Hey,
I've planned to have potatoes on about 0.12 acres this year, and I would love to get some advice/thoughts on the question in the next paragraph :p
The plot in question is part of an old field on my father's farm, it has not been used for probably 4-10 years now (so its untilled/brackish). The soil has a very nice structure as it is now and I would like to keep it untilled, BUT here's my question:
Any ideas how to put out ~110kg (243 lbs) potatoes on untilled soil and get rid of the current grass in the process?
- I thought about one possibility (which I found through google on a norwegian site), it is to cover the ground with newspapers/carton and make a hole for every potato. Then proceed to put mulch ontop of the newspapers, this way the potatoes should work the soil this year and the field should be better suited for other veggies next year.. its not that labourintensive to do it this way either, but would love to hear other opinions. Perhaps your own experiences from a similar approach?
Do you think this technique would give a good yield? I have never tried it before, and I dont want to take too big risks with so much potatoes! =P
I dont have straw, but got loads of woodchips (been cutting down lots of trees around the field to get more sun onto it).
- JT