Harvesting Potatoes from Straw

October 13, 2017

Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we're always trying new and different methods for producing wholesome, fresh vegetables.

Recently, my gardeners, Ryan and Wilmer, harvested a bounty of potatoes - but this crop wasn't planted in soil, it was planted in bales of straw. The bales were kept along one side of my vegetable garden in an area that receives at least six to eight hours of direct sun per day. We read about this technique last spring and were very interested to see how it worked - and sure enough, it worked excellently.

Here are some photos - enjoy.

: Remember the delicious potatoes I served at last week’s design team luncheon here at my farm? These potatoes were grown in bales of straw.

: They were planted in a narrow space next to our pea trellises.

: This space is usually kept empty, but it receives plenty of full sun and was big enough to store several bales of straw.

: Here you can see the bales lined up. Do you know the difference between straw and hay? Hay is a crop that is grown specifically for creating hay and harvested before the grains go to seed. Straw is a byproduct of different kinds of crops. When crops like wheat, barley, and oats are harvested for their seed, the stalks are left behind and baled to create straw. We use lots of straw in the stable for horse bedding.

: The potatoes, left over from last year’s crop, are cut in half and each cut side is coated with Douglas fir bark dust. This dust helps to heal the sliced area, so it doesn’t shrink or curl. The slightly acidic bark is also a natural fungicide and moisture buildup barrier.

: The bales were saturated with water for several days, then sprinkled with bone meal and fertilizer to speed the decomposition process and create rich compost for growing. The potatoes were then planted about four to six inches deep and at least six inches apart, with about three or four in each bale.

: Early last week, when it was warm and dry outside, and the potato foliage had all died back, Wilmer and Ryan went to check the bales for “new potatoes”.

: Depending on the type of potato, it can take anywhere from 70 to 90 days for potatoes to mature. Here are the first potatoes they found.

: And then they found more, and more – clean and free of soil.

: Ryan gently separates the wafers of straw and pulls the tubers.

: It wasn’t necessary to use a fork or a shovel – these potatoes were so easy to find, and nothing was accidentally pierced while harvesting.

: The most tuber formation occurs when soil temperature is 60-degrees Fahrenheit to 70-degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers say maintaining a six-inch-thick straw layer around potatoes keeps soil temperatures about 10-degrees lower, which helps this process.

: Here are some potatoes harvested from our soil bed – these are quite dirty.

: These potatoes grown in straw are unblemished and so, so clean.

: The looseness of the bale allows the stem to easily reach the surface, and the potatoes form along this stretch of stem, filling the bale with potatoes.

: Straw is a great way to grow potatoes because it is inexpensive, bales take up little space, and can be placed anywhere that receives lots of light.

: Here, Ryan uncovers some more potatoes and searches through the surrounding straw to make sure everything is picked.

: It took about an hour to harvest all the potatoes from the straw. Unlike other major field crops, potatoes are reproduced vegetatively, from other potatoes. While these potatoes are from my garden, the original “seed potatoes” came from Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, a small family-owned business located in Ellensburg, Washington.