A neighbour had some spare chitted ‘Charlotte’ seed potatoes when I got back from my Easter holiday, and inspired by Charles Dowding growing potatoes straight onto grass, I decided to give this a go. Now I do remember Charles Dowding saying that he weakened the grass first by covering it with cardboard for a few weeks (or was it months?) before starting, but the potatoes were ready to grow, so I thought I’d just give it a go. I simply put some compost on top a spare bit of grass, nestled the seed potatoes into the compost and then covered them with about another 6 inches worth.
About 7 weeks later, my spuds are coming on really well and neighbour Henry helped me to earth the trio up, carefully covering most of the new foliage with extra compost.
This extra compost will prevent the tubers from going green by stopping them coming into contact with daylight, and will hopefully give me a better yield of potatoes too, especially as they’re only growing in the soil above grass level. I shouldn’t be surprised at how well the potatoes are growing though, as the roots should be able to grow down through the grass, but I am delighted to be able to grow potatoes without the back-breaking digging that I normally employ and can’t wait to see the results of my (minimal) labours in the next month or so.
I am thinking of playing with a few no dig crops next year. I’ll be interested to see how this pans out!
Hi Idiot Gardener, planted a few more at my allotment too, so am very curious to see how they all grow. Will keep you updated. Charles Dowding also made 6 inch raised beds which he positioned on top of grass too, and planted up with carrots, so yet another option to try out.
I saw Charles Dowding’s potatoes, too. I’ll be interested to see how you get on. I’ve just done mine in simple trenches and earthed them up. I don’t grow too many, just salad potatoes so the digging isn’t too onerous, especially since hubby did it. But I’m all for anything that makes life easier!
Lucky to have a digging husband. Mine is definitely no dig! Making life easier is certainly part of the plan, and once potatoes are harvested, hope to plant other veg for winter in their place too.
They look healthy enough and with all this rain they should do well.
Hi Sue, was delighted when I saw the first leaves and hopefully should get a decent yield from them. Bit of sun, bit of rain. Perfect.
An interesting method, I’m also looking forward to how they do. We’re planning to build raised beds next year, digging the whole plot over once was enough for me thank you very much!
We had that in our allotment too. Digging clay soil which I then used to make pots out of! Never again! What were we thinking of!
[…] first early potatoes may be ready to harvest! Other potatoes need earthing up as they grow: http://j.mp/M9MCTj TwitterFacebook […]
Have made 4 raised beds,2 have the earth dug over and compost put on top,the other 2 I laid cardboard and newspaper on,then compost on top.
In one section on each have planted the same crops as an experiment to see whether it was worth all the back breaking digging or just leave alone and just cover grass and throw on some compost….will wait and see
Hi Rosieod, Great experiment! Do let me know how everything grows. What crops are you growing in the beds? V.best Naomi
At the moment have put beetroot,cauliflower and brussel sprouts into the raised beds. They all seem to be growing at the same rate.
Elsewhere in the garden I have potatoes,runner and french beans,peas,tomatoes carrots,garlic,courgettes,swede,celeriac,peppers,chillies,strawberries,blueberries,redcurrants,rhubarb,gooseberries and blackberries. Some are growing in the ground,some are in bags or pots.Only moved into this house last November and the garden was just lawn and a very weedy one at that, so it’s been quite a project but this is only the start. Have also made one flower bed and dug out another which won’t be planted up yet until we replace the fence.
Also planted up 2 large terraces at the front of the house. Next year a pond hopefully…phew !!
Wow Rosieod, your garden sounds fantastically productive already and I can understand that a ‘no dig’ system would be hugely beneficial if you’ve got more beds to create. Hope you have a great, and no too exhausting, growing season and look forward to hearing the results of you trials.
[…] in April (about 16 weeks ago), I planted up three Charlotte potatoes straight on top of fresh grass as a ‘No dig’ growing experiment, earthing them up once after about 7 weeks. Today […]