Potatoes in the Bag

Mr. Hooper is getting out of yak farming. He’s giving up the Christmas trees, too, and retiring. He’s putting some of his land into prairie, which is good news for Steve the prairie landscaper. And we also took this opportunity to buy what yak compost he had left and haul it out to the farm.

Some of it went into my two new raised beds. Another few scoops went over the large plot I have for potatoes, beans and onions. But there’s still a good-sized pile out in the tree nursery.

Here’s some advice. If you are married to a landscaper who has machinery, plan your garden in an area that is accessible to said machinery. I know I’ve complained about this before, but my garden seems to be the only area that machinery can’t reach without destroying freshly-planted grass. This spring the grass is late in arriving, so we got a delivery in. But for my potato bags, I took the mountain to Mohammad, so to speak, and hauled the bags, shovel, all my materials, out to this wonderful spot in the tree nursery where there are piles of compost, hay, and even a nice swimming hole should one get hot while working.

The overnight temps are still likely to be in the low 30s next week, but hopefully not below freezing. I could have waited another week to plant (and the large bed is untilled), but come on! Thursday is May 1st! So I went out and planted eleven bags, nine I made myself and two I purchased last year.

The key to growing potatoes is covering the seed potatoes with a good mix of light, fluffy organic matter so that the vines can grow freely and the potatoes be nourished and encouraged to grow. Truthfully, I think potatoes will grow in almost anything. But they like things to be a little lighter. Bags can produce higher yields than beds, but they’re a little more fussy in terms of watering and the soil mix.

There are lots of suggestions for mixes. I made mine of peat moss (not too much because when it dries it turns into a rock), yak compost, and straw and grass clippings. I also covered the bottom of the bag with mushroom straw and a shovel of the yak compost. All in all, I’m happy with my home made bags. They stood up pretty well (some are kind of slouchy) and I filled them about halfway (4-6 inches) and rolled them down to be unrolled later when I fill them, after the vines have emerged. I put them out along the ends of the garden beds and staggered them a bit so they all get lots of light.

If you remember, the yak compost comes with special extra gifts. Hooper has been known to put entire dead yaks into his pile, which must be plenty hot to decompose a giant animal. There are places where the yak pies seem rather fresh, but other places that look like matted yak hair. Most of it, however, is very well decomposed and the shovel slides right into it.

And so far, excavating the piles the skid loader spread on the garden bed, I’ve found two large bones. When I pick this one up, I feel like a dinosaur hunter!