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.
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.
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 :)
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 :)
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)
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!
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.
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.
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 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 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. 😂
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!
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.
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.
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
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!
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 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
I'm so glad you are doing the research so I don't have to. As a small homesteader, I have the space to plant for havest and have more than one space for trying something new. ❤❤❤
@@justanobody0 the seed potatoes and old potatoes vines are still decomposing in the bed, which can increase the disease pressure. Also, there may be specific nutrient deficiencies specifically for the potatoes needs because he just harvested and the soil hasn’t recovered or been amended. Generally not good to grow the same crop back-to-back, regardless of variety. But for potatoes it is especially important because of the prevalence nightshade blight
@@kylenmaple4668 ahh, useful information I wasn't thinking about disease I only was thinking about nutrients, and I figured Mark seems on top of nutrients from what I've seen from past videos
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.
Nice spud harvest!! I'm just about to dig out all of mine, most planted (buried) in leaf mold. We've already had a few, and they're big as well as delicious. Thanks for the video, Mark! 👍👍
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Excellent harvest! I’m doing my first potato planting this year I’ve got 2 metre square beds with one variety each & i have 8 more varieties that I’m going to do in bags. Gonna be more spuds than I can eat and gonna have to either give some away or figure out a storage solution before the c end of summer lol
They were planted way too close together to have a good yield, I have the same issue in my community garden, people don't make the effort of preparing enough beds for all the potatoes and instead just stick them too close together in a single bed. It doesn't work. However, you are correct that burrying them is better for the yield, I did that comparison myself too.
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
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.
I put mine in pea straw about a week ago (Southern NSW) and they’re doing great! I did put some in soil in winter because I’m impatient, the frost got them, but 2 came back and have started flowering so shouldn’t be long for those, if they’re even any good 🤣
I love digging for taters! Happy planting, and cooking, everyone! The danged rats don't like raw taters oh my! That's funny ;) I have used organic potatoes from the grocery store as seed potatoes. I chitted them on a windowsill in egg cartons and planted them in resin tubs. Worked great!
They look great! I am in Northern Germany - potato country. However, we have a plague of voles this year and they nibble every potato. I tried the straw cover - was not very successful and animals uncovered some, so they were green. Next Spring I am sowing the spuds in a raised bed (with vole wire underneath, of course) and inside the soil. I find algae-lime really good (maybe it is called differently in Australia) and it can protect against potato blight. Thank you for your interesting videos.
Thank you! Luckily, we don't have voles here, but if we did, I would grow in a raised bed and use a barrier to stop them. I need to familiarise myself with algae-lime. However, these natural relationships between plants, etc., often help each other grow better, and the more we look for these signs in nature, the more we can understand how to use them in our garden. All the best :)
Potatoes are a great way to grow shrub and hedge cuttings, know of a few people that peel potatoes stick their cutting into it and then stick them into the ground
Here in South Africa we go to the garage to fill up the car and we park the car in a garage at night. I sure would enjoy a braai while setting up a birdies bed.
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
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.
The biggest difference you will find is that the above-ground potatoes will be sweeter or blah. Buried potatoes and their roots will munch on the garden soil, giving all those minerals and "dirt flavor" of the soil into the potatoes. With proper mulching, composting, manure etc. above the ground, or in the garden soil, the potatoes will grow either way. As said, my "Uncle Marvin's potatoes" are grown above ground, with only moist lawn cutting grass (and their methane gas). They are deliciously sweet, tender (not hard like soil potatoes), juicy, and you can continue to grow the plants in this continuous pile of grass clippings, providing continued heat, composting temperature, and moisture.
Have you tried burying a bin in the ground and storing your potatoes in them to keep them? I don’t know if it works but I’m guessing it’s something you will try. New sub.
2 years ago I decided to change to raised garden beds. I went to Bunnings to buy 2 of the 6 in 1 Birdies raised garden beds in the light green color. They were priced at $98 each. I bought a few other things as well. I paid at the checkout and when I got to the car I realised the total was $112. I checked the receipt and the Birdies beds were priced at $38 each. The receipt showed they were the correct item paid for. The next day I called another nearby Bunnings to ask if they had the 6in1 beds and they said they had 3 of the light green ones. I raced there and snapped them up, but first got a worker on the floor to check the code price on a portable scanner - it said $38 each - the shelf price still said $98. I've used 4 in my garden and have a spare for one of my kids. I could not find anymore of the light green beds after that and it seems Bunnings no longer carry any Birdies garden beds in store - they can only be purched as a special order now. I hope someone else got as lucky as me?
Great video, and I feel your pain with that nut grass, its such a horrible grass, but the spud must be great organic and fresh for the nut grass to "eat" it.
Huge experimental thumbs up from me. Absolutely riveted to this episode waiting to see the results. PS Will definitely be using the grudge joke in the future classic.
I'm a silly goose who grew four different varieties of potatoes this year without keeping track of what they were. I ended up getting 3+ pounds from three varieties, which is normal for me, and 9 pounds from the fourth variety. All I know is that it's a long growing white variety. Next year I'll keep better track
I think a fun experiment would be to take the initial cost of the seed potatoes you initially bought to start the original crop and divide it by the collective total harvest weight from every crop you've gotten from them just to see how close to free they are. Every subsequent harvest you can find out just how much cheaper they were this time. I know there are other input costs to it, but that complicates it terribly
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.
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.
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
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 :)
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)
We always plant potatoes in small buckets and they still thrive. It's such a grateful crop to grow.
"Every time I watch your videos, I learn something new about organic farming. I truly appreciate your hard work and dedication!
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. 🤙✌️🖖
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!
Very nice haul for how bad those spuds 🥔🥔👀looked at the beginning, and the possible neglect towards the end. I got 40lbs this year
Wow. In Minnesota here in the states. Thank you!
That’s a really nice harvest Mark. Really awesome. 👍
Nice, hope i can also get a raised bed for vegetables, i generally plant them in grow bags or big pot..
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.
Great video Mark. I'd love to see a lengthy video on your compost setup and what you do.
Thank you I’m planting potatoes today
Nice crop Mark, well done! 👍👍
I love jacket potatoes the fresh small spuds steamed and served with garlic butter are yummo
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.
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 love that you quoted the 12th Man!
Kom ons braai. Shoutout from South Africa!
Let's grill! Thank you and all the best! Cheers :)
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 :)
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!
Love the South African shout out and afrikaans play on words!
I live on the Coast it's nice to hear the storm birds again :)
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 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. 😂
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 :)
Whooohooo South Africa!
Always fun digging up spuds
Mark you're an inspiration to me and always have been. Love you brother. 🙏🙌🤙
Thank you, mate, and love back... Cheers :)
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.
I managed to Braai 4 times this weekend. There were even potatoes involved.
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.
There’s not much better than eating your own organically home grown food! 🤗👍
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
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!
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 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'm so glad you are doing the research so I don't have to. As a small homesteader, I have the space to plant for havest and have more than one space for trying something new. ❤❤❤
If you are going to use self grown potatoes as seed potatoes I would definitely advise you not to use the same bed straight afterwards.
Why?
@@tinad8561disease mainly, also potential nutrient deficiencies
why is that?
so if he used other seed potatoes of the same variety (as long as he didn't grow them himself?), it'd be ok to use the same bed?
@@justanobody0 the seed potatoes and old potatoes vines are still decomposing in the bed, which can increase the disease pressure. Also, there may be specific nutrient deficiencies specifically for the potatoes needs because he just harvested and the soil hasn’t recovered or been amended. Generally not good to grow the same crop back-to-back, regardless of variety. But for potatoes it is especially important because of the prevalence nightshade blight
@@kylenmaple4668 ahh, useful information
I wasn't thinking about disease
I only was thinking about nutrients, and I figured Mark seems on top of nutrients from what I've seen from past videos
I love my Birdies beds. I have 2 of them now
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.
Nice spud harvest!! I'm just about to dig out all of mine, most planted (buried) in leaf mold. We've already had a few, and they're big
as well as delicious. Thanks for the video, Mark! 👍👍
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.
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.
🥔👍🥔👍 nice haul!
Great Quality video. Love your work
I'm giving potatoes a try this year for the first time!
The most perfect use for those small baby potatoes would be to make a Nova Scotia Hodge Podge! My most favorite summer meal!
Buried potatoes it is! Thanks for that experiment!
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.
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.
First potato harvest this year! Not bad given the drought.
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.
Good on you Mark!! 👍💯🥔
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.
Excellent harvest!
I’m doing my first potato planting this year
I’ve got 2 metre square beds with one variety each & i have 8 more varieties that I’m going to do in bags.
Gonna be more spuds than I can eat and gonna have to either give some away or figure out a storage solution before the c end of summer lol
They were planted way too close together to have a good yield, I have the same issue in my community garden, people don't make the effort of preparing enough beds for all the potatoes and instead just stick them too close together in a single bed. It doesn't work. However, you are correct that burrying them is better for the yield, I did that comparison myself too.
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
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.
I put mine in pea straw about a week ago (Southern NSW) and they’re doing great! I did put some in soil in winter because I’m impatient, the frost got them, but 2 came back and have started flowering so shouldn’t be long for those, if they’re even any good 🤣
I love digging for taters! Happy planting, and cooking, everyone! The danged rats don't like raw taters oh my! That's funny ;)
I have used organic potatoes from the grocery store as seed potatoes. I chitted them on a windowsill in egg cartons and planted them in resin tubs. Worked great!
They look great! I am in Northern Germany - potato country. However, we have a plague of voles this year and they nibble every potato. I tried the straw cover - was not very successful and animals uncovered some, so they were green. Next Spring I am sowing the spuds in a raised bed (with vole wire underneath, of course) and inside the soil. I find algae-lime really good (maybe it is called differently in Australia) and it can protect against potato blight. Thank you for your interesting videos.
Thank you! Luckily, we don't have voles here, but if we did, I would grow in a raised bed and use a barrier to stop them. I need to familiarise myself with algae-lime. However, these natural relationships between plants, etc., often help each other grow better, and the more we look for these signs in nature, the more we can understand how to use them in our garden. All the best :)
Wonderful harvest.
Hope you're alright mate
Awesome video, thanks Mark 😊❤🙏!!!
Potatoes are a great way to grow shrub and hedge cuttings, know of a few people that peel potatoes stick their cutting into it and then stick them into the ground
We have a similar grass that’s a real pest. Called Cooch grass here in the U.K. and it’s an ongoing job to keep on top of it.
I keep hearing that people are burying them around 6 inches and having a good crop.
Thanks for experimenting 😊
Quite the difference in harvest yield especially considering the seed and final weeks
Here in South Africa we go to the garage to fill up the car and we park the car in a garage at night.
I sure would enjoy a braai while setting up a birdies bed.
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
Awesome! Please more experimental videos!
You’re awesome! Thank you!
I know they're kind of small but that's still a lot of potatoes Good eating!
Good harvest 👍
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.
The biggest difference you will find is that the above-ground potatoes will be sweeter or blah. Buried potatoes and their roots will munch on the garden soil, giving all those minerals and "dirt flavor" of the soil into the potatoes. With proper mulching, composting, manure etc. above the ground, or in the garden soil, the potatoes will grow either way. As said, my "Uncle Marvin's potatoes" are grown above ground, with only moist lawn cutting grass (and their methane gas). They are deliciously sweet, tender (not hard like soil potatoes), juicy, and you can continue to grow the plants in this continuous pile of grass clippings, providing continued heat, composting temperature, and moisture.
Interesting! Where are you gardening?
@@stephaniebalducci6248 West Coast North America ... Washington, Oregon, N California
Love myself a braai!
Well done 💪🏻
Have you tried burying a bin in the ground and storing your potatoes in them to keep them? I don’t know if it works but I’m guessing it’s something you will try. New sub.
2 years ago I decided to change to raised garden beds. I went to Bunnings to buy 2 of the 6 in 1 Birdies raised garden beds in the light green color. They were priced at $98 each. I bought a few other things as well. I paid at the checkout and when I got to the car I realised the total was $112. I checked the receipt and the Birdies beds were priced at $38 each. The receipt showed they were the correct item paid for. The next day I called another nearby Bunnings to ask if they had the 6in1 beds and they said they had 3 of the light green ones. I raced there and snapped them up, but first got a worker on the floor to check the code price on a portable scanner - it said $38 each - the shelf price still said $98. I've used 4 in my garden and have a spare for one of my kids. I could not find anymore of the light green beds after that and it seems Bunnings no longer carry any Birdies garden beds in store - they can only be purched as a special order now. I hope someone else got as lucky as me?
Great video, and I feel your pain with that nut grass, its such a horrible grass, but the spud must be great organic and fresh for the nut grass to "eat" it.
Over 50 lbs is nothing to sneeze at. that's a great harvest.
Huge experimental thumbs up from me. Absolutely riveted to this episode waiting to see the results. PS Will definitely be using the grudge joke in the future classic.
Love your videos 🎉🎉
Awesome video Mark :)
I'm a silly goose who grew four different varieties of potatoes this year without keeping track of what they were. I ended up getting 3+ pounds from three varieties, which is normal for me, and 9 pounds from the fourth variety. All I know is that it's a long growing white variety. Next year I'll keep better track
I did not know you had Nut Sedges too. You can cook and eat the nuts from them. But they are a PAIN to get rid of!
Mark: Be compost!
Banana: (casually singing Beyonce Survivor) 😆
Another great video Mark. Would love to know your recommended method of storing the potatoes to get the most out of the crop.
I miss those beds here in Sweden! :-(
I just harvested my potatos 🥔 yesterday from my pot. Just weighed them 240 grams 😂🎉🎉
10:00 Bandicoots seem to like potatoes, or at least, lurking around under the mulch in a potato bed in order to frighten the unwary potato grubber.
I always think since this is a gardening channel instead of let’s get into it you should say let’s dig into it, lol
I think a fun experiment would be to take the initial cost of the seed potatoes you initially bought to start the original crop and divide it by the collective total harvest weight from every crop you've gotten from them just to see how close to free they are. Every subsequent harvest you can find out just how much cheaper they were this time. I know there are other input costs to it, but that complicates it terribly