ENTER SPRING GREENSTALK GIVEAWAY HERE: th-cam.com/video/omXQDVgmQ3U/w-d-xo.html Are cheering on Team Potato or Team Sweet Potato? Haha... It is going to be close!
I have a cat that lives outside all year round even when it is -10 deg F. She is the happiest animal I have ever had, when not complaining. She hunts voles and mice all day and much of the night. Since she came around I have not had any vole damage to my potateos.
Thank you so much! I really love being down in the dirt with you. I wait all year for the potato harvests. Since I'm disabled and rather old now, it gives me great pleasure to watch you in your garden. Yes, I could watch you all day.
Thank you so much Helen! In the middle of a potato harvest (especially a good one) is my favorite place to be, and I loved taking everyone along for this one. We have lots still to come. Fingers crossed for some more large tubers. :D Have a fantastic rest of your evening!
Since you have pulled the hay back to harvest your potatoes. #1 take a rake and rake the area well to move the hay back to expose the potato bed, if it were me I would expose several inches of soil also. #2 lay rat wire down over the potato bed and up the sides press the wire down into the soil. #3 replace the soil and the hay. They can not eat through metal. They are rodents and they are leavening waste matter, etc. They are in the same family as rats! I also have a couple of cats, they keep voles, moles, rats, mice, and rabbits down. (I also use mothballs in the garden to keep the rabbits out.) Your potato harvest is great!
I love your enthusiasm! I recently started watching folks dig potatoes... Why? I've no idea! But I'm loving it! City girl here with no room to garden any more... Plus I can't get down to do it. Happy gardening! I'm getting into houseplants again... Those I can grow with ease and enjoy!
Potato harvests are a thrill. It is a new experience every single time, so I can completely understand the desire to watch those videos. :D :D We have done more with houseplants the last few years as well. They help keep the air clean, and they add so much beauty. :)
Oh you can def do potatoes friend :) Get you a 5 gallon bucket- even if u can get it onto a balcony or patio or near a window & you’ll be growing some. You can grow a TON of things vertically & just using water only ;) you can look into this for city prepping and find out more bc I’m having to do the same. You’d be shocked to know how much you can grow
@@jillellis62 I physically cannot walk on the grass. I've had 4 serious leg fractures and 3 big back surgeries in the last 5 years. No room on my tiny porch. I have a few perennials in pots but that's all I can manage. 10 years ago I was still married. We had a HUGE vegetable garden and I had 13 large perennial beds. I loved being outside but now I just can't do it.
The difference between last year and this year with the Ruth Stout really seemed like night and day, and I don't think it was just the varities that brought about that difference. Now to just finish off those voles. :D
Using the stout method doesnot require straw but the advantage of straw over hay is #1 hay has multiple types of weed seeds in it, this is why you dont use horse manure in a garden due to weeds that grow from it. #2 the decomposition of hay attracts bugs and voles and moles. They can smell it from miles away and is a source of food. Straw is less attractive to small critters and bugs. There is a chemical decomp reason for this. Research if interested. #3 straw takes one year to decomp to planting medium. Faster if you water it. In north buy straw in spring, line it up where you want your garden row. Water it if you want faster decomp or let it just get natural wetness from rain and snow. Do not unstring it until winter storm is due. Let it sit all winter and plant in spring after it has had spring rain. The straw is warmer than the ground as the sun hits it. However if you place it after ground has frozen, the ground under straw or hay will remain cold for longer. This has been my experience and understanding after rereading ruth stouts book on straw lazagna gardening. The straw decomp also provides its own balanced fertlizer so theres no need for purchasing fertilizer organic or otherwise.
Try the pinwheels they sell in the spring for yard decorations. Your garden friends will not like the vibrations underground caused by them. Voles and moles are very sensitive to vibration. Does not kill them but sends them packing to a new home fast
What are potato berries? I’ve never heard of that! Boy those voles are relentless. I’ve watched so many potato harvests …from the states to Britain, Jamaica…everywhere. I would love to plant some but I’m just not able to, so I watch others do it. I enjoy your videos very much. Take Care
You had a really great harvest ! I always had good luck growing potatoes like this . About 12 years ago a buddy I worked with gave me 2 wagon loads of old hay that used for a few years to do this . I learned about it in a book before seeing people do it on TH-cam lol . It said to add wood ash to it as well . Thank you for sharing !
Hello Aaric! I hope all is well with your family. It is amazing how useful spoiled hay can be. I have read that some folks add wood ash into it, and we do create wood ash occasionally, so we will look into those benefits as well. Thank you for the suggestion. We were well pleased with this harvest for sure, and we think it is just going to keep getting better. :)
I didn’t use enough straw for my first year using this method, but the quantity was good and just like yours there. We have N WI sandy soil and that didn’t hurt at all.
Thank you so much! The layering made a big difference, I think, and add to that the year over year improvement to the composting happening with the older straw, and I think you will see better production each year. :) Have a wonderful weekend!
Hello Matt! Thank you so much. We loved the production. Still figuring out the voles, but lots of delicious potatoes, nevertheless. Have a great evening!
I think if you put some small square rabbit wire around your potato ground dung down a few inches below the growing area it might help discourage the vol getting to your crop ! Also I’ll bet you could plant Carrots, turnip greens or any type of greens , peanuts , Rutabagas or any root type crops, in your hay beds ! You should experiment with different types of veggies and see what you get!! Great potato harvest , congratulations!! I think I will try this method in my raised beds !!
We used hay last year and the potatoes were easy to harvest. We didn't use hay this year because hay fields are sprayed with glyphosate and we prefer to grow organically.
I love the results of this technique but I want to know how it is done. I didn't see the planting process, please link me to that video. Thanks for all the good work you are doing. My daughter loves potatoes and can eat them every meal. This is so important to me, so please let me in on this process. Please please please.
Here is one of the first videos we did on planting using this method, but please let me know if it doesn't help clear up your questions enough. :) th-cam.com/video/h5Y706X7edM/w-d-xo.html
Nice harvest especially from the Yellow Finn potatoes. I'm planning on trying some potatoes in self irrigating totes with straw over them this year, both white and sweet potatoes. I'll be very, very happy if my harvest is as good as your Yellow Finns!
Lovely harvest there! Very impressive 👍 Wonder if you had a hardware cloth "cage" (bottom, top and sides) with the hay inside, it would really keep the voles out. And the roots will grow through the bottom (& foliage on top) unimpeded. I read that the critters may still chew on the roots, but it won't harm the plants. And for the scab, maybe have more than one hay bed for the potatoes (read where three areas is good for crop rotation, reduce the chances of scab and other potato problems). And it said to add peat, manure and even sprinkle some pine needles in there, to help with the scab (changes the pH for the better). I really want to try this Ruth Stout method of planting and growing potatoes!! Lol, the voles are connoisseurs, prefer one potato over the other. That's funny. And another thought, maybe it's a good idea to plant those red potatoes that the voles love, like a "sacrificial potatoes". Saw a video last year from a gardening yt channel (Gary Pilcharik? He has a "Food Forest" in his NJ back yard), and he showed a technique he learned, where he plants this weird looking "sacrificial squash", that the stink bugs absolutely love, and it's done to keep the stinkbugs (and squash vine borers) away from his zucchini plants and other squash. Your results are indeed testament to definitely try this method. Do you compost the potato foliage/stalks and stems, leaves after you pull them out?
I lost an entire crop of potatoes to voles. I used juicy fruit gum and it worked. Next crop little to no vole damage! Daniel from Arms family homestead tried it on camera.
I know your video is from a couple of years ago, but I saw a video yesterday where someone mentioned voles are repelled by onion, so if you plant onions around the border of your bed, it should help prevent the damage.
Leaves tend to form a coating making it harder for the potatoes to get thru, they tend to stay compacted and the hay is fluffy. Other than that, not much difference. If you want big potatoes make sure to add ash and manure or compost into the soil. Of course if you have dry summers make sure to mulch and/or water.
Hello Siry, Thank you so much for the question. I have done a little reading on this but can't say definitively. I read that many people do this, but there is always a risk that you will have additional organic matter in the water from the clothes. I can say that we have not used it, but I think some additional research would be a good idea before using the water.
Thank you so much! :D We did a little growing with kratky this past winter, and I personally enjoyed the process, so I think we may try some different varieties in there this coming season as well. :)
Great question! This video explains it fully, I think. th-cam.com/video/cmnXyWOO72w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1hCiu-wuPqhzRBhx Plus we just released a video of potatoes grown from those true potato seeds. :) Thank you so much for watching and joining our community!
Hi there, did you ever get a few cats to help keep the rats and mice away, the cats are such helpful and yet lovely animals. I have just planted some potatoes in very large containers with hay and compost mixed together and I will be looking forward to seeing how productive this maybe as the actual potatoes came from potaoes that grew shoots from purchased supermarket potatoes meant for the dinner table but when they arrived and had them just for a few weeks and certainly not months these grew shoots, so decided to give this a go. I do not have a great deal of land to grow in but am trying to make the most of what I have, with growing in containers, as well as spreading out onto the little land I that I do have and use of a few raised beds here and ther are helping. I found your video very interesting, as I felt that growing in hay helps a great deal with air pockets made along with compost for the higher nutrients and a feed of seaweed to help start off the growth may well give a good yield and is why I have gone this way. I note you did not mention if you gave anything to encourage growth at all at start or later, like fertlizer feed, would be interesting now 2 years on, to learn how you are and if you still doing this? Look forward to hearing from you. Maureen
We have added some mesh underneath to help. Unfortunately a cat is out of the picture for now, but I know for a fact you are spot on about their abilities. Thank you for the suggestion!
Wonderful. Thank you for the video. Enjoy the potatoes. Just wondering... could you plant something around the edges of the bed that the voles don't like? Maybe that would keep them away?....
Thank you Lori! What a great idea. I am currently researching the possibilities for that based on your suggestion, so we will see what we come up with. Thank you very much. :D
perhaps research voles and such-what will bring them above ground at night? Grain? What if you had multiple perches near your potatoes-with owls on patrol?
What I wouldn't give to have a few owls at hand. :D We ended up getting a solar powered vole deterrant device that basically makes a sound and vibrates every 30 secondsor so. We'll see how we did. :)
If the smaller sizes last till spring, would they be better for seeding? What if you put 18" chicken wire or 1/2" hardwire cloth, bending it in thirds -- 1/3 on bed , 12" on border & then heep hay into wire enclosure, to stop the voles??
Hello! Great questions and thoughts here. I think that the smaller sizes might be good for seeding. In terms of the chicken wire, we are considering that for our sweet potato raised beds as well (if you check out today's video, you will see why). I wonder if we would need to go under as well. With the Ruth Stout this would be really easy to do, and we could almost create a kind of bund wrapping around the whole bed. Thank you so much!
How about creating a U shaped wire mesh liner for your bed? Zip tie the corners and add pool noodles along the edge to keep you from scraping yourself on the liner. Come harvest time, unclip the zip ties on the ends and weigh the wire down with a few bricks or a log or two during harvesting. I bet white beets and swedes and parsnips would also do well in the Ruth beds. ( look up white beets, yum, only way I eat beets and raw, too.)
Great suggestion! For this year, we placed hardware cloth underneath everything, and we added some vole repellers (basically the make a sound and vibrate every few seconds) - solar powered. We will see if that helps.
They look clean! Just curious if these potatoes grown in straw also store well in a root cellar? Root crops are generally known to store longer and better with soil still on them as opposed to those that have been scrubbed off.
Great question. Ours have stored well. We still have some from this harvest and they are just starting to sprout. I think part of that is also down to potato variety, since some of them have a shorter "hibernation" period. But, you are also right, we don't wash any of our potatoes off before storage.
This was very interesting to see! I'd cry if we had that much vole damage. I'm curious how many seed potatoes did you put in to get the amount of harvest you did? We may have to try this!
Great question. We did a planting video about setting up the bed. I don't know the exact number, but we have just over 20 square feet in the bed, and we planted the seed potatoes about every 12 inches. This year we are trying something with hardware cloth to try to stop the damage. Fingers crossed. :)
Very nice harvest! Question, how did you cure so many? Aren't they supposed to lay single layer in a cool dark place for a week or two for storage? Thats alot of space. New subscriber by the way.
Thank you! Last season we harvested about 200 pounds of potatoes and we cured them in our basement (similar to what we did the year before). There are a couple of ways we plan to try storing them in the future as well to keep them a bit longer (although most of the time we get enough to last us about 6 months). One of the methods involves layering them in sand. Have you heard of that before?
@@GutenGardening yes sir! It pays to read all comments! I grew my first potatoes last season. I didn't grow that many. Had some mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving but the rest went soft after only a few week's sadly. I cured in my cool garage so not sure what happened. I have 3 different types on order. I would hate if I lost them too from wrong storage. Love your videos. Do you guys ever get a vacation growing year round!
This is our second year, and we are definitely fine tuning our work with this style of bed. Thank you so much for the comment. Do you have any issues with critters in your Ruth Stout bed (if you are using that method)? Thanks again!
Thank you so much! We wish the voles had some shame! :D :D But, even with the voles, the potatoes shone through for us, I think. We will keep working on all-natural solutions for them. :)
I'm using leaves again this year, I grew more potatoes last year than I've ever grown.... Leaves are free, i pick them up in bags off the side of the road, I also use sto bought Taters as my seed taters. Ck out my Page to see how I'm doing it..... Put those damaged taters back in the hay n let em grow!!!!!
We don't have many trees big enough to provide leaves, but we do also collect the leaves that we do have to use. :D We will check out your potatoes as well. :D
ENTER SPRING GREENSTALK GIVEAWAY HERE: th-cam.com/video/omXQDVgmQ3U/w-d-xo.html
Are cheering on Team Potato or Team Sweet Potato? Haha... It is going to be close!
Still sticking with Team Sweet Potato lol
Great!
hey
i like your hat and i need one
please share name/brand or any link
many thanks
I have a cat that lives outside all year round even when it is -10 deg F. She is the happiest animal I have ever had, when not complaining. She hunts voles and mice all day and much of the night. Since she came around I have not had any vole damage to my potateos.
Thank you so much! I really love being down in the dirt with you. I wait all year for the potato harvests. Since I'm disabled and rather old now, it gives me great pleasure to watch you in your garden. Yes, I could watch you all day.
Thank you so much Helen! In the middle of a potato harvest (especially a good one) is my favorite place to be, and I loved taking everyone along for this one. We have lots still to come. Fingers crossed for some more large tubers. :D Have a fantastic rest of your evening!
Since you have pulled the hay back to harvest your potatoes. #1 take a rake and rake the area well to move the hay back to expose the potato bed, if it were me I would expose several inches of soil also. #2 lay rat wire down over the potato bed and up the sides press the wire down into the soil. #3 replace the soil and the hay. They can not eat through metal. They are rodents and they are leavening waste matter, etc. They are in the same family as rats! I also have a couple of cats, they keep voles, moles, rats, mice, and rabbits down. (I also use mothballs in the garden to keep the rabbits out.) Your potato harvest is great!
I love your enthusiasm! I recently started watching folks dig potatoes... Why? I've no idea! But I'm loving it! City girl here with no room to garden any more... Plus I can't get down to do it. Happy gardening! I'm getting into houseplants again... Those I can grow with ease and enjoy!
Potato harvests are a thrill. It is a new experience every single time, so I can completely understand the desire to watch those videos. :D :D We have done more with houseplants the last few years as well. They help keep the air clean, and they add so much beauty. :)
Digging potatoes on a homegrown scale is fun, like a treasure hunt.
Oh you can def do potatoes friend :)
Get you a 5 gallon bucket- even if u can get it onto a balcony or patio or near a window & you’ll be growing some.
You can grow a TON of things vertically & just using water only ;) you can look into this for city prepping and find out more bc I’m having to do the same. You’d be shocked to know how much you can grow
@@jillellis62 I physically cannot walk on the grass. I've had 4 serious leg fractures and 3 big back surgeries in the last 5 years. No room on my tiny porch. I have a few perennials in pots but that's all I can manage. 10 years ago I was still married. We had a HUGE vegetable garden and I had 13 large perennial beds. I loved being outside but now I just can't do it.
Love your content, teaching and your enthusiasm! Thank you ! 💕🤗🙌🏻
Oh very nice harvest! I have a copy of Ruth Stout book. No work Garden
Ruth Stout is fantastic! We love growing in this method. Less work and great production! :)
Always love a good potato harvest!
This one was really fun to do for sure!
Yep, WOW is appropriate! Nice haul my friend, and more good information. I can't wait to see next year!
The difference between last year and this year with the Ruth Stout really seemed like night and day, and I don't think it was just the varities that brought about that difference. Now to just finish off those voles. :D
Using the stout method doesnot require straw but the advantage of straw over hay is #1 hay has multiple types of weed seeds in it, this is why you dont use horse manure in a garden due to weeds that grow from it. #2 the decomposition of hay attracts bugs and voles and moles. They can smell it from miles away and is a source of food. Straw is less attractive to small critters and bugs. There is a chemical decomp reason for this. Research if interested. #3 straw takes one year to decomp to planting medium. Faster if you water it. In north buy straw in spring, line it up where you want your garden row. Water it if you want faster decomp or let it just get natural wetness from rain and snow. Do not unstring it until winter storm is due. Let it sit all winter and plant in spring after it has had spring rain. The straw is warmer than the ground as the sun hits it. However if you place it after ground has frozen, the ground under straw or hay will remain cold for longer. This has been my experience and understanding after rereading ruth stouts book on straw lazagna gardening. The straw decomp also provides its own balanced fertlizer so theres no need for purchasing fertilizer organic or otherwise.
Such a beautiful load of potatoes!
Excellent, thanks for sharing
You is Very GOOD with potato tjats nefore have so much, You is Very GOOD with this. Tänk you for your shoow
Thank you so much! We love working with our potatoes and sweet potatoes!
Try the pinwheels they sell in the spring for yard decorations. Your garden friends will not like the vibrations underground caused by them. Voles and moles are very sensitive to vibration. Does not kill them but sends them packing to a new home fast
What are potato berries? I’ve never heard of that! Boy those voles are relentless. I’ve watched so many potato harvests …from the states to Britain, Jamaica…everywhere. I would love to plant some but I’m just not able to, so I watch others do it. I enjoy your videos very much. Take Care
Very very lovely harvesting potato. I have nothing to say but to vow with you.
Thank you so much! We are so happy with this harvest for sure. Now to get the critters under control. :D
You had a really great harvest ! I always had good luck growing potatoes like this . About 12 years ago a buddy I worked with gave me 2 wagon loads of old hay that used for a few years to do this . I learned about it in a book before seeing people do it on TH-cam lol . It said to add wood ash to it as well . Thank you for sharing !
Hello Aaric! I hope all is well with your family. It is amazing how useful spoiled hay can be. I have read that some folks add wood ash into it, and we do create wood ash occasionally, so we will look into those benefits as well. Thank you for the suggestion. We were well pleased with this harvest for sure, and we think it is just going to keep getting better. :)
0
@@GutenGardening wood ash for the potassium?
Wood ash is used in many whole gardens in nc and always helps greatly :)
Nice harvest….l always LOVE Your enthusiasm!
Thank you! We are so glad you enjoyed the harvest!
I didn’t use enough straw for my first year using this method, but the quantity was good and just like yours there. We have N WI sandy soil and that didn’t hurt at all.
Nice job!
Thank you! Cheers!
What a great Harvest! I will mix more composted straw in with my potatoes next year. Well done.💜💜💜
Thank you so much! The layering made a big difference, I think, and add to that the year over year improvement to the composting happening with the older straw, and I think you will see better production each year. :) Have a wonderful weekend!
Very interesting video, and I like the results of your Ruth Stout test. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Matt! Thank you so much. We loved the production. Still figuring out the voles, but lots of delicious potatoes, nevertheless. Have a great evening!
I think if you put some small square rabbit wire around your potato ground dung down a few inches below the growing area it might help discourage the vol getting to your crop ! Also I’ll bet you could plant Carrots, turnip greens or any type of greens , peanuts , Rutabagas or any root type crops, in your hay beds ! You should experiment with different types of veggies and see what you get!! Great potato harvest , congratulations!! I think I will try this method in my raised beds !!
We used hay last year and the potatoes were easy to harvest. We didn't use hay this year because hay fields are sprayed with glyphosate and we prefer to grow organically.
I grew Tomatoes in sorta the same method. I tried doing potatoes then planted tomatoes in the bed. It worked really well for me.
Oh interesting! Did you pull the tomato plants out at the end? I would love to know what the roots looked like. :)
I love the results of this technique but I want to know how it is done. I didn't see the planting process, please link me to that video. Thanks for all the good work you are doing. My daughter loves potatoes and can eat them every meal. This is so important to me, so please let me in on this process. Please please please.
Here is one of the first videos we did on planting using this method, but please let me know if it doesn't help clear up your questions enough. :) th-cam.com/video/h5Y706X7edM/w-d-xo.html
Well done!
Thank you!
Nice harvest especially from the Yellow Finn potatoes. I'm planning on trying some potatoes in self irrigating totes with straw over them this year, both white and sweet potatoes. I'll be very, very happy if my harvest is as good as your Yellow Finns!
Wonderful harvest man. Bravo!!
Thank you so much! We really enjoyed pulling these up out of the hay! :)
Awesome harvest ❤️
Yes, thank you
Lovely harvest there! Very impressive 👍
Wonder if you had a hardware cloth "cage" (bottom, top and sides) with the hay inside, it would really keep the voles out. And the roots will grow through the bottom (& foliage on top) unimpeded. I read that the critters may still chew on the roots, but it won't harm the plants. And for the scab, maybe have more than one hay bed for the potatoes (read where three areas is good for crop rotation, reduce the chances of scab and other potato problems). And it said to add peat, manure and even sprinkle some pine needles in there, to help with the scab (changes the pH for the better). I really want to try this Ruth Stout method of planting and growing potatoes!!
Lol, the voles are connoisseurs, prefer one potato over the other. That's funny.
And another thought, maybe it's a good idea to plant those red potatoes that the voles love, like a "sacrificial potatoes". Saw a video last year from a gardening yt channel (Gary Pilcharik? He has a "Food Forest" in his NJ back yard), and he showed a technique he learned, where he plants this weird looking "sacrificial squash", that the stink bugs absolutely love, and it's done to keep the stinkbugs (and squash vine borers) away from his zucchini plants and other squash. Your results are indeed testament to definitely try this method.
Do you compost the potato foliage/stalks and stems, leaves after you pull them out?
We use the solar stakes to keep voles away and they work well in the summer, and winter if you can keep them uncovered from snow.
I lost an entire crop of potatoes to voles. I used juicy fruit gum and it worked. Next crop little to no vole damage! Daniel from Arms family homestead tried it on camera.
We have heard that before. Did you have to replace the chewing gum often?
Where do you place the juicy fruit gum?
I know your video is from a couple of years ago, but I saw a video yesterday where someone mentioned voles are repelled by onion, so if you plant onions around the border of your bed, it should help prevent the damage.
Nice work! Quick question...how would autumn leaves collected in Oct-Dec work in place of the hay if used the following spring in the same way?
Leaves tend to form a coating making it harder for the potatoes to get thru, they tend to stay compacted and the hay is fluffy. Other than that, not much difference. If you want big potatoes make sure to add ash and manure or compost into the soil. Of course if you have dry summers make sure to mulch and/or water.
Nice 👍 Can you please tell me if you can water the Tator plants with recycled water from washing your clothes please? Thanks 🙏
Thanks🙏 I’m talking about the sudsy dark water is this bad for the plants crops we eat? Please please
Hello Siry,
Thank you so much for the question. I have done a little reading on this but can't say definitively. I read that many people do this, but there is always a risk that you will have additional organic matter in the water from the clothes. I can say that we have not used it, but I think some additional research would be a good idea before using the water.
Your laugh is wonderful makes us happy have you thought of trying kratky hydroponics this winter?
Thank you so much! :D We did a little growing with kratky this past winter, and I personally enjoyed the process, so I think we may try some different varieties in there this coming season as well. :)
Hello, I am brand new to the channel. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with the world! I was curious, what is a potato berry?
Great question! This video explains it fully, I think. th-cam.com/video/cmnXyWOO72w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1hCiu-wuPqhzRBhx
Plus we just released a video of potatoes grown from those true potato seeds. :)
Thank you so much for watching and joining our community!
The Voles are definitely not playing favorites!
But they gotta eat, too. I just plant extra to make up for the little garden caretakers. : )
True, they do have to eat. :)
Hi there, did you ever get a few cats to help keep the rats and mice away, the cats are such helpful and yet lovely animals.
I have just planted some potatoes in very large containers with hay and compost mixed together and I will be looking forward to seeing
how productive this maybe as the actual potatoes came from potaoes that grew shoots from purchased supermarket potatoes meant
for the dinner table but when they arrived and had them just for a few weeks and certainly not months these grew shoots, so decided to give this a go.
I do not have a great deal of land to grow in but am trying to make the most of what I have, with growing in containers, as well as spreading
out onto the little land I that I do have and use of a few raised beds here and ther are helping.
I found your video very interesting, as I felt that growing in hay helps a great deal with air pockets made along with compost for the higher
nutrients and a feed of seaweed to help start off the growth may well give a good yield and is why I have gone this way.
I note you did not mention if you gave anything to encourage growth at all at start or later, like fertlizer feed, would be interesting now 2 years on, to learn how
you are and if you still doing this?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Maureen
Maybe consider getting a main coon outside cat, they love to hunt. Mine used to bring me moles and small rabbits.
We have added some mesh underneath to help. Unfortunately a cat is out of the picture for now, but I know for a fact you are spot on about their abilities. Thank you for the suggestion!
@@GutenGardening except that they also kill birds and just about anything else they can take down
Wonderful. Thank you for the video. Enjoy the potatoes. Just wondering... could you plant something around the edges of the bed that the voles don't like? Maybe that would keep them away?....
Thank you Lori! What a great idea. I am currently researching the possibilities for that based on your suggestion, so we will see what we come up with. Thank you very much. :D
@@GutenGardening awesome!! I hope it works out. 💕‼️
Absolutely! :)
Can you do the same with sweet potato’s?
What kind of traps did you use for voles. How?
perhaps research voles and such-what will bring them above ground at night? Grain? What if you had multiple perches near your potatoes-with owls on patrol?
What I wouldn't give to have a few owls at hand. :D We ended up getting a solar powered vole deterrant device that basically makes a sound and vibrates every 30 secondsor so. We'll see how we did. :)
Where is your garden? Can this method be successful in areas with high humidity (Central Virginia). I
Kennebec is a nice large size potato
If the smaller sizes last till spring, would they be better for seeding? What if you put 18" chicken wire or 1/2" hardwire cloth, bending it in thirds -- 1/3 on bed , 12" on border & then heep hay into wire enclosure, to stop the voles??
Hello! Great questions and thoughts here. I think that the smaller sizes might be good for seeding. In terms of the chicken wire, we are considering that for our sweet potato raised beds as well (if you check out today's video, you will see why). I wonder if we would need to go under as well. With the Ruth Stout this would be really easy to do, and we could almost create a kind of bund wrapping around the whole bed. Thank you so much!
@@GutenGardening I can see it would be an advantage growing in containers. That way you wouldn't need chicken wire.
How about creating a U shaped wire mesh liner for your bed? Zip tie the corners and add pool noodles along the edge to keep you from scraping yourself on the liner. Come harvest time, unclip the zip ties on the ends and weigh the wire down with a few bricks or a log or two during harvesting. I bet white beets and swedes and parsnips would also do well in the Ruth beds. ( look up white beets, yum, only way I eat beets and raw, too.)
I suggest take hardware cloth dig down 6 to 8 inches and put a fence around your potatoes.
Great suggestion! For this year, we placed hardware cloth underneath everything, and we added some vole repellers (basically the make a sound and vibrate every few seconds) - solar powered. We will see if that helps.
They look clean! Just curious if these potatoes grown in straw also store well in a root cellar? Root crops are generally known to store longer and better with soil still on them as opposed to those that have been scrubbed off.
Great question. Ours have stored well. We still have some from this harvest and they are just starting to sprout. I think part of that is also down to potato variety, since some of them have a shorter "hibernation" period. But, you are also right, we don't wash any of our potatoes off before storage.
@@GutenGardening That's good to know, thank you.
You are welcome. :)
I gave up on the voles. they completely destroyed my garden. I grow in large raised beds with hardware cloth bottoms now.
I don't know that I can buy hay. I wonder if this method would work with unsprayed (herbicideds etc.) lawn clippings.
Those damaged potatoes can be used for seed potatoes cut em up n let em sprout.
I 'll sure try it out.
We did save some of them for just that reason! Thank you for the suggestion. Have a wonderful weekend!
your harvest is great but i am thinking that the little bugs is cause from too much grass
Wouldn't laying down a sheet of plywood first prevent the voles from finding the crop ?
Would using some sort of raised bed that is off the ground prevent the voles from getting in or can they climb?
Try a four and baking soda mix to get rid of your critters
Oh, interesting. I hadn't heard of this before. We will do further research. Thank you for the suggestion!
What can you do with all those tiny potatoes?
The smaller ones, we can wash off and then throw right into stews, etc. :)
This was very interesting to see! I'd cry if we had that much vole damage. I'm curious how many seed potatoes did you put in to get the amount of harvest you did? We may have to try this!
Great question. We did a planting video about setting up the bed. I don't know the exact number, but we have just over 20 square feet in the bed, and we planted the seed potatoes about every 12 inches. This year we are trying something with hardware cloth to try to stop the damage. Fingers crossed. :)
never heard of potato berries?
When did you plant the potatoes and when did you harvest them? I am in zone 5a.
What's a Vole?
It's like a mole.
Back to Reality TH-cam channel found planting onions in and around the potatoes keeps the voles away
Very nice harvest! Question, how did you cure so many? Aren't they supposed to lay single layer in a cool dark place for a week or two for storage? Thats alot of space.
New subscriber by the way.
Thank you! Last season we harvested about 200 pounds of potatoes and we cured them in our basement (similar to what we did the year before). There are a couple of ways we plan to try storing them in the future as well to keep them a bit longer (although most of the time we get enough to last us about 6 months). One of the methods involves layering them in sand. Have you heard of that before?
@@GutenGardening yes sir! It pays to read all comments!
I grew my first potatoes last season. I didn't grow that many. Had some mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving but the rest went soft after only a few week's sadly. I cured in my cool garage so not sure what happened.
I have 3 different types on order. I would hate if I lost them too from wrong storage.
Love your videos. Do you guys ever get a vacation growing year round!
Don't forget, Ruth Stout's garden area was drier.
This is our second year, and we are definitely fine tuning our work with this style of bed. Thank you so much for the comment. Do you have any issues with critters in your Ruth Stout bed (if you are using that method)? Thanks again!
You could surround your potatoes with onions and garlic.
We have thought about that, and the onions would be a great idea especially along this bed. Thank you for the suggestion!
@@GutenGardening You're welcome.
I have garlic I planted in the fall. They're about 3 in. tall and a lot of the tops have been eaten by voles.
Very nice potato haul,and shame on the voles too.
Thank you so much! We wish the voles had some shame! :D :D But, even with the voles, the potatoes shone through for us, I think. We will keep working on all-natural solutions for them. :)
What is a Potato berry??
We describe it in more detail here: th-cam.com/video/cmnXyWOO72w/w-d-xo.html
I've heard potato berries are toxic if you eat them
The best way to deal with voles is to plant enough for you and them.
We are learning....:D
@@GutenGardening If we are gardening then we should be learning everyday. And as long as we garden we should continue to learn.
What is a potato berry?
please dont kill the voles. just plant more potatoes so that there is enough for both them and yourselves. They exist for a reason.
Our plan this season involves hardware cloth to keep them out. :)
What would that reason be, Dalila?
I thought potato scab was easily taken care of by watering with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to one gallon of water intermittently provided.
That egg is a snake egg.
Oh, interesting. I wonder how we can determine exact type. Thank you for the suggestion.
Cats will help the vole problem
Yes, you are right. Our challenge is that we really don't want a cat, but I do believe it would be a difference maker.
I bet some of them have already been eaten
Oh yes! They go quickly.
give your wife her hat back
Thank you for watching!
I'm using leaves again this year, I grew more potatoes last year than I've ever grown.... Leaves are free, i pick them up in bags off the side of the road, I also use sto bought Taters as my seed taters. Ck out my Page to see how I'm doing it..... Put those damaged taters back in the hay n let em grow!!!!!
We don't have many trees big enough to provide leaves, but we do also collect the leaves that we do have to use. :D We will check out your potatoes as well. :D
Wow! Only leaves no soil at all ? I ‘ll try this method this year . Thanks!
@@pascalbaylon256 yup, ck out my channel n see how I'm doing it..
I was thinking of what I could use. I have a field that I mow. I would leave them on the ground to dry, then pick them up with the lawn sweeper.