Harvesting The No-Work Potatoes

In the spring we planted the Sharing Garden full of heirloom potatoes. Spuds like Bauer Gruen's Rotes Auge, B C Blue, Congo, Papas Negro and Siberian. The twist this year was to use the "No Work" method. I also wrote a gardening tip about No Work Potatoes. It is an explanation of the theory behind it, and how to do it. See also When to Plant potatoes and Handfuls of Potatoes

We had been planting this garden plot intensively for the past few years, and this would be the fourth year. So, we did not place the potatoes very close together, we let the soil have a bit of a rest. Along with the straw, it would give the soil a chance to rejuvenate. We also sprinkled some Spanish River Carbonatite over the soil and a bit with each potato.

So, now it is November, time to harvest the spuds! All we had to do, was move the straw away. Well, a little easier said then done, don't forget that the straw is piled up 2 feet high. The straw was not heavy but where to put it while we are looking for the potatoes? In the end, we found it worked out well enough to put the straw into the pathway next to the garden while we were working. When we finished harvesting the first side, we sprinkled our certified organic fertilizer the Spanish River Carbonatite onto the soil, and cover it over with the straw. Tucked in for the winter!

From the 10-15 pounds of potatoes that we planted, we harvested almost 100 pounds of spuds!

Our yellow trailer is loaded up with the first half of the potatoes and an extra bag of greens.