Potatoes are my favorite crop. Before I found this method of gardening about 4 or 5 years ago I hated my garden by June, every year. The amount of physical work involved for this single, old lady, wasn't worth it. Then, ta da, hay! I mowed, covered the area in a foot tall mound, walked away and watched nature work! It's just that simple and exactly as described! Thanks for the video
I'm about to start ~1008 sq ft of new garden space doing this with winter potatoes and hay. Rewatching this video to mentally prepare lol. Wish me luck!
@@Rivenrock Hey, it is! I'm pulling up a plant or two every morning. I'd say about 35 to 40% of the potatoes survived through winter, and the ground where I put them has improved significantly--especially for that being the only amendment. I think it's a good way to start a bed in the fall, but the potatoes don't come up early in the spring bc the hay keeps the ground cooler and reflects more sun. I saved seed potatoes over winter too though and planted in any patchy areas to sure up the beds that had poor sprouting.
Amazing! I’ve seen videos of the Ruth stout method, but yours was the best for showing how to do it and the comparison between the Ruth Stout bed and the surrounding weeds. You do a lot to help new and old gardeners!
Today I watched a video in which she told about her gardening and her life. She was a absolutly stunnig and wise woman. I love her humor. She grow all of her vegetables with her method. Will try it in my garden with hay and straw this year. I'm beginning the garden and this seems a good method for me because I don't have much time.
Fantastic Video!!!!! Love, Love, love your potato garden!!!!! This method iWorks like magic!!!!Wish I had a garden space . Thank You !!!!!💖💖💖💖💖💖🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Those small marble taters are great for breakfast , boiled a few minutes then fry with onions ,sprinkle with herbs and pepper just before serving , sooooo much better than the biggies.
You said it MrDynamitd! I did recently learn to take those little taters and press em down, you know, squash em till they're as thick or thin as you'd like, and fry em up in a skillet...they get so light and crispy all around the edges and go great with a hearty breakfast or a sidedish at suppertime...we call em Smashed P'taters! Yum!
I’ve loved planting out potatoes this past summer in Australia. The taste is so much better than store bought ones which are cold stored for months before hitting the supermarkets. The nutritional value must be greater too! I might try this method next.
When I lived in Colorado's Wet Mountains (grossly misnamed - the north end where we were was VERY dry!) I tried a RS garden with the only mulch I had - lots of pine needles, raked from under our ponderosa pines. I laid my seed potatoes on the ground, heaped them with a mix of pine needles and aged horse/cow/goat manure, and let 'em go. That fall, I just rolled back the pine needles and stuff, and there lay my crop of taters! Some had burrowed down into the softened soil and required a little digging, but the top 4-6 inches instead of the former foot or more - a LOT better!
So many people believe that pine needles will not work as a mulch! The science suggests that it works fine - so it's great to hear of people using it and having success!
Thank you for the Great videos! I live near Thunder Bay in zone 3a (frost ‘til the the first week of June and frost in early September). I found the Ruth Stout video first and thought that method would not work for me here, because of the shorter seasons and colder nights. But in a previous video you state that you also have frosts in May and September. I will try potatoes this way. I have a regular garden that I have worked for 15 years. We have hard clay soil and last year I tried to till a new area and gave up. I have both horses and hay, so the cost for me to experiment is a few seed potatoes. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I am amazed by the change in your soil in just one season and I am excite to see if I get similar results. Thank you again. I look forward to watching more of your videos!
We have frost here as late as early June! As I've said lots of time - the zone only tells you how cold it gets in winter - it has nothing to do with length of growing season - or even how hot it gets in summer. Toronto is zone 5 - yet has a much hotter summer than here - for instance. Anyway - think you'll be happy with your potatoes - thanks for watching :)
If what you're doing can be done without manure, I'd love to see the idea spread everywhere. Manure is hard for some folks to get (especially in urban areas), but lawns are all over the place. People go hungry or eat cheap processed junk everywhere. If a garden plot can be prepared that easily, that lazily, and produce food while it's working, that might help the idea of the Victory Garden catch on again.
Well, I can say from direct experience, if you just pile hay a foot high, it will kill the grass for sure. Another trick is to cut the sod out and turn it upside down - instant garden!! That's much more work but more immediate results.
If I remember correctly, the potting soil I had lying around and used for for my sub-optimal, just don't care variation has a lot of wood fines in it. Good for organic material, not so good for nitrogen, but at least it won't stink up the place. If it can be made to work that way with some kind of inoffensive nitrogen supplement, that could show more practicality for doing it cheap/free with waste, in urban areas where you might have issues with the neighbors or homeowners' association. May be doable with, for example, a bag of shredded office paper and a bucket of used coffee grounds from the same building or a local coffee shop, or clippings from the lawn which the plot will be replacing a section of.
I discovered Ruth Stout last year. I live in a very difficult climate for gardening, high desert, hot days cold nights two weeks of summer, no rain, no water in the ground.Anyway, green alfalfa works just as well as old hay, here particularly because we are such a dry climate, so the top layer dries quickly, and the bottom layer starts cooking. IT was like night and day. It actually smells like manure when it's breaking down. I'm sold. Don't be tentative with the hay. I applied it three times, the first time, then again in late summer, and at end of summer, just laid out flakes on top of everything after planting garlic. I'm sold.
Yes, I've found the same thing - the hay needs to be reapplied. Good to hear confirmation that it works in arid places! I talk to so many people that will not even try. The first time I heard about this approach (actually through the back to eden film) I immediately changed my whole garden over. Like you, I've not looked back. Strange, I get a lot of people asking about mice and ants. I have them, but they're not a problem. Do you have them - also, do you have poisonous snakes? Is it a problem in your RS garden?
Maritime Gardening I had nothing but pluses. I have a dog and a cat. Everything grew great. People are afraid of all sorts of things, particularly bugs and weeds. I had no invasions once I used the hay. My tomato plants were consistent green from top to bottom.
Maritime Gardening Don't be afraid of it. Add lots! No weeds, fertilizer, moisture held in. No extra fetilizer is necessary. I do compost my kitchen scraps and chop and drop garden waste. But the alfalfa fed the garden. It's phenomenol.
I will try this with fall leaves as I have no straw. Plus I have tons of leaves that I have collected from around town. Another plus is that I will not have to spend so much time on it. I think my daughter will like the "lazy" method. I am trying to get her into gardening but she doesn't like putting in the work. I won't stop trying though. I love your videos. You do my kind of gardening.
Hello from Mobile, Alabama USA. This is my first visit and I enjoyed your video and I found it interesting and educational. I liked, subscribed and hit the bell, so I look forward to additional videos. Good growing.
You should check out strawbale gardening. I live in bed rock in southcentral MO. Nature's raised bed, if you will. I grow my potatoes in mulched straw (from broken down straw bales) in tires. My granddaughters had a blast harvesting potatoes last fall. I hope to do some videos with the beginning of this growing season. Happy Gardening!
I live in the Arkansas Ozarks. I have 14 acres and only two tillable acres. and 3 acres are rocky pasture the rest is limestone. only grows cedar trees. You could put a rock quarry here.
@@thecollectoronthecorner7061 No kiddig. This will be my first year not using strawbales. We are switching to raised beds this year. Now if the rain would just let up so we can get stuff in the ground!
One foot when you plant then another foot under the leaves midway through the growing season. Also something in the paths would help keep the weeds under control.
You got a good harvest for very little work. Never eat green potatoes they will eventually cause you to not be able to absorb your minerals, but, as you said can be used as a seed potatoe. Thanks for this video.
So sorry to come off as preachy. Just trying to keep mother earth happy. You are right, I am new to your channel, but that's just a one day issue. I have subscribed. Will look for you again. Ps. Ruth often laid out 16 to 24 inches of hay she would fluff off the bales for winter coverage. The rain and snow would beat it down during the winter. Loved her. .
I planted potatoes like that only I just laid them in rows on the heavy grass. I covered with about 10inches of straw and the plants did wonderful. It’s nearly time to start looking for potatoes. I’m not peeking. I bet it’s a good crop. I used all kinds of potatoes including a couple bags from the grocery store. Next year I’m going nuts with this back yard technique.
Thank you for the video. I have grown in a pot but, like this idea better. In response to those who are getting snarky: I remember the old adage please, please. “If, you have nothing nice to say- don’t say anything at all”.
Our ground is so hard that we had to use a pick ax to dig a hole to plant a tree. I've been working on my garden going on 8 years now but I alway tilled. This year ,thanks to you I am changing my way of gardening. With any luck,if I can get the manure and hay I will have a better garden and expect it to be much easier to take care of than in years past. The garden usually started out good but when it got hot the garden became so stressed from lack of moisture. Watering only helped temporally. I think you gave me the answer to my problem. Thanks so much.
I think I'm going to try your way of planting potatoes sir...It was hard to believe how much you harvested from a small space and no digging...great idea and thank you for sharing with us...looking forward to seeing more of your videos..happy gardening and God bless..
I’ve always canned my baby potatoes. They are amazing in chili and soup and fried or smushed 😂 I’ve never heard of Ruth Stout and everyone it’s talking about her methods this year like the cattle panel planting last year.
moved last year, my whole new garden is this, this year might be a little lame, but I am hoping that its an excellent start to a long enjoyed garden. Thanks for showing the after!
Thanks for the video I was up in the air on the method I would use for growing potatoes. This method seems to yeild more than others I've seen and much easier than the build your soil method. Happy Growing!
I'm growing my first no dig potaoes this summer! I keep the hay thick on top and so far they are growing nice plants. My spot had goat manure and then I wintered my chickens on the area. So hoping I get a few potatoes out of it..
I am planning to double the size of my garden next year, and will try no-till. Would like to put in fruit trees and perennial berries, etc. Plan to lay down contractor's paper, then grass clippings (of which I have an abundance) and hopefully I can get a truck load of manure. I have a load of chips and have been hot composting them with grass clippings, so I'll spread a layer of that down too. But then I think I'll top it off with chips since it seems I can get them for free. I expect to pull that all back to actually plant (well at least pull back the chips layers.
After watching a few of your videos, I had decided you are the type of person I'd like to live next door to. Then you played that little piece by Leon Redbone. Now I really have to move to Nova Scotia! I've been gardening in the same SE Michigan location for 17 years, but I've been a Redbone fan since the 70s! :) Haven't grown potatoes in a while but you've inspired me to try again in 2018. First time I grew potatoes I had one that looked like Mickey Mouse. My photo icon shows it sitting in a bowl of soy beans.
Plant daicon radishes there, depending on climate you could seed right after the potato harvest and let them over winter, or plant in the spring. They store left over nutrients so you don't loose them, and drill down through the compaction later to loosen that hard clay for you. They can be eaten, be fed to livestock, or you could cut their leaves before next planting and let them compost in place to fertilize the next crop.
Maritime Gardening No, bu I'll check that out. I have grown potatoes this way, and cover crops is one improvement I'm adding this year. I'm also interplanting pole beans with the potatos this spring.
love all your videos, would like to see you start a new bed with suflowers. They say that they have a massive root ball that with help to break up soil, just cut Above ground and leave roots and stub. can plant around stub other plants. maybe first planting use sun flowers an pole beans or some other climbing crop. love the bread and other videos also.
Greetings from New Hampshire! Great job with Ruth Stout's method. I had her No Work book in the 70s. What zone are you? Back in the mid 70s, I bought a small farm stead in Anagance, NB. Really beautiful on the ridge!
Try cutting them into eye sprouts and giving them time to dry off you can at least triple your input output ratio. You can cut each potato into at least 4 pieces that will all grow a potato plant
Yes this is the way, we did this in Canada when I was a kid, as long as each chunk had an eye sprouting it was a the start. We did let let the, dry a day, just cut them and tossed them into a deep hole.
Just discovered your channel and subscribed. I garden on Campobello Island and hay is a scarce commodity here a few people have horses so I plan to ask if they have any spoiled hay this spring I would love to try this. I've been told that the critter that eats the potatoes under ground is a vole not a mole but like you I don't care what they call the miserable thing, unfortunately I have lots of them. Really enjoyed your video.
I am using the method this year, I covered my about 12" of hay. I found with all the rain we got that it matted the hay down to much and was preventing the sprouts to come through.. I had to pull the hay back to the side, let the sprouts grow, then tuck hay to the sides of the plants and in between. This is working out good so far.
Glad I saw your comment because this is my first year so in the fall we put a foot of straw down. I went to plant some potatoes and also noticed how heavy and matted down it was. I went with my "horse sense" and moved hay down to dirt, disturbed it a bit, put potato down and then just lightly covered with straw. Hope I did okay!!!
dry them out, put them in a brown paper bag or cardboard box, then keep them somewhere cool but not freezing (5 -8 celcius) for the winter. Start peeking in on them in late March. Just before the eyes start to grow (late march early april) out them on a sunny window sill until planting time (keeps the eyes from growing too long and gives you better potatoes.
@@barbaradumler6503 You dan't have tro wait for your 1st frost, thats more of a deadline than a start date. They should last, but will start growing eyes eventually - usually in late march/early april.
Wow great haul of potatoes! What can you use instead of hay? I can't get it easily. I have some wood chips, cardboard boxes and cedar mulch. I can get soil, manure etc from a garden center. What is a good substitute for hay? How should I layer it with what I have?
Leaves & grass clippings are a good cheap substitute. You probably can't get horse manure from a garden center, soil mix the garden soil with cow/sheep manure at a ratio of 3(soil) to 1(manure). As a general rule, use anything that is biodegradable that the potatoes can find their way through.
i seen some ppl up in Alaska do this also BUT they added more hay then leaves when the hay ran out over the growing season. just like one would hill up potatoes with dirt. They got a lot more potatoes.
Yes sir, we don't have a lot of horses around my area but we do have a lot of chicken houses. They have to clean those chicken houses out after ever batch and it contains chicken manure and sawdust. After they clean the old out they put down new sawdust every time. Do you think chicken manure would work I can get all that stuff I want?
Chicken manure is very strong. You'd have to mix that in with the soil. Horse manure is the weakest of the all the livestock manure - that's why it can be used as "soil" essentially.
Great video - Thanks for sharing! Wondering if the European fire ants were an issue under the hay. I'm in NS too and am plagued with them in my very small urban garden.
Not much irrigation needed either is that correct? I How long for the plants to grow up through the hay? I planted seed potatoes two weeks ago and not yet breaking through six inches loose hay. Onions and garlic popped up after 10 days. Thanks gonna check out more of your work.
That's right - I don't water potatoes or garlic at all. Your potatoes should be up soon if it's warm enough for them to grow. Maybe do a little gentle probing to see how the shoots have developed if you're concerned :)
I didn't water those potatoes at all - same with garlic. I water my green and other seedling untill about july (until the roots are well developed) and then hardly water at all for the rest of the growing season. Assuming that the soil is warm enough the potatoes will come along soon. Maybe do a little probing just to see how they are coming along if you're concerned - carefully dig around for one a bit to see how the shoots are developing
What I did in the original video (ua-cam.com/video/5LIYckw8cPg/v-deo.html) is all I did. I didn't fertilize, water, weed or anything. Only thing I'd do different next time is add about 6" more hay.
This kind of stuff excited me to no end! For less work, you have better soil! Why aren't we do this on large scale? (Big ag, I know...) No matter...I'm doing it and encouraging everyone I can to do the same.
Everyone does what they were taught, and rarely thinks outside those parameters. If someone tells you there's an easier way, you don't believe them - that's why I like to show results. Nothing is more convincing than results! Check out the vid: "Ruth stout's garden" for more inspiration!
@@maritimegardening4887 do you mean THIS video??? ua-cam.com/video/GNU8IJzRHZk/v-deo.html I am trying to learn to grow potatoes for when the economy collapses and the zombies attack. only half joking
Ruth Stout refined her method in Poverty Hollow Rd, Newtown, CT, USA. A little bit North of you - But way South of me. Why not just give it a try and see what happens :)
I love the way you give Ruth Stout her due credit.
Thanks - she was a trail-blazer!
Potatoes are my favorite crop. Before I found this method of gardening about 4 or 5 years ago I hated my garden by June, every year. The amount of physical work involved for this single, old lady, wasn't worth it. Then, ta da, hay! I mowed, covered the area in a foot tall mound, walked away and watched nature work! It's just that simple and exactly as described! Thanks for the video
Thanks for sharing
Great knowledge available. I am 68 years plus old this is keeping me busy..
Keep it up
I'm about to start ~1008 sq ft of new garden space doing this with winter potatoes and hay. Rewatching this video to mentally prepare lol. Wish me luck!
Awesome!
I hope your garden is doing fine and you're having lots of fun getting some vittles!
@@Rivenrock Hey, it is! I'm pulling up a plant or two every morning. I'd say about 35 to 40% of the potatoes survived through winter, and the ground where I put them has improved significantly--especially for that being the only amendment. I think it's a good way to start a bed in the fall, but the potatoes don't come up early in the spring bc the hay keeps the ground cooler and reflects more sun. I saved seed potatoes over winter too though and planted in any patchy areas to sure up the beds that had poor sprouting.
@@gangofgreenhorns2672 by the way, what method do you store your potatoes so they don't sprout?
My mantra is 'some is always better than none! Better to plant one potato you can't eat and get one you can than not at all :)
Thank you Ruth Stout for the technique; thank you you for the illustration
You are so welcome!
Amazing! I’ve seen videos of the Ruth stout method, but yours was the best for showing how to do it and the comparison between the Ruth Stout bed and the surrounding weeds. You do a lot to help new and old gardeners!
Awesome! Thank you!
Today I watched a video in which she told about her gardening and her life. She was a absolutly stunnig and wise woman. I love her humor. She grow all of her vegetables with her method.
Will try it in my garden with hay and straw this year. I'm beginning the garden and this seems a good method for me because I don't have much time.
I think you're on the right path!
This wonderful! I live on top of volcanic rock in the Rocky Mountains and I have to have raised beds...14 of them now.
Fantastic Video!!!!!
Love, Love, love your potato garden!!!!!
This method iWorks like magic!!!!Wish I had a garden space . Thank You !!!!!💖💖💖💖💖💖🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Glad you enjoyed it!
Those small marble taters are great for breakfast , boiled a few minutes then fry with onions ,sprinkle with herbs and pepper just before serving , sooooo much better than the biggies.
Which herbs do you recommend?
You said it MrDynamitd! I did recently learn to take those little taters and press em down, you know, squash em till they're as thick or thin as you'd like, and fry em up in a skillet...they get so light and crispy all around the edges and go great with a hearty breakfast or a sidedish at suppertime...we call em Smashed P'taters! Yum!
@@dbirdeycapozzi9807 My wife will make a gravy and put those little potatoes in it. She calls that "new potatoes". Delicious.
I’ve loved planting out potatoes this past summer in Australia. The taste is so much better than store bought ones which are cold stored for months before hitting the supermarkets. The nutritional value must be greater too! I might try this method next.
Sounds great!
When I lived in Colorado's Wet Mountains (grossly misnamed - the north end where we were was VERY dry!) I tried a RS garden with the only mulch I had - lots of pine needles, raked from under our ponderosa pines. I laid my seed potatoes on the ground, heaped them with a mix of pine needles and aged horse/cow/goat manure, and let 'em go. That fall, I just rolled back the pine needles and stuff, and there lay my crop of taters! Some had burrowed down into the softened soil and required a little digging, but the top 4-6 inches instead of the former foot or more - a LOT better!
So many people believe that pine needles will not work as a mulch! The science suggests that it works fine - so it's great to hear of people using it and having success!
@@maritimegardening4887 Its the manure that worked. Pine needles make compost not much nutrients
I love before and after videos like these! So inspiring
Thanks, I'll try to do more :)
Thanks for sharing this is especially good for people who has no tools or not able to dig
You're very welcome
Thanks for the update. I’m doing Ruth Stout this year for potato, watermelon, and pumpkin... first time...
I think you'll be pleased!
Thank you for the Great videos! I live near Thunder Bay in zone 3a (frost ‘til the the first week of June and frost in early September). I found the Ruth Stout video first and thought that method would not work for me here, because of the shorter seasons and colder nights. But in a previous video you state that you also have frosts in May and September. I will try potatoes this way. I have a regular garden that I have worked for 15 years. We have hard clay soil and last year I tried to till a new area and gave up. I have both horses and hay, so the cost for me to experiment is a few seed potatoes. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I am amazed by the change in your soil in just one season and I am excite to see if I get similar results. Thank you again. I look forward to watching more of your videos!
We have frost here as late as early June! As I've said lots of time - the zone only tells you how cold it gets in winter - it has nothing to do with length of growing season - or even how hot it gets in summer. Toronto is zone 5 - yet has a much hotter summer than here - for instance. Anyway - think you'll be happy with your potatoes - thanks for watching :)
Did it work for you?
My Ruth stout potato garden is doing great this year. I use leaves , like you I collect those bags on the side of the road.
Thanks for the video. AND thumbs up for the music! LOVE Leon Redbone!
Thanks!
If what you're doing can be done without manure, I'd love to see the idea spread everywhere. Manure is hard for some folks to get (especially in urban areas), but lawns are all over the place. People go hungry or eat cheap processed junk everywhere. If a garden plot can be prepared that easily, that lazily, and produce food while it's working, that might help the idea of the Victory Garden catch on again.
Well, I can say from direct experience, if you just pile hay a foot high, it will kill the grass for sure. Another trick is to cut the sod out and turn it upside down - instant garden!! That's much more work but more immediate results.
Most urban areas have home improvement stores like Home Depot which do sell manure. At $1.47 a bag it won’t break the bank.
Be choosy with that stuff, if you read the bag, a lot of them are only partially manure, they mix it in with sand , etc.
If I remember correctly, the potting soil I had lying around and used for for my sub-optimal, just don't care variation has a lot of wood fines in it. Good for organic material, not so good for nitrogen, but at least it won't stink up the place. If it can be made to work that way with some kind of inoffensive nitrogen supplement, that could show more practicality for doing it cheap/free with waste, in urban areas where you might have issues with the neighbors or homeowners' association. May be doable with, for example, a bag of shredded office paper and a bucket of used coffee grounds from the same building or a local coffee shop, or clippings from the lawn which the plot will be replacing a section of.
Most people I know are too lazy to even attempt gardening. They would rather complain about being hungry than do something about it.
Nice to see some gardening from Nova Scotia. My grandmother was from Halifax and I heard they were gardeners 😀
Thanks!
I discovered Ruth Stout last year. I live in a very difficult climate for gardening, high desert, hot days cold nights two weeks of summer, no rain, no water in the ground.Anyway, green alfalfa works just as well as old hay, here particularly because we are such a dry climate, so the top layer dries quickly, and the bottom layer starts cooking. IT was like night and day. It actually smells like manure when it's breaking down. I'm sold. Don't be tentative with the hay. I applied it three times, the first time, then again in late summer, and at end of summer, just laid out flakes on top of everything after planting garlic. I'm sold.
Yes, I've found the same thing - the hay needs to be reapplied. Good to hear confirmation that it works in arid places! I talk to so many people that will not even try. The first time I heard about this approach (actually through the back to eden film) I immediately changed my whole garden over. Like you, I've not looked back. Strange, I get a lot of people asking about mice and ants. I have them, but they're not a problem. Do you have them - also, do you have poisonous snakes? Is it a problem in your RS garden?
Maritime Gardening I had nothing but pluses. I have a dog and a cat. Everything grew great. People are afraid of all sorts of things, particularly bugs and weeds. I had no invasions once I used the hay. My tomato plants were consistent green from top to bottom.
That's great to hear. It's awesome to see it working in so broad a range of conditions!
Maritime Gardening Don't be afraid of it. Add lots! No weeds, fertilizer, moisture held in. No extra fetilizer is necessary. I do compost my kitchen scraps and chop and drop garden waste. But the alfalfa fed the garden. It's phenomenol.
Awesome!
I will try this with fall leaves as I have no straw. Plus I have tons of leaves that I have collected from around town. Another plus is that I will not have to spend so much time on it. I think my daughter will like the "lazy" method. I am trying to get her into gardening but she doesn't like putting in the work. I won't stop trying though. I love your videos. You do my kind of gardening.
I've used leaves before and they work great, in fact they really retain water well.
Great to know, have lots of leaves!!
Now I can’t wait to plant potatoes this year!!!
Potato towers are easy too and similar in material use.
Hello from Mobile, Alabama USA. This is my first visit and I enjoyed your video and I found it interesting and educational. I liked, subscribed and hit the bell, so I look forward to additional videos. Good growing.
Thanks that's great! Hope you have a wonderful growing season!
I love picking potatoes. It's like an Easter egg hunt. Lol
Thank you very much Greg, fantastic demonstration of Ruth Stout method. See you.
Glad you enjoyed it
You should check out strawbale gardening. I live in bed rock in southcentral MO. Nature's raised bed, if you will. I grow my potatoes in mulched straw (from broken down straw bales) in tires. My granddaughters had a blast harvesting potatoes last fall. I hope to do some videos with the beginning of this growing season. Happy Gardening!
Straw tends to be more sprayed than hay and more homogenous too. Make sure those tyres aren't leaching certain chemicals into the food you're eating.
I live in the Arkansas Ozarks. I have 14 acres and only two tillable acres. and 3 acres are rocky pasture the rest is limestone. only grows cedar trees. You could put a rock quarry here.
@@thecollectoronthecorner7061 No kiddig. This will be my first year not using strawbales. We are switching to raised beds this year. Now if the rain would just let up so we can get stuff in the ground!
I am so excited to try this method!! We are going to do this next since we have already planted out potatoes this time. Thanks for sharing!!
It’s not boring! Completely fascinated by this method. Will be trying for myself!
Thanks
Right on, its exciting to dig up spuds
Great job, I'm doing the same process this year.. Thank you..
Good luck!
One foot when you plant then another foot under the leaves midway through the growing season. Also something in the paths would help keep the weeds under control.
You got a good harvest for very little work. Never eat green potatoes they will eventually cause you to not be able to absorb your minerals, but, as you said can be used as a seed potatoe. Thanks for this video.
So sorry to come off as preachy. Just trying to keep mother earth happy. You are right, I am new to your channel, but that's just a one day issue. I have subscribed. Will look for you again. Ps. Ruth often laid out 16 to 24 inches of hay she would fluff off the bales for winter coverage. The rain and snow would beat it down during the winter. Loved her.
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Yes, the hay on these was over a foot high when I planted them, and then later that fall I piled more on. Thanks for subbing :)
@@maritimegardening4887 And you use hay, not straw? Hay I have in plenty, but I always thought it produced too many weeds, when used as mulch?
Great! Thank you and Thanks to Mrs.Stout in Heaven.
You bet!
Love this channel, Greg. Just wanted to say thanks!
Thanks man :)
I planted potatoes like that only I just laid them in rows on the heavy grass. I covered with about 10inches of straw and the plants did wonderful. It’s nearly time to start looking for potatoes. I’m not peeking. I bet it’s a good crop. I used all kinds of potatoes including a couple bags from the grocery store. Next year I’m going nuts with this back yard technique.
awesome the way it makes the ground better under it.
Thank you for the video. I have grown in a pot but, like this idea better. In response to those who are getting snarky: I remember the old adage please, please. “If, you have nothing nice to say- don’t say anything at all”.
Thanks for sharing!
Our ground is so hard that we had to use a pick ax to dig a hole to plant a tree. I've been working on my garden going on 8 years now but I alway tilled. This year ,thanks to you I am changing my way of gardening. With any luck,if I can get the manure and hay I will have a better garden and expect it to be much easier to take care of than in years past. The garden usually started out good but when it got hot the garden became so stressed from lack of moisture. Watering only helped temporally. I think you gave me the answer to my problem. Thanks so much.
That's great I hope it works out well for you!
I think I'm going to try your way of planting potatoes sir...It was hard to believe how much you harvested from a small space and no digging...great idea and thank you for sharing with us...looking forward to seeing more of your videos..happy gardening and God bless..
Very good Sonia - let me know how it goes :) Don't be shy with the hay. Pile it at least a foot high - and possibly 1&1/2 foot high if you can.
I’m a big believer in Ruth stouts gardening , I do all my gardening that way now , (back to Eden) love Paul gautchi method also .
Thanks for sharing!
Impressive for the time you put in! Another year or two and that soil will be amazing:)
I just added some more manure and hay a few weeks ago, and also planted some garlic. There's a couple vids on that if you are interested.
I'll be checking all your vids out! I'm in Alberta, so nice to see fellow Canadians getting their grow on:))
Love it. And bonus this guy sounds like Norm MacDonald!
I don't see it - but I do love Norm!
I can hear it, too! Similar tone.
I’ve always canned my baby potatoes. They are amazing in chili and soup and fried or smushed 😂
I’ve never heard of Ruth Stout and everyone it’s talking about her methods this year like the cattle panel planting last year.
Would love to see a video on how you can your baby potatoes!
Thank you so much for making s follow up video!!! Very very useful and informative!
Thanks
Awesome video, we are very grateful for you doing this video. We appreciate you so much.
Thanks
@@maritimegardening4887 Of Course, People such as yourself makes the world great.
@@libertylandsforall4689 Aw shucks :)
moved last year, my whole new garden is this, this year might be a little lame, but I am hoping that its an excellent start to a long enjoyed garden. Thanks for showing the after!
Potatoes are a low-maintenance, easy, and effective way to break/prepare new ground. Glad this helped!
Hello from New Brunswick!
Hello there!
Great video, keep at it, love your way of gardening. I'm gonna try it this year. PS, I love that potatoe song.
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks Greg. Great job. Good info.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the video I was up in the air on the method I would use for growing potatoes. This method seems to yeild more than others I've seen and much easier than the build your soil method. Happy Growing!
Glad it helped
I'm growing my first no dig potaoes this summer! I keep the hay thick on top and so far they are growing nice plants. My spot had goat manure and then I wintered my chickens on the area. So hoping I get a few potatoes out of it..
I'm sure it will work out great!
You got more than a few, right? ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭*
Timeless classic.
I am planning to double the size of my garden next year, and will try no-till. Would like to put in fruit trees and perennial berries, etc. Plan to lay down contractor's paper, then grass clippings (of which I have an abundance) and hopefully I can get a truck load of manure. I have a load of chips and have been hot composting them with grass clippings, so I'll spread a layer of that down too. But then I think I'll top it off with chips since it seems I can get them for free. I expect to pull that all back to actually plant (well at least pull back the chips layers.
I have to look up the 1st video as I missed it come up in my UA-cam feed
ua-cam.com/video/5LIYckw8cPg/v-deo.html
Very Handy way to do gardening.
After watching a few of your videos, I had decided you are the type of person I'd like to live next door to. Then you played that little piece by Leon Redbone. Now I really have to move to Nova Scotia! I've been gardening in the same SE Michigan location for 17 years, but I've been a Redbone fan since the 70s! :) Haven't grown potatoes in a while but you've inspired me to try again in 2018. First time I grew potatoes I had one that looked like Mickey Mouse. My photo icon shows it sitting in a bowl of soy beans.
That's a crazy potato sir!. Sure move out here! There's plenty of room. Good luck with your potatoes next year and thanks for watching!
Brian White ha ha ha. Love your Mickey Mouse potato.
It's miraculous to me. From one potato, God increases it 10 fold.
Plant daicon radishes there, depending on climate you could seed right after the potato harvest and let them over winter, or plant in the spring. They store left over nutrients so you don't loose them, and drill down through the compaction later to loosen that hard clay for you.
They can be eaten, be fed to livestock, or you could cut their leaves before next planting and let them compost in place to fertilize the next crop.
Looks like someone's been watching "i am organic gardening" videos :)
Maritime Gardening No, bu I'll check that out. I have grown potatoes this way, and cover crops is one improvement I'm adding this year. I'm also interplanting pole beans with the potatos this spring.
I plant peas with them sometimes. Out in this part of the garden I can only plant things that the wild animals will leave alone.
Thanks for the tip about that channel. I wish I could get payed to receive leaves like he does.
Yes I was very jealous about that myself!
love all your videos, would like to see you start a new bed with suflowers. They say that they have a massive root ball that with help to break up soil, just cut Above ground and leave roots and stub. can plant around stub other plants. maybe first planting use sun flowers an pole beans or some other climbing crop. love the bread and other videos also.
Good idea
Hi Sir, thank you for this video and for sharing your experience.
Thanks for watching!
I learned a lot from this video, thank you!!
Glad it was helpful!
Very nice 👍🏻
I can't wait to try this method.
Good show
Impressive and inspiring!
Thanks!
Brilliant result!!
Wow! Thank you for making this video!
Thanks, hope it helped :)
Greetings from New Hampshire! Great job with Ruth Stout's method. I had her No Work book in the 70s. What zone are you? Back in the mid 70s, I bought a small farm stead in Anagance, NB. Really beautiful on the ridge!
Zone 6a, Nova Scotia Canada
If you follow the potato plant stem, you can find the spuds easier. Great job.
I'm not a potato fan, but you did a great job, friend..😎👍
Thanks man
How can you not like a potato?
Looks like a great french fries potential. 😋 yummy.
They are!
Try cutting them into eye sprouts and giving them time to dry off you can at least triple your input output ratio. You can cut each potato into at least 4 pieces that will all grow a potato plant
best comment section! 🤣🤣👊
Yes this is the way, we did this in Canada when I was a kid, as long as each chunk had an eye sprouting it was a the start. We did let let the, dry a day, just cut them and tossed them into a deep hole.
curious why do they have to dry on cut end?
@@RJSoftware2000 to keep them from rotting before they sprout and grow roots6
Renee Brown can you explain the first process I am confused. Eye sprouts? Time to dry off? Did not know they were wet to begin.?
Just discovered your channel and subscribed. I garden on Campobello Island and hay is a scarce commodity here a few people have horses so I plan to ask if they have any spoiled hay this spring I would love to try this. I've been told that the critter that eats the potatoes under ground is a vole not a mole but like you I don't care what they call the miserable thing, unfortunately I have lots of them. Really enjoyed your video.
You're in the bay of fundy - does any seaweed wash up on the beach?
Tons of it. They harvest it over the border in Maine and I would say at least half of escapes unfortunately I don't have a truck.
I am using the method this year, I covered my about 12" of hay. I found with all the rain we got that it matted the hay down to much and was preventing the sprouts to come through.. I had to pull the hay back to the side, let the sprouts grow, then tuck hay to the sides of the plants and in between. This is working out good so far.
Some hays matt down more than others - glad you found a work-around
Glad I saw your comment because this is my first year so in the fall we put a foot of straw down. I went to plant some potatoes and also noticed how heavy and matted down it was. I went with my "horse sense" and moved hay down to dirt, disturbed it a bit, put potato down and then just lightly covered with straw. Hope I did okay!!!
If the plants can bust through 6 inches of heay soil they can come through the hay. It's called being patient lol
@@cjkatbruno Not my strength! LOL! ;-)
Ruth frequently pulled back the mulch to plant veg seeds then when plant was big enough she pushed the mulch back around plant.
Great harvest!!!
Thanks for the share can you do it in a barrel the potatoes with the Ruth Stout method?
I don't see why not
@@maritimegardening4887 Thank you!!!
wow just beautiful makes me want to go right out and do the same. I need some seeds potatoes. Very nice thnx for sharing.
Thanks
Great advice - i am new to your channel. I cant wait for more new ideas! ty vm!
Great, good to hear sir!
What do I have to do to turn my potatoes into seed potatoes? Thank you for your video.
@HAYDEE STOFFEL Will they last until next spring? We haven't had our frost yet. I think I live in zone 6a, b or 7a
dry them out, put them in a brown paper bag or cardboard box, then keep them somewhere cool but not freezing (5 -8 celcius) for the winter. Start peeking in on them in late March. Just before the eyes start to grow (late march early april) out them on a sunny window sill until planting time (keeps the eyes from growing too long and gives you better potatoes.
@@barbaradumler6503 You dan't have tro wait for your 1st frost, thats more of a deadline than a start date. They should last, but will start growing eyes eventually - usually in late march/early april.
@@maritimegardening4887 Thank you!
Wow great haul of potatoes! What can you use instead of hay? I can't get it easily. I have some wood chips, cardboard boxes and cedar mulch. I can get soil, manure etc from a garden center. What is a good substitute for hay? How should I layer it with what I have?
Leaves & grass clippings are a good cheap substitute. You probably can't get horse manure from a garden center, soil mix the garden soil with cow/sheep manure at a ratio of 3(soil) to 1(manure). As a general rule, use anything that is biodegradable that the potatoes can find their way through.
@@maritimegardening4887 Thank you so much for your reply. Very helpful!!! I wish you a good growing season.
i seen some ppl up in Alaska do this also BUT they added more hay then leaves when the hay ran out over the growing season. just like one would hill up potatoes with dirt. They got a lot more potatoes.
Yes sir, we don't have a lot of horses around my area but we do have a lot of chicken houses. They have to clean those chicken houses out after ever batch and it contains chicken manure and sawdust. After they clean the old out they put down new sawdust every time. Do you think chicken manure would work I can get all that stuff I want?
Chicken manure is very strong. You'd have to mix that in with the soil. Horse manure is the weakest of the all the livestock manure - that's why it can be used as "soil" essentially.
mix with 20% soil with chicken maNURE/sawdust , Compost is for 3 months and its ready to use
Awesome. Could sunchokes and American Groundnut be done the same way?
I think so!
20+ that is bigger than the big bag at wally world and for so little input good job. I must do this thnx for sharing
Thanks, and yes, it works surprisingly well. Use lots of hay!
Can you leave them in the ground over winter with lots more hay on top - and dig them as needed?
If you had enough insulation on top to keep them from freezing, yes.
new sub here ..this was amazing 👏👏
Thanks for subbing!
My gold potatoes were much less of of a yeald
Good return
Thanks
Great video - Thanks for sharing! Wondering if the European fire ants were an issue under the hay. I'm in NS too and am plagued with them in my very small urban garden.
I have them here now too.
@@maritimegardening4887 Do you find them nesting under the hay? Trying to figure out a cover for my grass paths without increasing the ant population.
Very nice Greg! I have a bunch of land outside fence and I've been wondering what I can grow that the deer and rabbits gophers won't eat.
I can't speak to gophers (I don't have them) - but outside my fenced area I plant tomatoes, potatoes, squash, onions and garlic
Do you this would work with shredded leaves instead of hay?
Yes, I've even done that before.
I enjoyed your video.
Thanks :)
Thanks for this video!
Thanks :)
I wonder if cotton hulls would work I live in the southern cotton belt
I don't see why not. As long as it's organic and will break down. You should give it a try and see what happens.
Not much irrigation needed either is that correct? I
How long for the plants to grow up through the hay? I planted seed potatoes two weeks ago and not yet breaking through six inches loose hay. Onions and garlic popped up after 10 days. Thanks gonna check out more of your work.
That's right - I don't water potatoes or garlic at all. Your potatoes should be up soon if it's warm enough for them to grow. Maybe do a little gentle probing to see how the shoots have developed if you're concerned :)
I didn't water those potatoes at all - same with garlic. I water my green and other seedling untill about july (until the roots are well developed) and then hardly water at all for the rest of the growing season. Assuming that the soil is warm enough the potatoes will come along soon. Maybe do a little probing just to see how they are coming along if you're concerned - carefully dig around for one a bit to see how the shoots are developing
Do you add any fertilizer?
What I did in the original video (ua-cam.com/video/5LIYckw8cPg/v-deo.html) is all I did. I didn't fertilize, water, weed or anything. Only thing I'd do different next time is add about 6" more hay.
This kind of stuff excited me to no end! For less work, you have better soil! Why aren't we do this on large scale? (Big ag, I know...) No matter...I'm doing it and encouraging everyone I can to do the same.
Everyone does what they were taught, and rarely thinks outside those parameters. If someone tells you there's an easier way, you don't believe them - that's why I like to show results. Nothing is more convincing than results! Check out the vid: "Ruth stout's garden" for more inspiration!
@@maritimegardening4887 do you mean THIS video??? ua-cam.com/video/GNU8IJzRHZk/v-deo.html I am trying to learn to grow potatoes for when the economy collapses and the zombies attack. only half joking
Does anyone know if this method would work in Oklahoma? It gets very hot and dry on many summer days here.
Ruth Stout refined her method in Poverty Hollow Rd, Newtown, CT, USA. A little bit North of you - But way South of me. Why not just give it a try and see what happens :)
@@maritimegardening4887 , I will. I sure won’t be wasting much time, effort, or money if it doesn’t work out! 😁