The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: bucketman on April 08, 2015, 09:57:41 pm
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Said I would give it a go. So here go's
The plan what else Lazy Beds for spuds.
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/IMG_20150408_145224517.jpg)
Pick a bit of land. We had strimmed this last year in prep. So not to bad
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/IMG_20150408_135416979.jpg)
So get the strimmer back out to give it a quick once over and a pint of Bru ;D
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/IMG_20150408_150443129.jpg)
All the easy bit done now the hard work. Have arranged a to get a trailer of cow muck. The traditional. way says use some sea weed as well so may go and get a few sack fulls ( Will I have to wash the salt off?). Also throw some straw on for good measure.
Put The Spuds on to chit. Going with first earlys (Sharpes Express) 2 reasons one I want quick results to see if it works and also the Pigs can have some. So can any one give me any pointers.
On a side note the pigs live just over the little wall. Hope the leccy fence hold up ;D
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And note to my self resize pics before I post them :)
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What a lovely place to live. :eyelashes:
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What a lovely place to live. :eyelashes:
Thanks, Its not always that sunny but always lovely
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So here's the lay out. The bed will be 4ft wide and about 30ft long. On each side of the bed is a 2.5ft strip. Cover the centre bed with muck/straw/seaweed put the spuds into this and then and here's the hard bit, cut the edges so they can be hinged over to cover the spuds. Then may be a bit more compost/muck over the lot. As the shoots come through cover with soil from where the edges where hinged over bits where
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/IMG_20150409_153556113.jpg)
I should get 3 spuds across and say a row every 2ft knock off a foot from each end. So 42 spuds. Only got 30 seed spuds so could shorten it.
Now the question how deep do you guys think the layer of muck should be a few inches or more?
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This is interesting and starting to look impressive. If you have 30 seeds potatoes, the row is 30' long and you are going to get three rows in the width, then there will be 3' between spuds in the row. You only need 18" or 2' at the most, so you could buy more spuds or do two staggered rows.
Are you intending to use this bed as a way of clearing the ground for other veg next year? If so, the muck/straw/ seaweed layer can be fairly thick, say 9" if you have enough. Seaweed is notorious for disappearing as it rots, so don't count the depth of that in your total. I wish I had access to seaweed - I have to use the dried stuff.
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I'm all for enthusiasm but that sounds like more work than fair to call it a 'lazy bed' :)
(lazy is to get neighbour to muck spread over the patch, use tractor to plough it then rotorvator it to fluff it up, get Fiona to plant the spuds......)
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Looking forward the plan would be to use the bed next year for some thing else. Also to start a new lazy bed some where else and so on. If this is successful we would pick a bit of land out of what is now the pig field. Fiona's Job this year is to do the hinged over bit. Dont worry I have warned her to watch her back ;D
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My Fiona is erratic when it cmes to turning up.. and since she only helps me out of kindess it a tad difficult to whine.
I've just stuck another 60 in myself.. figured out how to do it without bending. Only about another 100 to go 'cos I'm cutting back on being OTT.
As for Fiona watching her back .. well I'd get a wallop from both her and OH :roflanim:
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Looks good. I gave up growing spuds in the ground as could never find them all and kept finding them growing the following year. I grow all mine in bags now.
I agree with pgkevet, doesn't really sounds Lazy to me ;D I am doing the very lazy way of getting my pigs to dig up the ground for me, then I just need to rake it and plant in it.
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No Idea how they got there name. May be to the Crofter's of old it was a Lazy way. Some hill's use to be covered with them giving the appearance of Runs and Ridges. So run rig this is reason the group got its name Runrig :thumbsup:
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To be fair of you've got really stony ground it may be easier than trying to till it.
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GO FOR IT!!!
Im right behind you ( cowering in a corner!!)
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Do you know the sea weeds that gets washed up. Can you just collect it legally dont me going round pulling it of the rocks mean the the stuff just laying there after a storm?
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In WW2 the German POW's working on the UK farms and else where in the world thought that if they cut the potato in half or put it in up side down it would not grow.. I'm pleased to say that they were wrong .
You can get at least two seed spuds for the process of one by cutting the potato in half so that there is eyes in each half. If you have lime dip the cut faces in lime to deter the insects and rot, if not you take your chances & plant them .
My dec'd FIL used to say put the cut side down so the juices run downwards off the cut .( I never noticed any difference ).
if you want to spend a bit of time you can make potato "slips" . by chitting the spuds and then carefully slicing each chit off giving it a 1/2 base of potato . stand these in a glass of water in a cool but sun lit room and the slips will grow roots quite quickly .. you can then grow potatoes from these slips.
There is quite a lot of info about the slip method on line .. a lot of Americans , Canadians & Mexicans propagate their spuds from slips .
You could always try just one well chitted potato cut it in half as I've originally said and plant it to see how it grows in your beds and use the other half to make the slips .
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Come on bucketman, get digging - we want to see these beds :farmer: :garden: :spud: :spud: :spud: :spud: :hungry: :eyelashes:
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I recall reading some biography - forgotten whose - years ago where the principle character as a kid was cutting up seed spuds "no more than two eyes per piece"
Come harvest all my small spuds go in a seperate sack to use as seeds .. as much 'cos I can't be bothered peeling the little 'uns. And they can go in a smaller hole.
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Going for the muck tomorrow. Also need to get some seaweed?. The spuds are chitting on the window sill so I have a couple of weeks also need to watch the weather we have had snow hail and sun shine today. I have not been sat round I have 2 boats that need some work doing to them
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/resize%20boat.jpg)
One in the water one waiting to go in the shed
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/reb2.jpg)
And one wait for a paint job ;D
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OK - you're forgiven ;D I'll wait patiently. Haven't planted mine yet either, for similar reasons. Do you fish from your boats?
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Do you fish from your boats?
I have done, but dont really have time. We sort of rent them out to fishermen sell the permits as well. All the boats round here get rented out for fishing. We where think of just having one a family could just take out on a nice day, but not fishing if you see what I mean.
But the spuds will be in by the end of the month we are a few weeks behind weather wise up here.
I also have my proper job to do. :roflanim:
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First load of muck is here will throw it down tomorrow. Also been thinking. As has been suggested in this topic could get the first earlys a bit closer together say only use the first 15ft. That would do 2 thing's
1 cut the folding bit down by half for now
Give me a rest from it then
2 Use the next 15ft for main crop
Any left over seed spuds could go in them potato growing bag's so it wont be a total waste if the Lazy Beds go wrong
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pgvet, why do you peel your home grown spuds? A lot of the nutrients and flavour is in or just under the skin!
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pgvet, why do you peel your home grown spuds? A lot of the nutrients and flavour is in or just under the skin!
I don't peel the first earlies.. but I have scab endemic in the soil and that hits the maincrop.. we only store the mildest affected but it's still not pretty.
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pgvet, why do you peel your home grown spuds? A lot of the nutrients and flavour is in or just under the skin!
I don't peel the first earlies.. but I have scab endemic in the soil and that hits the maincrop.. we only store the mildest affected but it's still not pretty.
Here we have people from abroad stay with us and the wife does not peel new potatoes for them. But after their meal we find a little pile of peelings on there plate.
Back to the beds.
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x230/bucketmam/DSC_0041.jpg)
Half done. We have the morning's off next week. So will get the rest of the muck then and may try and have a day out at the beach to get some Sea weed.
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You're going to have monster spuds with that lot :o :spud: :spud: :spud: :spud: :spud:
We're just off to rotavate muck into our rows before I get the tubers in. I'm growing half Setanta (brilliant roasted), quarter Cara (for mash) and quarter Picasso (not grown that last one before). The drawback of growing in rows is that you have to earth up, but it does help with the weed control. Depending on how you get on Bucketman, we might try lazy beds next year.
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The bits that get folded over. You use some earth out of here for Earthing up. Up here the 2 dicthes help with drainage.
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to keep my earthing up back-friendly I space the rows so i can run the 4-tine rotorvator between and then rake up each side.. once heavily 2-3 weeks after the spuds first break earth.
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I use a hefty great-nephew ;)
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I use the Mantis between rows, the first year for a while as we've just bought a new one to replace the one which rarely worked. It does make it easier to earth up with the soil softened and also chops the weeds.
Bucketman, I didn't realise you would have to earth up with the lazy beds......
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Some people say do it some say no need. So will play it by ear as I have said this is a test really
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When i had two allotments a couple of guysthere put the spuds in flat ground , never earthing them up . Ok ... the soil was a good quality built black loam soil and drainage was good . Their spuds were as good as anyone elses.
One thing for you spud planters if you don't know ......... it's best to grow spuds in rows north to south ( lot of other crops as well " . For the sun has the longest time to warm the soil on each side of the plant .
If you run them east to west the sun only warms the south side