It is gardening season once again. The snow has finally departed and the days are warm.

Potato Towers

Last year’s potato towers did not do well. Between the slugs, substituting dry leaves for straw, and uneven watering the crop was sufficient but far from terrific.

This year, we have tons of straw bales. Yeah! Last fall’s leaves went into the compost producing many wheelbarrows of soil.

Preparing the garden for towers. (suppressing weeds)

1. 4 inch layer of horse manure
2. 2-4 inches of leaves and twigs (cleaning up my neighbour’s lilac bushes)
3. 4-6 inch mat of straw sheets (how straw comes out of a bale).

Planting instructions

1. Lay potato seeds around ring every 10 inches.
2. Build a light nest of straw around outside of ring. Fluff up a straw sheet. Nest is thin enough for plants to grow through and thick enough to hold soil.
3. Put a deep-watering pipe in centre.
4. Add 8 inches of soil/compost mix.
5. Water the layer
6. Repeat steps 1-5 until the top is reached.
7. Plant nasturtiums, alyssum, and night scented stocks around base and in the soil straw outer layer to attract butterflies and deter slugs. Slugs do not strongly scented flowers.

Image courtesy of Dibber and Boots – Great Site! https://dibberandboots.com.au/deep-watering-pipes-jan2021/