up and refresh it for later use. I grew 50 bags last summer, and we had our own spuds to eat from Christmas until mid September. Try watching Tony from Simplify Gardening in Wales for detailed Videos on growing potatoes in containers. I look forward to your results growing in straw bales. I grew sweet potatoes last year in hay bales (half the price of straw in NZ), but got them in a bit late so the harvest was small. This year I am doing a crop of above ground vegetables, which are starting to grow well, and I will grow the kumara in them next year, so as to get 2 seasons out of a bale, as you destroy them when harvesting the root crop. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for sharing your experience growing potatoes in grow bags. I've been testing several crops in grow bags over the past few years but have yet to grow potatoes. I do love the idea of harvesting without digging! Yes, I know Tony from Simplified Gardening, and his potato growing is legendary. It's time for me to do a grow-bag potato growing experiment next season. I appreciate your encouragement! Cheers :)
For your next experiment put the seed potatoes at the bottom of the bed on newspaper or cardboard and cover with a few inches of soil. As they sprout and grow keep topping up the soil so only the tops of the plants are visible. Keep doing that until they stop growing and start browning off.
Yeah, he didn't get much vertical growing space on them. It is less work to not mulch up, but less harvest. The bottom is a LOT of digging out, but I agree! (But maybe just 1/2 down in the raised bed)
This gardening is insidious, i started watching you and now have free range living and weedy garden on my list. My girl friend rolls her eyes when she sees me watching composting videos. Its like a covid internet rabbit hole all over again ha ha. Rock on mate. Love the channel.
Thanks for this Mark. I love that the banana keeps wanting to live. I have the same issue with rogue plants. As long as they arent hurting anything nearby, i will usually let them live. We had rogue potatoes, tomatillos, and pumpkins this year. Gardening should be fun, so for busy people I say, learn to eat more of what grows easily instead of constantly fighting against your natural climate and soil. Thanks for these updates! Happy gardening everyone!
The great thing is potatoes grow anywhere in any fashion. Buckets, hills, hydroponics, under hay etc etc. And it's a complete and healthy diet The only negative is Colorado potato beetles.
I harvested some baby potatoes the other day. Best baby potato I've ever had. Practically melted in my mouth after being cooked with spices in small chunks with lentils, wild garlic, onions and tomato.
We dig ditches and plant them in the ditches in our garden after tilling. We have clay soil so we back fill with compost and then as they grow we pull the filled soil over the top. The red potatoes do great! The golds next. We got scab on our russets and they didn't do well.
I tried the straw bale beds here in Louisiana last season for sweet potatoes. I actually had better results in my raised soil beds. The worst thing about the straw beds was that rats had decided to live in one of the bales, obviously munching on sweet potatoes right there in their home! Worst experience for me was having two live rats jumping out of the bale as I tore it apart looking for sweet potatoes. Not my best gardening experience!
We have rats in our chicken coop! They're crafy little buggers. We caught one stealing chicken food and started noticing little tunnels all over the coop
Started my potatoes late winter this year, already 2-3 months in. Planted all over my garden, every space I can find - I don't mind if they grow wild that just means more potatoes. It was one of the very first plants I ever grew and nothing beats the taste of home grown fresh potatoes.
Wow!! That's a really nice potato haul Mark. I've got some surprise plants, (I didn't realize there were tiny spuds in the re-used dirt) in pots growing in my greenhouse. I have a short growing season up at altitude, and hope to keep them alive until harvest.
My grandmother grew up on a farm in Butler Pennsylvania and they grew potatoes to survive. One time when I was back there she was growing a garden at her Cottage and she was telling me about her life and she told me that. As she was explaining how to plant potatoes. She said you have to cut the sections that are growing called the eyes into chunks and put them in the ground individually so you get the maximum amount of plants and the biggest ones. Sure enough she was right those were the biggest potatoes I have ever seen. I don't know if you've done this before I don't watch a whole lot of the show I just like to put information out there just like you do I really enjoyed this have a great day
When I planted potatoes, I would make a trench fill it with mulch, put the seed in lightly cover with soil. Then hill as they grow. Continuing to hill until they reach 2' high. Rows 50' across a total of 10 rows. Kennebec and Pontiac are my go-to spud. Some potatoes weighing 4 to 5 lbs each.
dug mine yesterday (9 wheelbarrows) was surprised the size & yield but this year was 9.8 inches rain above average hot humid summer i planted pontiac red & russet both variety about 30% were big as cantaloupe did know russet could get that big i sprinkle 10-10-10 directly over the seed spaced 1 hand width apart what shocked me is my potato patch is right up to a 65ft tall maple tree thought nothing would grow in between above ground tree roots but they were big as everywhere else
Well done Mark, great spuds as you said organic what a bonus. You looked hot and bothered after that digging, and weighing those potatoes . I love your videos , thank you. I’m watching from Melbourne. 👍
Thanks, Wendy! You bet I was hot and bothered at the end of that video. I thought I was going to have a stroke. I'm kidding. But I do need to get a bit fitter this summer, so I'm working on that, lol. It's a great time of year to grow in Melbourne, so all the best! Cheers :)
I’m trying potato towers filled with straw this season. This will be the third crop I’ve grown from discovered potatoes growing under the pavers in my glass house.
Loved seeing your potato harvest and the comparison to above/below ground approach. I live in SE Florida, and it is challenging to grow potatoes here because we have such a short run of cooler weather - about 3 months, Dec-Feb. You've inspired me to try, try again. Potatoes run about $5/5lbs here.
Nice harvest for a summary installation and being left to their own devices for the season. The reds looked especially rotund. Now, if I were a ratty in your tater bed, I'd be very happy, since I love fresh raw potato! Maybe set out a wee salt shaker for me, and yummmm.
I'm up in northern Utah, we get 10lb bags of idaho potatoes for around $5-$8 even in this economy. We did a 10ft by 2ft group of potatoes along the south side of out fence for a few months. Only got about 15lbs out of them.
Lay your crop of potatoes to dry (don't wash them and do this where critters won't get at them), then take very dry soil and dust a layer into the bottom of a cardboard box. Lay a layer of potatoes, dust soil over them, layer of potatoes. Repeat and do in more boxes according to how many you have. Close the box(es) and store in a cool, dry place and they'll last 9 months to a year, what's left over come planting time, you plant. Rinse and repeat each year.
Oh how i wish Birdies had come to South Africa in 2022 instead of 2023. I had someone make wooden planter boxes for me to use in my small garden and they are working fine but their life span will probably be a lot shorter and I keep on having to coat them with oil.
Hi from south Texas Mark, Great Video, I am trying grow bags for potatoes for the first time this season . I usually plant in ground but that is iffy. several times in the past we have had too much rain and rot is a problem with in ground planting when too much rain happens. I am inspired to create an above ground planter for potatoes. with the Gov like it is these days we need to be self sufficient.
Spuds are for sure the most satisfying crop to grow. And after watching that abc docco on Paraquat I'll definitely be growing my own this year. Those poor farmers. I hope now they know the dangers of the herbicide they make better decisions.
As always smile shows on my face when I see you uploaded a video. Keep up the great work. I also grew potatos this summer here in Poland. But I put them on top of soil and mulched with straw, like you did with your other experiment. Well upon checking them about 3 month later when i took the straw out, there were tons of rolypolys (I think thats the name of those decomposters) and some nasty snails looking like they had a feast. But it was nice experience overally, not the greates cause i think i accidently put too much straw on top and new green growth didnt get as much sun as it could. Your one of the people that got me into growing my own, and I salute you for that. Gonna use that straw to mulch my raised beds that I already planted some after crop (oilseed radish, white mustard, buckwheat) for overwintering, so some new fresh material hopefully decomposed for spring to plant in. Thanks again and I wish all good to you and your family.
Interesting that you could plant small potatoes and get big ones out of it. I wish the same could be done with garlic, but the smaller cloves planted gave smaller bulbs. Lesson learned. :D
Nice harvest, Mark. Potatoes is a favourite to grow. I'm going to put some in sometime this week. Baby potatoes are nice for salad. You put them together whole...yum!
Did you know 10:35 that the 'nuts' on that grass is cultivated to make a gluten-free flour? I use it with sorghum flour to make pancakes. Tiger nut flour.
I just saw that they're available in South Africa and I cant tell you how happy my little gardening heart is. No doubt some braai salads coming out of my garden this season. 😂
I'm in a subtropical climate (8a) in Virginia US. And I did a similar experiment this year using 25gallon grow bags and last years potatoes. 12 bags and 24 large bags of organic growing soil. I kept the water to them and harvested an amazing 15lbs per grow bag! I planted 2 layers of 6 potatoes per bag: 5" of soil in the bottom of the bag, then layer 3 potatoes in a triangle. 4" of soil and another 3 potatoes opposite of the first layer. Then I topped with soil and, when it settled down after watering, I mulched with pine shavings. I did this on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day... been doing this for decades) and was ready to harvest in late summer. I replanted one of those bags as an experiment to see if I can get a second crop and I am now, with 38 days remaining in my growing season, I have fully mature large healthy potato plants in that grow bag!!! I baught 12 more grow bags. I got 183lbs of potatoes in my first harvest. That was with wrinkled old overwintered too sprouted to eat homegrown potatoes... terrible quality potatoes. I was SHOCKED! I fully expect to get 2 crops next year and using better potatoes with double the number of bags... 800lbs is not out of the question!
Thanks for you kind time and educational knowledge you provide for home gardeners. If only our bureaucrats and politicians could offer the same and stop working overtime on how to tax the Australian people we would have a great country. God Bless you and believe many appreciate your down to earth show.
I'm told potatoes come in determinate and indeterminate varieties, just like tomatoes. Indeterminate potatoes are the ones that benefit from 'hilling up' because they will grow spuds from their lateral buds as the plant grows up through the covering. Determinate spuds grow at the level the seed potato is planted, and hilling doesn't improve yield. So how you plant them depends on what varieties you're using
Very interesting. I don't have the space you do, but I planted 16 potatoes a couple of weeks back - I put them down about 15-20cm and they are now just popping up on the surface. I also planted rows of corn in between (about 20). I checked that was OK. It will be a long wait for results though LOL
Curious about the straw experiment. My parents put straw on their garden a couple of years ago and before they did, they had a weed-free bed. Now it's weed city and no matter how many weeds you pull, they return. They've tried everything and later learned that once you've used the straw, it brings with it weed seeds that just simple won't go away and they deeply regretted it. The maintenance skyrocketed, sadly.
Love all the info you shared, thanks. So much like my dad that I remember him doing gardening similar when I was a kid. Wish guys like you were here near me in Oregon, USA, lol. Watched your other videos this spring and started growing potatoes. Totally worked. Though some bugs or Beatles maybe put bites in some of them.
Okay another question or two for you mark. Have you ever thought of having a gardening class of sorts at your home? Have a handful of locals to teach how you do your gardening? I used cane mulch for the first time this year and I’m amazed how much moisture is retained using it. The only problem is the wind and rain blows bits over the plant rows. I usually buy my seeds from Bunnings and I’ve started questioning their quality after trying to have a garden for a few years. What seeds do you recommend? (I’m in southern Victoria) could you do storage and canning of the stuff from your garden too? Sorry i guess that more than a couple questions. Love your channel and the information overload you give us. Thank you brother! What was your MOS in the army? I was a grunt (Army Ranger) in the 80’s.
So much fun to see you, always brightens my day. Next season in KY (mid April) I will probably grow a row or two of potatoes. Haven't grown them in years, time and space. So I have to enlarge the garden.
Just bought myself some birdies beds using your code plus they had a deal buy 4 and only pay for 3. So I got 4 high ones at 2.5mx500mm to go around the front yard area.
I didn't expect so much in a small space, decent. We probably eat less than 1/5th of that per season. Great to see this as you get a grasp of how much to plant roughly
I grow potatoes in my urban Auckland garden, and I always use growbags as I’m renting and that way if I have to move before harvest, I can take them with me! I usually put a potato or two in each 35L bag, sometimes seed potatoes, sometimes the ones from the supermarket that are trying to sprout. 😂 I usually get a couple kgs from each bag.
Perfect: "A grudge is where I park my car!" Wish more people used grudges like that! 🙂 👍 Keep up the good work! Always enjoy your videos! Don't hurt your back with that lifting! You sound woofed!
Don't fill the bed as full, then plant. When plants are maybe 1-2 ft tall, add more soil. Hilling the plants encourages them to make more stolons along the stem resulting in a larger yield.
My mom always told me that the first thing to plant in a new garden bed is potatoes, they help condition the soil and give you a good idea of any potential issues with the plants
great flick Marc, your finding confirms my suspicion. Though I never did a proper AB comparison. But I used to create new in ground beds by surface laying potatoes and compost mulching (Yes you hear my right, spouts on the freshly mown down weeds). It works for making new beds, but the harvest is small with a lot of rotten spouts.
The first thought I had when I seen the surface lay method was how hot and bombarded with UV light the top part of the potatoes would be. Opposed to a cool optimal moist environment conducive to tuber production. It's basic horticulture common sense imho.
Love your videos! I'm growing sweet potatoes in large bins and am about to harvest. I hope to have luck this time from using all the tips and tricks I have learned watching your videos these last few years! Keep up the great work!
We harvested our taters about a month ago in oregon, we had issues with rats as well they dug underneath the beds from the row mulch and were eating the spuds from below. I lost a decent amount before i got them under control, but still got a good harvest. Stored about 300lbs of potatoes from about 400 sqft.
G'day, Everyone. This is a special note to those affected by Hurricane Helene in the USA. I know that many of you in that part of the States are kindly subscribed to my Channel due to our similar warmer climates. I was in our deadliest cyclone here in Australia (Tracey), which hit Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. It was one of the scariest things I have experienced. Condolences to those who have lost family, friends, pets, and property. May God bless you and give you all the strength to rebuild your lives and recover from this terrible disaster. All the best, Mark and Family :)
God bless you and your garden!
Thanks, Mark. God Bless!
BTW Nut sedge or Nut grass, is a member of the sedge family, it's not actually a grass at all.
Might be good information for ya when trying to get rid of it. It won't die from things that kill grass, because it's not a grass.
Thanks. It's a lot worse than the news is even showing and it hasn't gotten the news it deserves. Much appreciation for the call shout out.
So much respect, Mark 🙏
Mom always said that the first thing you should plant in a new bed is potatoes, one, to condition the bed and, two, to see how the plants grow, to spot any possible problems.
Good idea, I like that. I have a couple of new raised beds we've been composting in place into, but like with Mark, the rodent pressure is heavy. We've had the supplies to make tall cages for the veg for some time, but Illness+long Covid+heat... it's so frustrating. The heat, even at night, was just too much.
Anyhow, I was just considering planting some potatoes deep, especially after just watching Kevin's results on going down a foot, and putting in some faster-maturing crops over top (and with) them. Some African sorrel as well. I believe you just convinced me that's the way to go!
Sorry for the long-windedness. I'm just catching up on Gardening YT in the middle of the night, failing at not being nervous about Milton. The length of this post tells me I just need to get up and try to get any work done that I can, but I'm thinking I'm too tired, lol! Thanks again for that suggestion! FL, USA
As a South African fan...enjoyed the Garage joke. Glad to know Birdies' frames available here now
The south african accent wasnt bad at all! A braai will always beat a barbie! Much love from South africa !
Thank you! My brother-in-law is originally from Pietermaritzburg (he now lives in Australia), but he's totally obsessed with his Braai, hahaha. And we don't mind because whenever we visit them, you know you are in for a great feed and entertainment watching him display the art of cooking with fire on his braai! Cheers :)
@@SelfsufficientmeI love the PMB connection! I grew up in the 1960/70s in Lincoln Meade, Pietermaritzburg on a 16 acre smallholding. We had a fantastic garden and fruit orchard, also a few Jerseys, chickens and turkeys. Unfortunately it's now suburbia. Such a shame.
Hi Mark. I am from Mangawhai Heads, about an hour and a half north of Auckland, New Zealand. I grow potatoes in 35 litre grow bags. I place the seed potatoes in the bottom third of the bag, and top up the soil mix, and then cover with straw mulch. Then I just water and feed them until maturity. When it is time to harvest them, I just empty the bag into a wheelbarrow and sort through by hand. I don't get any with damage from forking, and I don't tend to miss any and leave them in the soil. I then tip the soil back into the bag for storage until I top it up and refresh it for later use. I grew 50 bags last summer, and we had our own spuds to eat from Christmas until mid September. Try watching Tony from Simplify Gardening in Wales for detailed Videos on growing potatoes in containers. I look forward to your results growing in straw bales. I grew sweet potatoes last year in hay bales (half the price of straw in NZ), but got them in a bit late so the harvest was small. This year I am doing a crop of above ground vegetables, which are starting to grow well, and I will grow the kumara in them next year, so as to get 2 seasons out of a bale, as you destroy them when harvesting the root crop. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for sharing your experience growing potatoes in grow bags. I've been testing several crops in grow bags over the past few years but have yet to grow potatoes. I do love the idea of harvesting without digging! Yes, I know Tony from Simplified Gardening, and his potato growing is legendary. It's time for me to do a grow-bag potato growing experiment next season. I appreciate your encouragement! Cheers :)
I do the same here in Tasmania. Thanks to Tony O’Neil
Great idea and great info. Thanks for sharing, cheers from the USA. Central USA, them storms bring up wind and rain.
Let's get cooking.
Ha ha, but you do have a mangawhai advantage there! The winterless north must be a great place for gardening! Will give this a try myself.
For your next experiment put the seed potatoes at the bottom of the bed on newspaper or cardboard and cover with a few inches of soil. As they sprout and grow keep topping up the soil so only the tops of the plants are visible. Keep doing that until they stop growing and start browning off.
Yeah, he didn't get much vertical growing space on them. It is less work to not mulch up, but less harvest. The bottom is a LOT of digging out, but I agree! (But maybe just 1/2 down in the raised bed)
Just had a look at the prices of birdies beds in South Africa, and they are very reasonable. This is great news.
This gardening is insidious, i started watching you and now have free range living and weedy garden on my list. My girl friend rolls her eyes when she sees me watching composting videos. Its like a covid internet rabbit hole all over again ha ha. Rock on mate. Love the channel.
I flippin love potatoes! I flippin love even more that I never have to buy any because of all my various random experiments. Gardening is so much fun!
Did you know grated potatoes can be used as a poultice on burns 🙏🏼
Thanks for this Mark. I love that the banana keeps wanting to live. I have the same issue with rogue plants. As long as they arent hurting anything nearby, i will usually let them live. We had rogue potatoes, tomatillos, and pumpkins this year.
Gardening should be fun, so for busy people I say, learn to eat more of what grows easily instead of constantly fighting against your natural climate and soil. Thanks for these updates! Happy gardening everyone!
My grandfather also grew them in hanging baskets, potatoes are really versatile plants 😄
"Every time I watch your videos, I learn something new about organic farming. I truly appreciate your hard work and dedication!
We always plant potatoes in small buckets and they still thrive. It's such a grateful crop to grow.
The great thing is potatoes grow anywhere in any fashion. Buckets, hills, hydroponics, under hay etc etc. And it's a complete and healthy diet The only negative is Colorado potato beetles.
I harvested some baby potatoes the other day. Best baby potato I've ever had. Practically melted in my mouth after being cooked with spices in small chunks with lentils, wild garlic, onions and tomato.
Sounds delicious!🎉
I love jacket potatoes the fresh small spuds steamed and served with garlic butter are yummo
Love the South African shout out and afrikaans play on words!
Much love to you from North Carolina. I really enjoy your videos and the information you share. 🧡🤙✌️🖖
Love back, and sorry to hear about Hurricane Helene. All the best with the recovery and rebuilding. God bless!
@Selfsufficientme your awesome man. Thank you for the reply and well wishes. 🤙✌️🖖
We dig ditches and plant them in the ditches in our garden after tilling. We have clay soil so we back fill with compost and then as they grow we pull the filled soil over the top. The red potatoes do great! The golds next. We got scab on our russets and they didn't do well.
In my testing I have found that spuds do much better when they are buried. A great crop mate. They will be packed with nutrients. Brill video Mark
I tried the straw bale beds here in Louisiana last season for sweet potatoes. I actually had better results in my raised soil beds. The worst thing about the straw beds was that rats had decided to live in one of the bales, obviously munching on sweet potatoes right there in their home! Worst experience for me was having two live rats jumping out of the bale as I tore it apart looking for sweet potatoes. Not my best gardening experience!
Thanks for sharing your experience! Rats jumping out anywhere is never a pleasant experience lol... Cheers :)
We have rats in our chicken coop! They're crafy little buggers. We caught one stealing chicken food and started noticing little tunnels all over the coop
I grow in 7 gallon pots. I can place them anywhere. Also I put several in my wood chip pile. Such a fun plant to harvest
Kom ons braai. Shoutout from South Africa!
Let's grill! Thank you and all the best! Cheers :)
Very nice haul for how bad those spuds 🥔🥔👀looked at the beginning, and the possible neglect towards the end. I got 40lbs this year
Great video Mark. I'd love to see a lengthy video on your compost setup and what you do.
Started my potatoes late winter this year, already 2-3 months in. Planted all over my garden, every space I can find - I don't mind if they grow wild that just means more potatoes. It was one of the very first plants I ever grew and nothing beats the taste of home grown fresh potatoes.
Wow!! That's a really nice potato haul Mark. I've got some surprise plants, (I didn't realize there were tiny spuds in the re-used dirt) in pots growing in my greenhouse. I have a short growing season up at altitude, and hope to keep them alive until harvest.
My grandmother grew up on a farm in Butler Pennsylvania and they grew potatoes to survive. One time when I was back there she was growing a garden at her Cottage and she was telling me about her life and she told me that. As she was explaining how to plant potatoes. She said you have to cut the sections that are growing called the eyes into chunks and put them in the ground individually so you get the maximum amount of plants and the biggest ones. Sure enough she was right those were the biggest potatoes I have ever seen. I don't know if you've done this before I don't watch a whole lot of the show I just like to put information out there just like you do I really enjoyed this have a great day
When I planted potatoes, I would make a trench fill it with mulch, put the seed in lightly cover with soil. Then hill as they grow. Continuing to hill until they reach 2' high. Rows 50' across a total of 10 rows. Kennebec and Pontiac are my go-to spud. Some potatoes weighing 4 to 5 lbs each.
aww yeah its mark.
Love the positive energy my dude, what a nice way to start my day
hello from california across the pond
Thank you :)
Wow! Great harvest! Gardening keeps you in shape!
Nice to hear the storm bird in the background. A sure sign summer is near!
dug mine yesterday (9 wheelbarrows) was surprised the size & yield but this year was 9.8 inches rain above average hot humid summer i planted pontiac red & russet both variety about 30% were big as cantaloupe did know russet could get that big i sprinkle 10-10-10 directly over the seed spaced 1 hand width apart what shocked me is my potato patch is right up to a 65ft tall maple tree thought nothing would grow in between above ground tree roots but they were big as everywhere else
Well done Mark, great spuds as you said organic what a bonus. You looked hot and bothered after that digging, and weighing those potatoes . I love your videos , thank you. I’m watching from Melbourne. 👍
Thanks, Wendy! You bet I was hot and bothered at the end of that video. I thought I was going to have a stroke. I'm kidding. But I do need to get a bit fitter this summer, so I'm working on that, lol. It's a great time of year to grow in Melbourne, so all the best! Cheers :)
I managed to Braai 4 times this weekend. There were even potatoes involved.
I’m trying potato towers filled with straw this season.
This will be the third crop I’ve grown from discovered potatoes growing under the pavers in my glass house.
I love the nubbins fried with onions and ham. Fine breakfast
Loved seeing your potato harvest and the comparison to above/below ground approach. I live in SE Florida, and it is challenging to grow potatoes here because we have such a short run of cooler weather - about 3 months, Dec-Feb. You've inspired me to try, try again. Potatoes run about $5/5lbs here.
Nice harvest for a summary installation and being left to their own devices for the season. The reds looked especially rotund. Now, if I were a ratty in your tater bed, I'd be very happy, since I love fresh raw potato! Maybe set out a wee salt shaker for me, and yummmm.
I'm up in northern Utah, we get 10lb bags of idaho potatoes for around $5-$8 even in this economy.
We did a 10ft by 2ft group of potatoes along the south side of out fence for a few months. Only got about 15lbs out of them.
Lay your crop of potatoes to dry (don't wash them and do this where critters won't get at them), then take very dry soil and dust a layer into the bottom of a cardboard box. Lay a layer of potatoes, dust soil over them, layer of potatoes. Repeat and do in more boxes according to how many you have. Close the box(es) and store in a cool, dry place and they'll last 9 months to a year, what's left over come planting time, you plant. Rinse and repeat each year.
Oh how i wish Birdies had come to South Africa in 2022 instead of 2023. I had someone make wooden planter boxes for me to use in my small garden and they are working fine but their life span will probably be a lot shorter and I keep on having to coat them with oil.
Wow. In Minnesota here in the states. Thank you!
You have to remember, where he is you can grow anything, warm climate lots of rain, makes it easy.
I always throw the little ones in soil to keep the spuds coming 😊
Hi from south Texas Mark, Great Video, I am trying grow bags for potatoes for the first time this season . I usually plant in ground but that is iffy. several times in the past we have had too much rain and rot is a problem with in ground planting when too much rain happens. I am inspired to create an above ground planter for potatoes. with the Gov like it is these days we need to be self sufficient.
Spuds are for sure the most satisfying crop to grow. And after watching that abc docco on Paraquat I'll definitely be growing my own this year. Those poor farmers. I hope now they know the dangers of the herbicide they make better decisions.
Watching from South Africa 🇿🇦
Nice crop Mark, well done! 👍👍
The little ones are nice cooked and then smothered in good butter
As always smile shows on my face when I see you uploaded a video. Keep up the great work. I also grew potatos this summer here in Poland. But I put them on top of soil and mulched with straw, like you did with your other experiment. Well upon checking them about 3 month later when i took the straw out, there were tons of rolypolys (I think thats the name of those decomposters) and some nasty snails looking like they had a feast. But it was nice experience overally, not the greates cause i think i accidently put too much straw on top and new green growth didnt get as much sun as it could. Your one of the people that got me into growing my own, and I salute you for that. Gonna use that straw to mulch my raised beds that I already planted some after crop (oilseed radish, white mustard, buckwheat) for overwintering, so some new fresh material hopefully decomposed for spring to plant in. Thanks again and I wish all good to you and your family.
Sandy soil is the best for potatoes, they grow amazingly huge in it. Just make sure to leave them enough space to grow
Thanks for the video Mark. As a South African I approve the accent 😊
Thanks for the video, your way of growing potatoes can still be improved. I harvest 4 to 7 kilograms per square meter. I show that in my last video.
Interesting that you could plant small potatoes and get big ones out of it. I wish the same could be done with garlic, but the smaller cloves planted gave smaller bulbs. Lesson learned. :D
That’s a really nice harvest Mark. Really awesome. 👍
Nice harvest, Mark. Potatoes is a favourite to grow. I'm going to put some in sometime this week.
Baby potatoes are nice for salad. You put them together whole...yum!
Thanks Mary! Yes, so true, I shouldn't be disappointed with small baby potatoes when they taste so good! Take care, and all the best :)
I love that you quoted the 12th Man!
Nice, hope i can also get a raised bed for vegetables, i generally plant them in grow bags or big pot..
Did you know 10:35 that the 'nuts' on that grass is cultivated to make a gluten-free flour? I use it with sorghum flour to make pancakes. Tiger nut flour.
Always good to see you in the garden mate.
Beautiful harvest of potatoes
I just saw that they're available in South Africa and I cant tell you how happy my little gardening heart is. No doubt some braai salads coming out of my garden this season. 😂
The best crop to harvest, Oh the suspense!!
I'm in a subtropical climate (8a) in Virginia US. And I did a similar experiment this year using 25gallon grow bags and last years potatoes. 12 bags and 24 large bags of organic growing soil. I kept the water to them and harvested an amazing 15lbs per grow bag! I planted 2 layers of 6 potatoes per bag: 5" of soil in the bottom of the bag, then layer 3 potatoes in a triangle. 4" of soil and another 3 potatoes opposite of the first layer. Then I topped with soil and, when it settled down after watering, I mulched with pine shavings. I did this on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day... been doing this for decades) and was ready to harvest in late summer. I replanted one of those bags as an experiment to see if I can get a second crop and I am now, with 38 days remaining in my growing season, I have fully mature large healthy potato plants in that grow bag!!! I baught 12 more grow bags. I got 183lbs of potatoes in my first harvest. That was with wrinkled old overwintered too sprouted to eat homegrown potatoes... terrible quality potatoes. I was SHOCKED! I fully expect to get 2 crops next year and using better potatoes with double the number of bags... 800lbs is not out of the question!
Thanks for sharing Mark. Definitely going to plant potatoes now. Got a decent amount of sweet potatoes in but want to give the other variety a shot
I live on the Coast it's nice to hear the storm birds again :)
Thanks for you kind time and educational knowledge you provide for home gardeners. If only our bureaucrats and politicians could offer the same and stop working overtime on how to tax the Australian people we would have a great country. God Bless you and believe many appreciate your down to earth show.
I'm told potatoes come in determinate and indeterminate varieties, just like tomatoes. Indeterminate potatoes are the ones that benefit from 'hilling up' because they will grow spuds from their lateral buds as the plant grows up through the covering. Determinate spuds grow at the level the seed potato is planted, and hilling doesn't improve yield. So how you plant them depends on what varieties you're using
Thank you Mark for enlightening me on growing potatoes,🙏🏻👍🏻🤠
You seem like such a nice guy. Thank you so much for the helpful videos.
Just wishing I had a dad like you bud. Love your videos.
Very interesting. I don't have the space you do, but I planted 16 potatoes a couple of weeks back - I put them down about 15-20cm and they are now just popping up on the surface. I also planted rows of corn in between (about 20). I checked that was OK. It will be a long wait for results though LOL
Curious about the straw experiment. My parents put straw on their garden a couple of years ago and before they did, they had a weed-free bed. Now it's weed city and no matter how many weeds you pull, they return. They've tried everything and later learned that once you've used the straw, it brings with it weed seeds that just simple won't go away and they deeply regretted it. The maintenance skyrocketed, sadly.
Love all the info you shared, thanks. So much like my dad that I remember him doing gardening similar when I was a kid. Wish guys like you were here near me in Oregon, USA, lol. Watched your other videos this spring and started growing potatoes. Totally worked. Though some bugs or Beatles maybe put bites in some of them.
Thank you I’m planting potatoes today
The most perfect use for those small baby potatoes would be to make a Nova Scotia Hodge Podge! My most favorite summer meal!
Whooohooo South Africa!
this is amazing technique in growing potatoe
11:28 i have a similar sun break in my yard. Grass doesn’t even grow there. Can’t understand why the old owners put their garden there either
Okay another question or two for you mark. Have you ever thought of having a gardening class of sorts at your home? Have a handful of locals to teach how you do your gardening? I used cane mulch for the first time this year and I’m amazed how much moisture is retained using it. The only problem is the wind and rain blows bits over the plant rows. I usually buy my seeds from Bunnings and I’ve started questioning their quality after trying to have a garden for a few years. What seeds do you recommend? (I’m in southern Victoria) could you do storage and canning of the stuff from your garden too? Sorry i guess that more than a couple questions. Love your channel and the information overload you give us. Thank you brother! What was your MOS in the army? I was a grunt (Army Ranger) in the 80’s.
So much fun to see you, always brightens my day. Next season in KY (mid April) I will probably grow a row or two of potatoes. Haven't grown them in years, time and space. So I have to enlarge the garden.
Just bought myself some birdies beds using your code plus they had a deal buy 4 and only pay for 3. So I got 4 high ones at 2.5mx500mm to go around the front yard area.
I didn't expect so much in a small space, decent. We probably eat less than 1/5th of that per season. Great to see this as you get a grasp of how much to plant roughly
I grow potatoes in my urban Auckland garden, and I always use growbags as I’m renting and that way if I have to move before harvest, I can take them with me! I usually put a potato or two in each 35L bag, sometimes seed potatoes, sometimes the ones from the supermarket that are trying to sprout. 😂 I usually get a couple kgs from each bag.
Perfect: "A grudge is where I park my car!" Wish more people used grudges like that! 🙂 👍 Keep up the good work! Always enjoy your videos! Don't hurt your back with that lifting! You sound woofed!
2:29 in UK a grudge is where you take your car for repair :D
Bring Birdies beds to Canada!
Mark you're an inspiration to me and always have been. Love you brother. 🙏🙌🤙
Thank you, mate, and love back... Cheers :)
Hello from South Africa 🇿🇦. Great video
Don't fill the bed as full, then plant. When plants are maybe 1-2 ft tall, add more soil. Hilling the plants encourages them to make more stolons along the stem resulting in a larger yield.
🥔👍🥔👍 nice haul!
My mom always told me that the first thing to plant in a new garden bed is potatoes, they help condition the soil and give you a good idea of any potential issues with the plants
great flick Marc, your finding confirms my suspicion. Though I never did a proper AB comparison. But I used to create new in ground beds by surface laying potatoes and compost mulching (Yes you hear my right, spouts on the freshly mown down weeds). It works for making new beds, but the harvest is small with a lot of rotten spouts.
Thanks
Always fun digging up spuds
The first thought I had when I seen the surface lay method was how hot and bombarded with UV light the top part of the potatoes would be. Opposed to a cool optimal moist environment conducive to tuber production. It's basic horticulture common sense imho.
Love your videos! I'm growing sweet potatoes in large bins and am about to harvest. I hope to have luck this time from using all the tips and tricks I have learned watching your videos these last few years! Keep up the great work!
I keep hearing that people are burying them around 6 inches and having a good crop.
Thanks for experimenting 😊
First potato harvest this year! Not bad given the drought.
We harvested our taters about a month ago in oregon, we had issues with rats as well they dug underneath the beds from the row mulch and were eating the spuds from below. I lost a decent amount before i got them under control, but still got a good harvest. Stored about 300lbs of potatoes from about 400 sqft.