I’ve been digging raised beds for weeks. I’ve started making protein shakes out of bananas, peanut butter and chocolate soy milk, just so my body doesn’t fall apart. My soil is pretty much clay; it sticks to the spade and I have to stamp it off like I’m squishing a bug. I’m worried about the growing potential of this soil, but I’m assured that potatoes will grow anywhere. I guess this will be a test for them!

New Sprout Organic Farms is a farm in Black Mountain, NC. They supply most of the supermarkets around here with year round organic sweet potatoes. They also sell a whole range of organic produce as well as seed potato:

They sell a lot of different varieties. I went for 1lb of four different types. From left to right: Rose Finn Apple, Mountain Rose, German Butterball, and All Blue.

I’m going to grow some dug into soil, some in grocery bags and some under straw. Here is the straw version:

It’s pretty easy. Lay about 6″ of straw on top of the potatoes and water. As the plant peeks through keep layering on the straw. The straw is great for water retention and makes harvest a breeze:
The green plants at the back of the bed are beans, a good potato companion.

7 weeks to ‘new’ potatoes…