Straw Potatoes
I thought I'll try to grow some straw potatoes to have little new potatoes for Christmas. Read about this way of growing potatoes at allotments-uk.com. Ordered some Nicola and Mars Pipers.

First the soil was turned and racked even. The potatoes were simply placed on top of the ground. I used mushroom compost and a bale of hay to cover the potatoes. something I learned is to make sure the compost/straw is not very 'tight' as the chits struggle to get through.

Well, it started of very well as the photo show. Then the blight struck very quick with devastating effects. The blight could very well have come from the tomato plant right next to the potatoes which were sowing signs of blight. So second lesson is, keep the two apart. The tomatoe plant can be seen in the first photo.

Yesterday lifted and cleared all the potatoes. The Nicolas were very prolific. One plant had 37 little potatoes. Would have loved to seen them through to Christmas. The Mars Pipers produced bigger new potatoes in the same time. At least had a cullender full of baby new potatoes.

Verdict: Will definitely try to grow some more straw potatoes in the New Year again. The earthworms have also picked up in numbers under the straw. The rest of the winter they can work on the straw and compost which I simply turned over with a spade. Come spring we'll plant some cabbages.