Most of us love potatoes. So very versatile. I was a good way into my strawbale gardening journey before I decided to have a crack at growing them in bales. I was not convinced that they would be a success. How wrong was I? When I plant potatoes I tend to go for lesser known varieties. Ones that you do not normally see in the shops. I chose Pink Fur Apple. A small odd shaped potato with vivid red shading on the skin. Its a salad potato. And delicious.
Pink Fur Apple potatoes.
First I chitted them. For those who don’t know, this means putting them in a tray in a cool, light place for a few weeks before planting. This gets them sprouting and is supposed to speed up the growing process and give you a bigger harvest.
Potatoes chitting.
Your strawbales will already need to have been “matured”. There is a right and wrong side to plant in a strawbale. When the bale comes off the bailing machine it gets cut. We need to plant in the cut side. See below.
The correct side to plant and or sow in a strawbale.
This is one of the few times I remove the bailing twine from the strawbale. It has two lengths of twine running horizontally around it. I remove the top one to aid in planting.
Bailing twine on a strawbale.
Start by making a hole with a dibber, then start pulling out the straw. Keep the straw to one side. making the hole as deep as you can. The aim is to make the hole twice as big as you need. Depending on the variety make seven or eight holes in the bale. Now take a bucket and mix the spare straw with good quality compost. Place a good handful in each hole then the potatoes and backfill with the straw/compost mixture. Put a good layer of compost on the surface of the bale and water very well. Then just follow the harvest times on the seed potato pack. When its time to harvest simply cut the last bail twine and gently pull the strawbale apart to reveal the treasure. Use the old bale a compost, I promise you it will be first rate. For more detailed information on strawbale gardening and how to “mature” the bales please take a look at my e-book Strawbale Gardening Vol 1 here. Or my DVD entitled Strawbale Gardening the Basics here.
Making planting holes in a strawbale.
Potatoes growing happily in a bale.
I hope you have found this both interesting and informative.
Good gardening.
Simon.
