Build as you grow potato bins.

[hippywife]

Really cool and complete with pics.

http://ft2garden.powweb.com/sinfonian/?page_id=12

:hi:

[bvar22]

1. Hi, neighbor!

Thanks for this post.
We are planting Potatoes this year....my first time.
We are doing essentially the same thing as this site suggests, but with weathered landscaping logs.
We will add additional rows when needed. We are "experimental" this year with a 3' X 3' X 3' triangle, and a handful of Yukon Gold potatoes.
Since potatoes are always cheap in the stores, I've resisted wasting time and sweat growing our own, but Starkraven assures me that fresh, homegrowns are far superior in taste.

We're excited about this year.
How are things Greening Up in your part of the World?

[hippywife]

2. Bob!

We haven't done a thing yet. Heck! We had snow last weekend. Did you get any of that?

I always buy the organic little red and yellow potatoes at WF to start mine. I figure they aren't going to be organic if I don't start out with organic seed potatoes. They were really good last year outta the garden.

I emailed that link to Bill to see if he's interested in doing it that way rather than in the pails. We really didn't get as many as I would have liked to last year.

I look forward to seeing your garden again this year.

Many :hug: to you and K. :hi:

[bvar22]

3. For our 1st time, we are in front of the season.

We stayed busy over the Winter making sure all the infrastructure was intact and ready to go.
Some of the changes we made last year is making it easier to get started again this year.
The Lasagna Method has been a great help this season.
After harvest last Fall, we added compost, layered newspaper, and covered with straw.
This year, we are simply cutting holes in the newspaper and planting through them and the straw.
No weeding, no muss, no fuss.

One big problem is the deterioration of the pine boxes.
Most of them have rotted away after 3 years. We are making repairs where necessary this year, but will have to move on to something else that won't have to be rebuilt every 3 years. Treated wood is still questionable, but river rocks, bricks, hardwood logs, cinder blocks, or that new decking stuff made from recycled plastic looks good....but I just have an aversion to "PLASTIC" in the garden...Lots of work.
I think we will make it through this Summer with what we have, but changes will be necessary.

The most romantic idea so far is to get rid of the boxes all together next year, and terrace the whole garden into about 3 sections with walkways....Make the whole thing like 3 BIG raised beds terraced down the hill.
(Starkraven always gets a little scared when I start talking like this, LOL).


Some of the June Bearing Strawberries we put out last year already have blossoms!!!
And a new baby Asparagus stalk just peeped up yesterday. We're really excited about the Asparagus...
It practically grows itself with little maintainence, few diseases, few pests, and lasts for 18 - 20 years....longer than I will. ON the downside, the harvest is a brief 2 - 3 weeks in the Spring.
All the BlueBerry Bushes we planted last year survived Winter and are budding out.
Peaches and Plums also in bloom.

We are looking for more Low Maintainence/High Output crops that survive Winter and are good at taking care of themselves.

We also had the snow, but temps stayed right above freezing, so nothing was really harmed.
Good to hear from you.
Love to all,
Bob & Kirsty

[Kolesar]

7. Lumber is treated with copper, not arsenic now

"If I had it to do over again", I would have made our cold frames out of treated lumber. Instead, I built them out of softwood, then treated them with water based copper preservative.

We have raised beds of modest height with no frames.

[WhiteTara]

4. you can do the same thing with

wire. I use chicken wire about 2.5 feet high. You can add another wire "basket" if your potatoes grow higher. Cheaper, easier and works I think as well.

[hippywife]

5. I just though this looked neater

than the wire thing. Sometimes folks living in urban, or even suburban, areas have to do their farming somewhat on the sly and keep it looking tidy due to neighborhood association covenants or city restrictions.

[WhiteTara]

6. the other side of the coin. n/t