I didn't plant a lot last year. In fact, I only planted potatoes and only because my brother works for a restaurant that had a box of sprouted taters and gave them to me for free! So I rounded up my materials: a pile of newspapers, 2 bales of straw that we had been using for an arrow stop for our targets, and the hose. That's it! No dirt needed, no special ingredients, at least not when you are only planting potatoes. The author claimed that potatoes could be planted on nothing more than wet newspapers, covered by 8-10 inches of straw or hay, kept watered and they would grow.... and they did! I did a 5 by 15-ish section in my garden (that I had previously tried to rototill!) and come late September, I was astonished to find new potatoes under the layer of straw when I lifted it off with my pitch fork. The best part is that they were really clean! Who would have thought?
Somewhere I have pictures of what the potatoes looked like at harvest. We didn't get many (I didn't plant until the middle or end of June, I think) but they were good. While the hay was off the newspapers, I added a thick layer of leaves that had been raked into piles in the yard, covered them up with the straw again and then the snow flew not too long after that.
I had planned on adding more layers this spring, but since we are moving, I had the burden of clearing my materials and preparing to reseed the lawn. These pictures show how after just one winter, the soil is bare, no weeds, and it was moist and crawling with worms when I took off the layers. The bits that you see that appear to be grass are straw that was left behind.I am so excited to lay down new beds at the new house! I saved all my materials that I took off.
It really is that easy! I'll only do potatoes this year, but now I know that I can add lots of layers under my straw in the fall and have some really great beds for spring planting!
