@alan30189 Yes, green skin on spuds usually means that they have been exposed to sunlight, causing a toxin to form that can indeed make you sick. Best to avoid green spuds!
As far as prep goes, did you only add the urine and let the bale sit over the winter? Just urine? It looked black and soil-like. It looked very good, actually!
@peaceniq I did toss maybe one shovel of dirt or compost on top of the bale in the autumn, and then through the winter I would pour on top a gallon of urine maybe once a week, which would trickle down through the bale (rain too), no doubt trickling down some dirt/soil also. Happy gardening!
@paulpellicci Yes, I do think that I "over-planted" my straw bales. Planting spuds and watermelon in one bale was probably over-doing it! But it was my first year trying it and I was just experimenting so I'm happy with what I got. I think that in the future, you are correct that less plants per bale is probably better. Happy gardening!
loosen the bales it lets the potatoes grow big, i hump up a row of straw in the garden for my potatoes (leaves work too) then cover with dirt, my red potatoes grow as big as a soft ball and taste great.
thanks for the info. im definitely going to try this next yr..........using bales will free up another one of my raised beds. and at end of season i'll have some wonderful compost from the bales. a win, win situation.
@DeadEyeRabbit Yeah, I agree that not many spuds came from that straw bale... but then again it was in an area that got limited sunlight and I didn't regularly water it, so I'm guessing that a bale could yield much more. A handful of potato starts per bale would be reasonable to get things going. Peace.
We grow potatoes in our rough compost bed and they do fairly well. I enjoy your videos. I would appreciate if you subcribed to me and we can keep in touch. Thank you.
this looks really cool. I'm in a wheelchair and look forward to giving this a shot. I live in Australia and its Spring now so when should I start the process for Straw Bale gardening???
@68gnome I readily admit my ignorance of Austalian climate, etc., but in general I 'start' with straw bales in the fall/autumn, let them weather/compost their insides over the winter (dirt on top trickles in when rain, urine, etc., flow through), then plant into them in the spring at whatever time you would normally plant for your climate/region. Good for wheelchair users since you don't need to get all the way down to ground level, the bales are up a bit. Happy gardening.
better pick those small ones unles syou want potatoes comming up later... I sometimes plant other stuff in old pots, only to have to rip out potatoes later...
@ThanksgivingWalk: THANKS for your kind comments and your charming gratitude. These spuds were fun to grow and fun to share (and fun to eat!). Happy gardening!
The potato that you planted probably had growth inhibitor on it because they don't want them sprouting in the store. Next year, plant the small ones that you got there and they might just surprise you.
@SSanf: Thanks for the tip! Yeah, I certainly believe that these would have done better if I had used real "seed potatoes" instead of just some grocery store spuds that I hadn't gotten around to cooking. Thanks again!
@peipotatoguy: Thanks for the tip! I ended up eating my 1st year's crop, but will try saving some next time, for use the following year. (or just buy actual "seed potatoes", aka potatoes with eyes growing out of them, certified disease-free, etc.).
I planted potatoes in southern California in raised flower bed in compost soil and my harvest was about 4-5 time yours.....Couple of potatoes (grown from the cutting of potatoes bought in supermarket) were size of my forearm! Wow, what a harvest! Just incredible.
@sonofsun4: Awesome! More people should try growing spuds. While it may be even better to use actual 'starter' potatoes (rather than how you and I did it by using bits of spuds bought at the supermarket) either way is worth trying. As your comments show: Gardening is about experimenting a bit and enjoying watching the results. Happy gardening!
from the videos i've been watching here on youtube, you get a bigger harvest from the potatoes if you plant 2 in the same bucket.. like.. close together.. :) so maybe this year you could try doing that! :)
nice that you got some taters, though ;) how were they?
The spuds were very tasty! The skins were really thin and easy to chew (like "new potatoes"). I only grew/harvested enough for a couple servings, but I REALLY enjoyed them, just by knowing that I grew them myself by trying something new/different (ok, maybe "weird" is the word?) and that it worked out.
The ones near the surface look green. They are toxic. Do not eat those.
alan30189 4 days ago
@alan30189 Yes, green skin on spuds usually means that they have been exposed to sunlight, causing a toxin to form that can indeed make you sick. Best to avoid green spuds!
OrganicGarden123 3 days ago
About the bale...
As far as prep goes, did you only add the urine and let the bale sit over the winter? Just urine? It looked black and soil-like. It looked very good, actually!
Thank you for sharing your experiment.
peaceniq 2 weeks ago
@peaceniq I did toss maybe one shovel of dirt or compost on top of the bale in the autumn, and then through the winter I would pour on top a gallon of urine maybe once a week, which would trickle down through the bale (rain too), no doubt trickling down some dirt/soil also. Happy gardening!
OrganicGarden123 2 weeks ago
oh man. keep those baby ones. they are good eating.
thatbastardson 3 weeks ago
...don't you think watermelon sharing the bale defeated the spuds?
paulpellicci 4 months ago
@paulpellicci Yes, I do think that I "over-planted" my straw bales. Planting spuds and watermelon in one bale was probably over-doing it! But it was my first year trying it and I was just experimenting so I'm happy with what I got. I think that in the future, you are correct that less plants per bale is probably better. Happy gardening!
OrganicGarden123 4 months ago
I think you got a great yield considering you did everything but shoot them to stop them growing.
You can tell by the way the leaves were reaching they didn't get near the recommended sun.
To my mind, if you had used a tomato cage and fluffed out the straw as the leaves grew, you would have gotten much more.
That up there on the scale of "cool". Certainly going to try it. Thanks.
McHenryAnge 5 months ago
loosen the bales it lets the potatoes grow big, i hump up a row of straw in the garden for my potatoes (leaves work too) then cover with dirt, my red potatoes grow as big as a soft ball and taste great.
eron1979 5 months ago
@eron1979 Thanks for the tip!
OrganicGarden123 5 months ago
Comment removed
eron1979 5 months ago
thanks for the info. im definitely going to try this next yr..........using bales will free up another one of my raised beds. and at end of season i'll have some wonderful compost from the bales. a win, win situation.
DeadEyeRabbit 6 months ago
poor showing but i like the method. how many plants per bale do you think would be feasable? thanks for th video.
DeadEyeRabbit 6 months ago
@DeadEyeRabbit Yeah, I agree that not many spuds came from that straw bale... but then again it was in an area that got limited sunlight and I didn't regularly water it, so I'm guessing that a bale could yield much more. A handful of potato starts per bale would be reasonable to get things going. Peace.
OrganicGarden123 6 months ago
Ha Ha Ya dun good :) Im going to give that a try Just because I can .. Thanks for a great video and a great idea.. Spuds rule!
hgils 8 months ago
We grow potatoes in our rough compost bed and they do fairly well. I enjoy your videos. I would appreciate if you subcribed to me and we can keep in touch. Thank you.
TheNaturesFriends 1 year ago
this looks really cool. I'm in a wheelchair and look forward to giving this a shot. I live in Australia and its Spring now so when should I start the process for Straw Bale gardening???
68gnome 1 year ago
@68gnome I readily admit my ignorance of Austalian climate, etc., but in general I 'start' with straw bales in the fall/autumn, let them weather/compost their insides over the winter (dirt on top trickles in when rain, urine, etc., flow through), then plant into them in the spring at whatever time you would normally plant for your climate/region. Good for wheelchair users since you don't need to get all the way down to ground level, the bales are up a bit. Happy gardening.
OrganicGarden123 1 year ago
better pick those small ones unles syou want potatoes comming up later... I sometimes plant other stuff in old pots, only to have to rip out potatoes later...
poepflater 1 year ago
So glad to have ran across this video! Youtube has at least two other videos of placing straw over potates, but they don't show the results.
I love do naturally gardening experiments and this video is an inspiration.
Thanks for sharing with us.
ThanksgivingWalk 1 year ago
@ThanksgivingWalk: THANKS for your kind comments and your charming gratitude. These spuds were fun to grow and fun to share (and fun to eat!). Happy gardening!
OrganicGarden123 1 year ago
The potato that you planted probably had growth inhibitor on it because they don't want them sprouting in the store. Next year, plant the small ones that you got there and they might just surprise you.
SSanf 1 year ago
@SSanf: Thanks for the tip! Yeah, I certainly believe that these would have done better if I had used real "seed potatoes" instead of just some grocery store spuds that I hadn't gotten around to cooking. Thanks again!
OrganicGarden123 1 year ago
save the small ones and plant them the next spring. keep them somewhere cool so they don't grow over the winter.
peipotatoguy 1 year ago
@peipotatoguy: Thanks for the tip! I ended up eating my 1st year's crop, but will try saving some next time, for use the following year. (or just buy actual "seed potatoes", aka potatoes with eyes growing out of them, certified disease-free, etc.).
OrganicGarden123 1 year ago
I planted potatoes in southern California in raised flower bed in compost soil and my harvest was about 4-5 time yours.....Couple of potatoes (grown from the cutting of potatoes bought in supermarket) were size of my forearm! Wow, what a harvest! Just incredible.
sonofsun4 1 year ago
@sonofsun4: Awesome! More people should try growing spuds. While it may be even better to use actual 'starter' potatoes (rather than how you and I did it by using bits of spuds bought at the supermarket) either way is worth trying. As your comments show: Gardening is about experimenting a bit and enjoying watching the results. Happy gardening!
OrganicGarden123 1 year ago
Oh I see you did grow some potatoes in strw ;)
jihadacadien 2 years ago
from the videos i've been watching here on youtube, you get a bigger harvest from the potatoes if you plant 2 in the same bucket.. like.. close together.. :) so maybe this year you could try doing that! :)
nice that you got some taters, though ;) how were they?
misspookietoodle 2 years ago
The spuds were very tasty! The skins were really thin and easy to chew (like "new potatoes"). I only grew/harvested enough for a couple servings, but I REALLY enjoyed them, just by knowing that I grew them myself by trying something new/different (ok, maybe "weird" is the word?) and that it worked out.
Thanks for commenting!
OrganicGarden123 1 year ago
Yum, spuds!
pinksarah21 2 years ago
Very nice!
dtmbcorp 2 years ago