Mirendajean - what technique are you using for 'winter/spring potatoes? Is that possible in Ireland? I've never heard of anyone growing potatoes over winter except for new potatoes to eat at Christmas grown in containers that can be moved into a frost free place. I've not come across any information on growing potatoes for spring harvesting. Have you done this successfully before?

Here is a link that might be useful: Christmas potatoes

Hiya Flora. I'm aiming for both Christmas and early spring potatoes.

I got my method for spring potatoes from the man at my local garden centre who was a potato farmer for 40 years. Hes forever supervising my "home farming" efforts (there is a lot of head shaking on his part. ) He told me to...

1 dig a trench 12-18 inches down
2 line the tench with leaves
3 spread a layer of compost
4 place tubers 1 ft apart
5 another layer of compost
6 another layer of leaves
7 thick layer of aged manure (horse manure from stables with all the Straw in it. Not fresh but not completely composted either)
8 Layer of compost
9 some kind of mulch

I intend to experiment a bit and chance a mild winter. I will plant 5 tubers in the ground using his method. For my own happiness I will:

1. clear the wood chips along a section of my fence
2. place planted potato bags on the soil
3 smother the potato bags in wood chips hoping the wood chips will insulate from frost.

I'm thinking about doing another big crate hot box in December. If so, I'll plant a potato or two in there also. The manure in that crate stayed warm for 2 1/2 monthes. I could transfer a potato bag to sit on top of the hot box. I did that this past February. I planted up a bag and just set it on top of the hot box without protection. I had lovely early potatoes this year.

Or I could get the nod from the doc, go back to work, and get my potatoes from Aldi :-)

M

Let us know how it turns out.