On 7/18/2014 8:40 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Pavel314 wrote:
We grow some potatoes in the garden every year and every year I
harvest them the same way. I start at the edge of the bed and put the
pitchfork down about 3-4 inches, then I flip up the dirt in front of
the prongs. If there are potatoes there, they go into the basket, if
not, I keep moving on, stabbing and flipping along the row until I
find something. No matter how careful I am, I generally impale a few
tubers in the process. Not a big loss, we put those in the "eat
quick" pile and store the rest in the cellar.

Does anyone have a better way to harvest them?


Paul

I'm new to the tater scene , but years ago I read about a method using
tires . Stack 'em up and fill with mulch as the tater plants grow . I have
modified that method to use extra tomato cages* , piling up straw as the
plants grow . Mine all now have at least 18-24 inches of straw in the cages
and I need more straw . I was concerned about exposing the potatoes to light
, but that hasn't happened , and if it does I'll wrap them with either black
plastic or tarpaper .
--
Snag
* I bought a roll of concrete rewire to make cages for the tomatoes with the
intent of selling a few to defray the cost . Nobody's buying , so I ended up
using some for cucumbers , the rest are on my taters .


I did that same thing years ago, made a bunch of tomato cages out of
heavy duty concrete wire, they were three feet in diameter, they lasted
over twenty-five years and two moves. One year I tried the tater thing
by planting the potatoes in the bottom of the cage, then layering oak
leaves, of which we always had plenty, up to about four feet. Had the
same problem other folks had, two or three taters down in the dirt,
nothing above but a really long, skinny tater vine. Hope it works for
you, I never tried it again.

George