How to Grow Potatoes the Lazy Way (You'll Never Need to Dig Again!)
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- Опубликовано: 19 сен 2024
- This is a fantastic way to grow potatoes using minimal effort whilst both building soil and creating an abundance of tubers. There have been many fantastic questions which I answer in this video: • Growing Potatoes the L...
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The easiest way to plant potatoes is to harvest 90% of the potatoes and leave 10% in the ground. Let them overwinter. They will sprout in late spring and start growing like crazy. Just remember to dump lots of organic matter, such as fallen pine needles and tree leaves, quail manure, etc etc, onto the top of the soil during winter and spring.
THAT sounds like an interesting method too! 🙂
Rubbish
@@douglasgosney9172 You mean garbage and trash? 🤣
Leaving behind potatoes increases chance of blight.
@@AdAstraLabs Nope. Potatoes covered under well drained soil are better than potatoes in your garage. They last much longer and will sprout at the right time every year. Even if they occasionally sprout too early, they will survive eventually cause they have better roots. The potatoes in your garage will dry up and get moldy very easily.
welcome to the Ruth Stout Method.
She would pull back the previous layer of hay (she never removed any), toss the tubers down, and heap the hay back on top .
A dressing of fresh hay was layered on, some water, and that’s it.
She was quite old and couldn’t get down on the ground; her only tool was a rake
David
South Carolina
Dont forget to dry your potatoes out in the sun for a few hours before storing to increase storage life. Dont wash them before storing either as the dry dirt also helps long term storage.
Thanks for that info! I'm a 1st time potato grower. Had no idea about that!
But the potatoes they sell in the grocery stores are washed so it washing them might not be that bad.
Can you give me the scientific explanation of how dry dirt help with long term storage?
apparently it will shorten their life span if you wash them initially
@@benayakeenanhutagalung9798 ,, Without linking the science, I will tell you that the potato, as well as most plants, have a ultra thin membrane covering the sub terrain portions,,,(I forget the name of it) it protects the root from infections and damage. Washing will remove it and the potato won't last as long in storage. In my cold cellar they last from late sept to late june if not washed,,,, they are soft and sprouted by early april if washed,,, so around a month and a half difference right at the time when they are getting low.
I used a similar method in my garden. I put down 18 inches of hay, then the seed potatoes and then 6 inches more hay. By mid summer I was able to reach in the hay and gather dinner. The plants then produced more. At the end of the growing season I tilled the now decomposed hay into the rest of the garden. Always had more than enough potatoes for 5 families.
This is how my father-in-law always planted his potatoes. He got huge crops every year with easy harvesting.
Maybe because he "missed" some potatoes for next years crop?
Ruth Stout has a similar way of planting potatoes. She doesn't push the spouted potatoes into the soil, but they lay on top and then she covers them with hay. I tried this method for my first planting and it works well. Harvesting the potatoes was super easy. Pull away the hay, and the potatoes are waiting for me without any digging. In the U.S. it is difficult to find hay that has not be sprayed with chemicals. I switched to putting pine straw on top, and the potato plants starting growing in three weeks. YAY! I love potatoes!
In four years no one has reponded to your use of pine straw... repeated use of that as a mulch will likely ruin your garden. Pine needles emit an exudate which is a growth inhibitor. You won’t even find baby pine trees growing beneath the momma pine!!! I nearly killed my raspberry bed with pine straw. took years to recover.
@@garthwunsch oh my stars! I had no idea. I used pine straw on my potatoes years ago. Didn't get a good harvest at all. And that raised bed has been a problem ever since, even with serious mulching. My neighbor said not to use the pine, but never said why. Thank you for the info! 🙂
In the US check with pet stores etc as bunny owners buy hay for their bunnies
@@garthwunsch, I have noticed that also. I let it accumulate under my pine trees, no weed problem.
@@HGCUPCAKES this hay can still be infected with aminopyralids, and it will survive in the poop too. Awful stuff. Test your hay quality by wetting it down well and planting/transplanting some bean seeds into it. It they germinate and grow normally, you’re good to go. If the leaves are puckered, the hay goes to the landfill site… it’s poisoned.
I did this one year. Time to harvest, I took my pitchfork into the hay and lifted it up. There among the potatoes was A HUGE NEST OF BUMBLEBEES! I began to pray for deliverance, I can tell you. It was a hot day. I very carefully and slowly lowered the hay canopy. A couple of bumblebees flew around me, but no attack. I won't do that again. Best wishes to all.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Great video Huw :)
It may have been a good idea to talk about the ones that have green on them and how they are toxic and should not be used/eaten because of it. Also, the reason they become green ... not enough compost to keep them in complete darkness and keeping the sunlight from getting to them, hence a chemical reaction occurring.
I'm not much of a gardener, but here's an idea for your tatties. Half my life ago, when I was about your age, the father of the girl I was living with at the time used to fill a bin bag with soil, put small slits in the side, and plant his tatties in them. When he harvested them he would just slit the bag and pick them out, no need for digging them up, then rake the soil over the bed of soil, easy, I thought what a good idea.
I found a good way to keep the hay from blowing away, I live in a high wind area, blows everyday, huge gust up to 60 and even as high as 100 mph in wind storms, I take a five gallon bucket and fill it with water and grab a hand full of hay big enough to stuff the bucket inside the water, soak the hay and pull it out and throw it on the ground! It compresses the hay as it drys and makes it heavy! All my growth still pushes through! I also use hay to keep the ground wet with seeds you don't plant very deep where the ground dries out before the seeds can germinate, hay really helps with germinating seeds in shallow planting!
We used a variation of this growing method. Lay a think layer of leaves from the previous autumn that we stored in a bin. Lay the seed potatoes on the leaves and cover with a thick layer of straw. When the potatoes were ready for harvesting, simply remove the straw and the almost clean potatoes were picked by hand--no tools necessary and no damaged potatoes.
wow
Wow! Completely without soil? I’ll try this method since I have plenty of autumn leaves in the fall here in Canada. Thanks!
If the sides of your raised bed are taller or if you build it up with fencing of some kind, you can continue to add layers of straw or other mulch as the potato plants grow up. The plants will continue to grow up and put out additional roots and those roots will form additional potatoes. I once ended up with a potato tower about 3 ft tall that was filled with potatoes.
Tim Motz--Valuable info. Thanks for sharing this tip!
Tim Motz Exactly true. They grow upwards with the plant.
We always did the same thing with old tires, just keep stacking them up. When you get ready to gather your taters, just pull off one tire at a time and there they are.
This only works for indeterminate varieties.
I've never grown a potato! but his accent has a way of making me want to become a real organic gardener!:
It could be worse .You could have an Irish accent like mine :-)
Considering I'm part Irish I'd be more than happy to have the accent
@@HuwRichards - - I am not an accent specialist, but you sound like you are from the northwest portion of wales, or maybe the Netherlands to me. My all time favourite accents are either Swansea area of Wales or Northern Ireland.
This is the method Ruth Stout was a proponent of, she wrote a few books on it in the 60's (not just potatoes). A very good read, she had a cracking good sense of humour!
And...she liked to garden in the nude. Her husband would know when she was done gardening for the day when the car traffic stopped slowing down out front.
I came across a book he wrote and instantly thought.... wow. Such a young handsome involved in the most important work in the world. Blew me off. I live in America and he is an example for youth today
Oh Huw, you are such a lovely person . Follow all your good tips . Your parents must be proud of your success
+LOWE sonia Thank you so much for your kind words :)
Martenp
Dekker the
@Marten Dekker A few had a small area of green. Just peel that bit more thickly until the green is gone, then they are perfectly safe to eat.
Dad tried this when I was a kid in the 1970‘s in Surrey British Columbia. Plants grew thick and lush, but when the tops died down and we pulled back the hay mulch, he discovered that field mice had moved in under the mulch over the summer, and eaten every last potato, and not a single spud was to be found. Dad was just fit to be tied, while I did my best not to laugh at the grand experiment :-)
Oh no!!! Farming is a bigger challenge than I’d ever realized!
😂 awwww the mice’s turned it into a mouse take away 🐁😄
Having a taller raised bed might help with the mice. I construct mine from roofing sheet metal, so the beds are about 70 cm tall. The wire mesh, plus the highest grade landscapers fabric do not let any animals to get in the bed from underneath.
@@ratildahoyden9864 ... Just too bad that filling raised beds is so darn much work- unless you have heavy eqpmt. But so many of us don't.
@@ohwhatelse I don't have any equipment, I live in a suburban house with a lot less than 1/4 of an acre. The trick is to fill the raised beds with other staff than soil first - wood brush, old stumps (you can get them at your town's recycling center, if you don't have any), fallen branches, cardboard from your Amazon boxes (just take the plastic off), compost, even old wood furniture (if it's not lacquered or painted), and then add the soil just on top. The soil is very conveniently sold in bags of manageable weight in your nearby Garden Centers, and the price for it is the same as the price of loose soil sold by a truckload.
Some of them looked a little green, how well does the mulch exclude light and what's the yield like in comparison to the conventional earth covering? Maybe a compromise is to plant them a bit deeper in the normal way, but use the hay as an alternative to earthing up so that you can get more potatoes in the ground as the spacing between rows doesn't have to be so great.
That's what I thought too. I thought I'd maybe imagined the hint of green so I'm glad you mentioned it. I wouldn't want mine to look like that but digging them up is a pain. And I tend to damage more than a few with the shovel or fork.
Me to , went to comments to see if anyone else thought the same
I thought the same thing.
This is a method my father was using 50 years ago in Vermont. It works very well.
Ha I'm a relatively new subscriber but somehow The Algorithm knew to give me this exact 4-year-old video. Excellent as always!
Last season I went even further. I placed my potato straight on the lawn and covered with - my grass clippings (scooped up laid over). Next time I cut grass I filled up. And I just kept keeping them covered.
I got a wonderful harvest ❤️
Grass clippings being essentially chopped hay . I'm starting to think that wood mulch doesn't work like hay works . Different microbes are associated with each and looks like summer warmth isn't a wise choice either if using wood mulch .
I compost all of my clippings and might have to try this.
@@apersonontheinternet8006yes why make it hard when not needed... Nature provides 🙏
Thank you! It does inspire me!! I’ve never seen them grown so labor free! I’ll definitely continue following you as well. And you are very handsome! :)
I yanked weeds from my backyard "lawn" (Has a lot of stuff growing in it- henbit, dandelions, wild garlic- all edible so I'm not worried about weeding if they take root in bed), and used that as mulch to cover lettuce and spinach. Gone days without watering, the plants still grow insanely faster and greener than with lots of water and no mulch. Took weeks in this warm Georgia winter to get them to have leaves even 1 cm across, now in 2 days they're several times as big. Nitrogen-fixing sorrel, and edible henbit and wild garlic are growing alongside the spinach and lettuce now, and everything is growing much better. Mulch is amazing stuff- you don't even have to buy it. Companion planting is sweet as well.
Companion planting is wonderful!
A great method we used last year. I cannot dig and this was perfect. Not wishing to buy mulch, I looked around and saw oak leaves everywhere. They worked perfectly. These back yard potatoes did better than the conventionally-grown ones in the front.
I bought some potatoes. Forgot about them in the pantry. A couple weeks later they were growing. Planted one and now I have a massive potato plant.
I did it the same way, though I used oak leaves. Potatoes love the acid in the leaves.
Do you think its possible to do it with pine needles?
@@lefkisavvidou1935 I think so, but the oak leaves, I'm thinking, hold more water in. The biggest potatoes I raised this way were raised during a draught.
i love a good baked potato. it is the food of my people.
I saw a lot of small potatoes that were green, and green potatoes aren't edible. Potatoes need to be planted much deeper to protect the new tubers from light.
Great video. Like the way you turn on and off the rain. 👍
I've just planted my first potatoes in woodchips (year old). People were talking about mice threat but so far I noticed only blackbird threat (digging through my beds looking for worms). The woodchips layer is some 15cm thick so I hope it will provide good cover and potatoes will be able to get through it. I've also noticed that even without giving it any water the woodchips bed is moist inside.
Potatoes are high in minerals vitamins everything. And very cheap. Can be used for breakfast lunch dinner. Takes up alot of room in your stomaich. A potatoes can take up 1/3 of your, lunch. Plus tomatoes 1/3. Leaving with a few slices of Turkey. And except for the slices of turkey. You have basically a free lunch. And half your break fast. Half your break fast next day. Not to mention potatoes is well accepted by your liver.
ray bon never?.
Just found your channel and subscribed :) This made me excited for the upcoming growing season. I noticed some below mentioned some green on the potatoes - we have tried and loved this method before and the secret is, to keep adding additional amounts of straw during the growing process because some straw will ultimately break down or blow around uncovering the potatoes. Adding more straw at the start and less as the growing season went along was easy and did not use much additional straw - it was just a matter of keeping your eye on the bed. Looking forward to checking out your other videos.
Huw, Just started following your videos...Well done. great information, quality and depth...We did a similar thing last year but we piled our potatoes with leaves...We did it in a bed we planned on growing in with squashes this year and it worked nicely, gave our leaves a time and place to compost where they could serve double duty growing potatoes for us, and left us with rich nice soil for this year, plus...Free!
We did something like this last year. Although we used our grass clippings and potatoe peels. We got an amazing return. We planting even more this year. :)
Nicely done with the rain-noise sample, made me smile
Yep, this works. This is how I grow my potatoes and we get big harvests of big potatoes. I don't use the frames though, just put it on the ground. Afterwards we mow the straw and add it as a soil amendment. Really helps the garden. Don't have to water too frequently either. If you have never had a home grown potato, they are excellent, similar to the quality of a homegrown tomato.
Excellent video-- thanks for sharing! One question, some of those potatoes look a bit green, which from my experience means that there was too much sunlight hitting them, and making them potentially poisonous. I was taught to bury them deep enough (e.g. about 6") and then cover with hay or mulch, so that light doesn't get to them. Is that the case, or is it just the type of potato?
Nice, looks so easy and I think I will give it a go. Thank you!
I have found that if I use hay, the seeds of the grass will sprout - I have switched to straw. I can get volunteer oats, but they are easy to pull and the stock love the oat bouquet !
Really noted that you love planting.All your videos are full of your knowledge. Thanks for sharing this material with us, it's like gold.
Also known as:
the “Ruth Stout Method”.
Farmers have been “repeating” Huw’s (Ruth’s) experiment decades before Huw was even born. 😂👍👍👍
And this is how it gets passed on to new farmers nowadays. :)
I was waiting for.him to.credit.her but he didn't. 😔
@@CapedCrusader77 he might have never actually heard of her tbf to him.
I'm surprised this method isn't common knowledge by now. I don't know how long people have been doing it this way, but it was the most common method used in my neck of the woods in the U.S. back in the 1960s and is still very common today. Some farmers even did entire fields of potatoes this way.
QE ornotQE and as we gain the knowledge the selfish baby boomers say I could have showed you that. but were silent when being asked the questions.
I can only speak for myself, but I've done a lot of teaching. It used to be a parent, or a neighbor, that passed this kind of stuff along to the younger generation, but no one's interested in it anymore. I grew up in the country where every family had a garden, a milk cow, and chickens, or traded with a neighbor that did. Now, everyone shops at Walmart for produce, milk, and meat, and knowledge like this is apparently being forgotten.
There are people interested and a lot of young gardeners baby boomers caused a disconnect saying no ones interested probably means you are part of the disconnect
I misspoke. I should have said that too many Baby Boomers, who grew up in rural areas, and knew this stuff, weren't interested, myself included. I came back to it after a few years, but most never went back. So, there was no one to teach the next generation. Luckily, we have the internet for those interested, and many are finally coming back to a better, healthy, wholesome way of life.
When you look at Baby Boomers, you are looking at the first generation of ignorance raised by "The Greatest Generation" the policy setters and voters of post WWII USA who brought about and voted this ignorance.They, in turn, had been influenced by the WWI generation. The socialist/One World Government has been busy in the USA since the late 1800's/ early 1900's. This agenda has been actively destroying this great nation. The Baby Boomers were only 'most ignorant generation first generation'. And we where unaware of the destructive results of where our votes where directing the nation. What is your generation going to do to correct this mistake? It permeates our society from planting spuds to running a republican government.
Love the organized and succinct way you present this information, good job to the script writer and presenter.
My Grandmother & Great Grandmother used old tires stacked on top of each other along the back fence of their yard . They lived in town & had to paint the outside of them to keep city code enforcement off of their backs. Living in town & having a sm yard they were very resourceful. They had a compost pile that was yard clippings & leaves & they used that in the tire stack to grow their potatoes . I remember them doing this when I was in my early20s & that was over 40 yrs ago.
On 3:08 some potators are green from the sun. I used leaves for the same method and I do not deep potatos into soil. I just place potators on soil and cover them with oak leaves and other garden waste. Chesapeake, VA, USA
We plant our potatoes in nothing but 1 foot of leaf and grass mulch and have a phenomenal harvest at all times. We also leave them in the soil at all times.
Clark
So if I’m reading correctly, you only harvest what you will use and leave the rest? How long can it be left in the ground before they go bad?
I bought organic potatoes from store an they had seeded so I put in ground an now grow 3 toc 4in now
Put in soft soil
Please explain what you mean by "We also leave them in the soil at all times.".
Many of us want to know the precise details ! !! !!!
I use only thick grass mulch while growing, and only dig them as I need them. As long as they stay under the mulch, most of them hold just fine. Some near the surface will rot, some will get eaten into. But we eat potatoes all summer. After frost I dig the rest and hold them in my garage for seed potatoes. My attached garage gets cold but does not freeze. In the spring, trim the sprouts (don't snap them off), cut them down to two eyes or so, and plant
I guess I should start making some planting boxes eh?
been wanting to do something like this for awhile
I am inspired.
thank you.
this video has definitely inspired me to go grow some potatoes thank you so much for sharing such great information
you can use grass clippings as well.. if they are wet they will form a thick weed suppressing and bird preventing mat as they dry but don't worry the potatoes sprouts can still push through.
No questions, just a Thank You!
thank you Huw.
I have a ground level wood plank bed just like the one you show and it has cooch grass through it (Im in Australia) which I cannot remove due to disability and the position and strain needed to do so...
im going to try this combination of the Spuds plus mulch and see if it inhibits the grasses that are present and gets the bed back towards feasible
You've got a better chance of success if you put a couple of layers of cardboard down first. Cut holes to plant the potatoes, then put the mulch on top. Couch grass will easily get through hay/straw alone. I would add a bit more mulch after a few weeks, as well, just to make sure no light gets to the potatoes as the initial layer rots. Nobody wants green potatoes.
One published concern with using straw or hay is; did the farmer use weed killer on his fields? If so, it is said the herbicide can be carried over in the harvest hay which in turn placed the weed killer in your garden, killing your plants. So be careful using "store bought" hay/straw. Try to source your bale from farmers who do not use herbicides in their fields.
Steven L. Cranford Very true, we're lucky to use our own hay which is 100% natural but hopefully people can source it from organic sources otherwise, and if an investment is needed then it's worth it to an extent :)
Donald Trump body armor
Steven L. Cranford the cattle ranches I've worked on grow hay for the sole purpose of feeding the cows and always grow extra. We never use chemicals of any kind, just plenty of water and 3 different types of seeds. We didn't mind giving away a couple of bales for a good purpose such as a garden.
Huh? What does that mean? Really want to know without bias.
@@HuwRichards p
Oh my gosh are you ADORABLE!
I have a new found interest in growing a garden!
I hope you have more videos, ....I love the type you can grow on a patio.
Companion plan your potatoes (and other root crops as well) with the Mexican marigold plant of the Tagates minuta variety to protect them from potato blight that caused the Irish potato famine. The second variety of Mexican marigold is of the Tagates erecta variety whose flower heads can be boiled and steeped in hot water to produce an antibiotic by drinking the water and using the water as some kind of topical wet ointment.
Can I use dried grass clippings as a cover instead of straw?
Hi
I've had zero success with growing potatoes. I will try it your way and hope that it works, as I'm still relatively a new gardener. Thanks for the video!
So are you a potato pro now
@@cthulhufhtagn7520 I follow someone on Instagram with your name well the first anyway. Lol is it you🤔
@@off-gridsimplyhappyrodriguez Cthulhu is a ridiculously popular character numb nuts
@@cthulhufhtagn7520 your followers say otherwise
@@cthulhufhtagn7520 I was joking (unt
This is great! It's my first time seeing your channel and I'm grateful I found it! :D
I dig them little deeper and cover with wood chips. Next year I will try to use your method.
Using woodchips sounds interesting, I might have to try that!
Thank you for sharing the profits of your hard work and the results of your experiment.
Oi! Greets from funland. One thing about this technique. Light gets thru the mulch and hay onto the growing potatoes. This you can tell by their green colour. This is an indication that they contain the harmfull stuff , lyco something its called. Long term use causes arthritis amongst other things. Poison it is. That why green potatoes are useful as seedpotatoes.
Second thing ; long term storage temps should be max sevenish degs centigrade. Too warm and theyll sprout. Here in finland we harwest around october and usually eat the last kept ones around summer solstice, thats some 8 moons worth of times in the rootcellar.
Happy growing and remember theres no such thing as a free lunch😊
nice vid. I prefer to keep layering my mulch over the sprouts that come up. Increases yeild, reduces the number of geeen 'taters.
For real?
I noticed a lot of green potatoes at the start just when he pulled the straw away it,s a good way to poison yourself.🤣
For sake of efficiency one can actually plant portions of the potatoe (1/4's) and it should be buried under soil or mulch like shown...works just as well with less cost into it...thank you great vid!
works in almost any moisture rich soils!0
Each piece must include one eye.
Nick Dana Thank you for the hint. So do you start with seed potatoes, or can you make your own from reaped souds?
Nick Dana old McDonaldld
I grow in shopping bags inside buckets now. One year I experimented with store bought spuds, layering the soil from top to bottom with only the chits and peels. I actually got (small) potatoes!
Many thanks for taking the time to post these videos, they are really encouraging when there are so many demands on time. I am wondering how often you have to rotate with this technique or if the hay puts enough nutrient back to replant in the same place?
I have done something similar using lawn clippings. I simply emptied the bag right into the garden . Also have put the clippings as mulch between rows of different vegetables.
Wow, it's not lazy just a very economical way to eat dinner at a reasonable time.
This the most handsome young man I have seen who loves farming. Keep it up and more question I'll be asking about farming. Thank you
You havent seen me yet ;-)
@@humblewarrior6585 hahaha
Okay
opening video I see green / solanin on the potatoes being dug up - they were somehow exposed to too much light.
Yup...saw that right away, too. They should have either had a heavier application of mulch to begin with, had a second, additional, layer added after the first started compacting & decomposing or had a layer of dirt tossed over top of the mulching...basically, anything that would have kept the potatoes from being exposed to the light.
How do you turn off the rain noise??? That's amazing!
finally!! been searching for a good Ruth Stout potato planting explanation. Thanks!!!!
This method was developed by Ruth Stout decades ago. She used a thicker layer of straw and sometimes leaves for potatoes. She also grew seeds this way.
Teach me your trick to stop it raining! LOL Here in Florida, it’s pouring so much right now.
Hello! Great video! 😊 Thanks for sharing!!
Could you tell me how to know when the potatoes are ready to be collected? What happens to the plant?
I just cut up the plant, leaves, flowers & compost the lot although don't be surprised to find odd potatoes turning up in your compost bins!
That is so easy Huw. I grow veg in raised beds so will definitely try this method next year. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Mary I'm glad you enjoyed it!
🤗 am not even a gardener but love your enthusiasm
Love his accent and the way he speaks.
So potatoes aren't grown on couches? Interesting.
That's a lie. Have seen many in my life. It is just about creating the right environment and providing the proper nutrients. Bring in a TV, chips and beer and you'll get taters on that couch the size of elephants
Da Bum Tiss
If potatoes don't grow on couches that means that lazy sack of potatoes I work with must be a lazy sack of something else. ?
Candi Soda lol
Shit...!
Too much light getting in. The green is chlorophyll and a good indicator that the potato has high levels of glycoalkaloids which have no colour. Even if you get rid of the greening by peeling, they still contain the toxins which can cause upset stomachs as already mentioned. Not for me, I'll stick to another lazy method - tub growing in compost - easy to feed - fewer pests - cleaner spuds - higher yields - good storage simply by cutting off the haulms once ready. Start first early spuds this way in a greenhouse in February, earthing them up with more compost as they grow and then move them outside when the weather gets warmer. You will be sampling the most delicious golden nuggets in early June = yummy.
yes, that's the first thing I thought when I saw those green potatoes - they're already bad, they needed more mulch. unfortunately people that have no idea what they're doing are trying to make it on youtube
So, you put a good potato in the compost? Would the other potatoes that grow from the green potato be ok?
Stellar explanation. Only one thing you missed that makes this simpler for people to look up if they are interested in learning more: "Solanine poisoning", that's the toxic alkaloid you're talking about. The alkaloid itself is colourless, the green is chlorophyll, right, but the two are synonymous with each other on potatoes (and that's what was so stellar about your perfect explanation).
You ain't supposed to eat raw green potatoes. Green potatoes cooked boiled fried are perfectly fine. Our native king parrots happily eat even raw green potatoes but i don't think even goats will eat raw green potatoes.
@@michaelcorbidge7914No they aren't fine. That does not remove the Solanine (Glycoalkaloid) poison. If the greening is mild and only skin deep, sure, I've eaten them without issue, just peel it off and you're "typically" fine, to a point. But not deep green or bad, no, that is untrue and science is more legit than your "opinion" and it has poisoned people. It is more of an issue however for the Solanine sensitive, as some people are. For people who are, any green on a potato is a bad thing. A person who is not however, can tolerate about 5 grams of the stuff in a day and not get sick.
Green potatoes have put people in hospital and the gas from it killed an entire family in Russia, after each one went into the basement to fetch the other and never came back. They had stored potatoes down there and they rotted. The Solanine gas killed all but her the daughter, because when her mother went down there last, she left the door open which allowed the gas to dissipate and the 8 year old was the only one who survived. Some of the most famous poisons are alkaloids.
Potatoes are part of the nightshade family Solanaceae and the most famous poison of those, is deadly nightshade or Belladonna. Solanine poisoning is primarily displayed by gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, burning of the throat, cardiac dysrhythmia, nightmares, headache, dizziness, itching, eczema, thyroid problems, and inflammation and pain in the joints. The most common of these being joint pain even without the potatoes being green. Those who are sensitive to Solanine, can have joint pain just from eating potatoes. This is all easily confirmable well known science, not an opinion.
That is the sexiest farmer I've ever seen. I could listen to him talk about potatoes all night.
Ditto
I don’t have a farm, I do have a crush on this potato boy so I will continue to watch these videos
Does the hay lose seed and try to grow? Is it better than using straw?
🤜 Yay! IT WORKS.... just been out to check, 4 up so far, through the straw. Potatoes planted 29th March.
Snap your fingers again!!! PLEASE!!! We need the rain! Lol! Thank you so much for this video! This is so helpful!!!
Hahaha I wish I could send it all to you! I'm so glad you found it helpful!! :)
We dont want any more rain here in scotland sick of it
@@jeanettereynolds3151 😂☔️💦💧 yes it’s been raining here in Cornwall too for almost a year none stop . Last few weeks we actually had some sun yaaaaay 😃
I noticed that when you uncovered the potatoes, some looked green (I'm not sure if that was true of if it's the color coming across on my computer). Were some green due to the shallow planting and the light coming through the straw? I'm really interested in doing this, but I discard green potatoes. Thank you!
Yes you're right, it's the light, I would have put a top layer of soil before the hay to stop that
@@sophiechandler955 Or just add more straw. Check out Ruth Stout method.
Discard? Those are next year’s seed potatoes!!
when you were first digging up the potatoes I noticed some were a little green. Should you just leaves those in, will the green go away?
The greenish potatoes are meant to be poisonous and should be left alone
Bin
They went green because the hay layer where they were wasn't quite thick enough and some light got through. The green bit can contain solanine may cause headaches and nausea, but usually the green is only in a very thin layer at the skin level and so long as this is all cut away, the rest of the potato is fine to eat. If you keep harvested potatoes in the light, they will also go green, but on the other hand if you keep your slightly green homegrown potatoes in the dark, they won't get any worse. They should be put into the group of 'eat first' potatoes along with any damaged ones, just so you remember to cut the green away.
After my mum died, dad never seemed to notice the green bits when he was peeling potatoes and he lived until he was 94 so they're not 'that' poisonous, in small quantities. You certainly don't need to bin the whole potato just because a small patch on one side is green.
@@laceandbits Thanks for the reply Jacquie. :)
From Dallas TX, USA thanks for the Video I love it will definitely try this method.
Container gardening. Put containers on top of anything, pallets chairs or put some 'feet' under the container. I'm going to glue then tie 3 wine corks together then put a screw from the inside bottom of the container into the cork bundles and then I've got legs under the container ( or use pieces of board that is even, or whatever you can think of to make legs, that way other plant or tree roots won't get in, pests can't climb on plastic or metal.AND you can move them easily in case the spot you put them in doesn't work for them ie too much sun, shade, etc. My containers are small and colorful - Dollar Store. You can plant flowers in them too to help ward off insects that like certain plants, attract hummingbirds, and you place them in a pattern if you want to make your garden look different. Easy on your back and convenient to take care of.
at the end of the 12-14 weeks do you cut the stalks off and how long do you wait to get the first harvest. hi
first, if possible, cut off all flowers while potatoes are growing so the energy goes into the plant and potatoes, not the flower seeds.Usually at the end,the plant starts to wilt and die naturally. just leave the stalks.pull them up and compost, then gather up the potatoes.do not wash.leave in sun for a couple days to dry up, harden skin.store with the bit of dirt on them.
I’m going to plant a small potato patch and see if I can harvest more than my husband. He does it the hard way.
Should use straw not Hay. Hay has millions of grass seed in it. You will end up weeding that bed for the rest of your life.
Alexa Burnette true story !
Alexa Burnette actually the grass seeds don't germinate deep inside the hay because of the overlying mulch. there's more nutrient in hay vs straw, and Ruth Stout used pretty much only hay for decades.
pen mightygun That's because your composting them. it gets hot and kills the seeds. if you don't use a thick layer the seeds will sprout. if not the first year than later. grass is the most invasive plant alive. it will spread it's seeds. I have done hay bale garden's and after the season I put them in my composted. the seeds sprout and grow of I don't turn it often. look it up there have been studies done on grass seed. it will sprout in the vacume of space. you think your garden is safe?
Another example, see what happens if you seed a lawn, and then cover it with mulch. You're not going to see a lawn ever.
Graham Chiu Graham Chiu I have been gardening for years as I'm sure you have to. there is always a top layer of hay mulch, correct? that top layer will sprout. So will the outer edges.Unless you continue to put layer on layer over it. I have used it and it has happened to me. I am still battleing the grass. Maybe it has to do with the growing zones? Environement? What kind of hay is used as there are many different kinds. Some have alot of weed seeds in them. So don't tell me it doesn't happen just because it's never happened to you. That is very closed minded.
A man with a mind and a method is really cool, I love you for that.
Snaps fingers and the rain stops n starts 👍🏻😂😂😂😂😂😂
Who thought Huw would make growing spuds 🥔 fun.
Brilliant
This was more information in one video about potatoes, than ten videos I have watched on the subject. thank you so much. btw, you are extremely cute. : ) subscribed
Dude, tires. Once you see them growing up, put a tire and straw on top. Just keep repeating. Once you get a tower about 6 tires high, just knock it over. It'll be full of potatoes.
Nathaniel Jernigan That's true! My neighbour did it for me (Still does! But what the heck - she's 83 and it keeps her busy and her arthritis in check!)
I worry about chemicals from the tires leaching into the soil though.
Wendy R--I was thinking the same thing. Not to mention, a bunch of old stacked tires making for an ugly garden, lol.
Great idea if you have old tires laying about
Breeding ground for spiders, and risk of injury if you live in a place like Australia lol (as I do)
I did it this way 2 yrs. The first year I had Yukon Golds that were like small loaves of bread. The 2nd year we had mice !!!
Mice hate mint. But keep it in a pot. Invasive
This year I built a two foot tall corrugated tin circular enclosure for my potatoes. Added a layer of leaves, potatoes, and a bit of soil. Will add more leaves or compost as they grow. After harvest I'll fill the bed with compost and plant some of my fall vegetables in it. Note on the video beds are likely around six feet across. To wide to work the middle without compressing the soil there so I would avoid beds over four feet wide. Most of my beds are three by six foot corrugated metal and one of them planted in lettuce produced more than my family could eat this winter.
"Especially after you've put in the Hard Work" after the lazy way of growing potatos :) thank you! This great!
This is called the Ruth Stout method of gardening!
1940s
Ji;hhhhbbbbb99999999oooo
what about mice? Is that problem? Are there some other pests find good environment in this mulch?
Great video Huw!
Thank you very much Jordan, I look forward to your next one!
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Dude well done on editing the rain sound in when you clicked your finger.. thank you for the brilliant advice
I will give this method a go. We planted the seed potatoes in pots like some people, and while they started off well given the watering and feeding, they didn’t grow very high, and the leaves soon went brown. On checking the pots, the potatoes were still very small, but still edible. Not sure what went wrong. The weather was fine, apart from a few stormy days.