Harvesting Dig vs. No Dig Potatoes - INTERESTING Results! #21

[@moniquehuijskens1950]

This was very INTERESTING...kindest regards from the Netherlands!

[@unhuz]

Hi, i'm from Lisbon, but i spent my childhood on the Arganil area, a bit north from you guys, and the potato planting/harvesting was a big anual thing... one difference in planting relative to you was that we always planted the potatoes cutted in half, and closer to one another, so more plants. We also made a bed of compost on the bottom of the trench. We also water them from time to time, but not much. The plots were used yearly for decades for potatos, corn mixed with pumpkins, and cabbages. Maybe your low yield comes from the fact that the ground was abandoned for a long time. I always heard the old ones saying that the ground needs to be used/planted frequently to become more fertile. Anyway, keep up your excelent work... it's a must see for me.

[@stuffifollow]

It's a good comment to follow!

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Interestingly this is not what our neighbours do ... they don’t add anything to the soil, and only use this particular plot for their annual potatoes. They do spray fertiliser however, so maybe that compensates for the soil. They delivered us a sack of their potatoes today, they were similar size to the ones we got, but we couldn’t compare yield

[@unhuz]

@@MAKEDOGROW , and do they use the plot every year? do they rotate crops there or only potatoes? i find fascinating that even on a little country like Portugal, things can be done differently from region to region ;)

[@MAKEDOGROW]

@@unhuz we’ve only been here for two seasons so can’t be definitive in answering .... but both years have been potatoes (with a small number of tall kale plants), nothing else, no rotation and nothing in the off season. We’re firm believers that there’s no one way, or right way, to do anything.... everyone does what suits their needs and context 😀 But always interesting .... every day is an adventure

[@unhuz]

@@MAKEDOGROW Yeap... i agree... there is no ONE way.... what i like to do is try to know two or three different ways and then use them to find my own.

[@leestimis9264]

I have always planted and grown extra knowing I was going to share some with the animals. It always will happen so plan that way i say. I learned this the first year I ever had a garden. Nature will take WHT it wants. Found out that it is better to have the attitude of sharing with them with gowing extra than just enough for me. It works out fine with this plan. I love gardening and growing. So satisfying !!

[@SwimCoach8]

First, a digging fork will make digging potatoes much easier. Second, my guess is your neighbors have been gardening and amending their soils for more than one season. Your soil should not have compacted that much during the growing season. Organic matter/composting will make a world of difference in you dig beds. Your no dig beds are nearly completely supplemented soil. Even the cardboard adds nutrients and loosens the soil. Give your dig areas time. I think you did well for a first season. Build the soil and quit looking over the fence at your neighbors garden hehehehehe. Thanks for the update and I can't wait for the garden tour!

[@sherry2836]

Interesting video. Many channels use certain words or phrases in each video more than they realize. One uses "literally", another uses "delicious", another uses "it is what it is", another uses "homestead". another uses "stunning". But I must say your "interesting" counter beat out even the "homestead" user! Love your harvest video and your garden looks amazing. Looking forward to the tour.

[@itsmewende]

After watching Charles Dowding on here for years, I had no doubt the no dig would be the winner. Plus the ones the critters ate, up the atty for the no dig too. I do love a good garden experiment, thanks for sharing. I'm enjoying your adventure in your new home, it's obviously been hard work, but obviously so worth it. Hope you guys have a nice weekend.

[@marcob1729]

As they noted in the video, there were many more factors than dig vs no dig. I'm not shocked at all that the bed with a recent history of planting and compositing, and given a HEALTHY dose of compost did better than planting into a fallow field with a shallow trough of fertilization. As we all saw at the end, the raised bed did the best, which is about as "dig" as it gets, since it was just put in this year. Planting time and soil compaction seem to have been the biggest factors when all the info is taken into account. Not dig vs no dig

[@suehowie152]

Love Charles and No Dig..

[@itsmewende]

@@suehowie152 ....I call him my garden guru, he's the best.

[@QGDeclined]

I did, indeed, find this quite interesting! Can't wait to see the next generation results! -- I also love all the farm-raised viewers chiming in with their expertise! Great watch and read, everyone.

[@wizel10]

I'm farming potatoes in the country next to you. Three key important considerations: 1 - Potatoes grows mostly up and horizontal (they don't go further down), that's why soil needs to be added on top as they continue to grow up ("aporcar" in spanish), 2 - loose soil is needed for potatoes to easily extend and grow, 3 - food (you can add compost or even manure directly in contact with the potatoes). Potatoes type/class/variety have also some influence (from the color, looks like Rudolph that is a good choice). Watering is needed, but not in excess. Better give a good watering and then let dry. I water every 2 weeks, but frequency depends on the area and soil. Did or not dig contributes to soil fertilization, but your main difference (also in your raised bed) is the amount of loose soil on top and sides of your seed potato. For fertilization, most should be add at beginning (mix of compost and manure is ideal). Mid cycle, a potassium rich fertilizer will help to make potatoes larger.

[@permissiontoshine]

This is really interesting. Thankyou. 💖🐨💖🌈

[@moiragoldsmith7052]

It is good to share tips regarding the microclimate. We need to acquiesce to the weather, know the plot and love the soil eh!🥰.

[@rachelfrees1268]

You’ve made a believer of me re no dig gardens. I’m 82 and raised many/many gardens and loved every second doing so. We always amended the soil after tilling with manure etc. Weeds were the bane of every garden. A river ran thru our farm in Va., and we used the river silt mixed in with the soil. Watching you two is such fun. 👏👏💕

[@wolfiecoo]

How my grandma has been doing it for 5 decades rn is: Mix in compost into the soil up to a whole shovels deep. Add compost on top and with a rake mix it in and make the soil extra fluffy. Make slightly elevated heaps for the potato plants. And rotate the field on a 4 year basis. 3 fields with potatos and 1 field composted but having cover crops on it.

[@sereniebellini]

I never thought a video about growing potatoes would be so 13 interesting! lol You guys make the most entertaining videos. Thank you!

[@hemlock40]

Very interesting indeed. We experimented (also in central Portugal) with potatoes between a dig bed and raised beds with wildly differing results depending on things like shade in the morning, soil drainage, soil quality, depth of the planting, etc. Rows of potatoes right next to each other had a different result. Our results were acceptable, but the elderly locals nearby using simple cheap low labor methods had much larger potatoes, and many more of them. It's a learning process for sure. I'm not even sure what I learned yet. Baffling.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Ha, that is interesting 😀 There definitely doesn’t seem to be a one way, or right way. Everyone is telling us all kinds of different things we must do .... yet our neighbours do the low labour method you refer to ... till, make some furrows, throw potatoes in and wait. Pretty sure they did one spray of synthetic fertiliser. Yesterday they delivered us a sack of theirs, equally small, even though their plants were much better. So who knows ..... Ultimately we’ll be growing our potatoes over in our olive grove (we think), and might have to do a whole load more controlled experiments. So glad we have years to work out how to do all this gardening/farming stuff 😂

[@suepumphrey1559]

I love the gardening playlist.I wonder if you ever get a shot of the dog who keeps barking at you both. How patient you are!

[@stevestephens8299]

I grew up on The Wirral Penninsular in Cheshire County and the soil was clay on top of sandstone ( 5 feet down). My father was a Horticulturist and fruit grower. His treatment was to dig in unslaked lime and chimney soot and we grew all sorts of vegetables to the envy of out neighbors. Seems to break the soil up nicely in my experience. Keep having fun!

[@HeatherNaturaly]

I have a no dig garden, too. My potato plants looked fantastic! BUT..when they died back and I dug them, the medium was bone dry from top to clay base and the harvest was about what you got from your no dig bed 11 plants. I have only the rain, for water. I gave these potatoes as much water as I possibly could. My bath water every day plus tank water, but we've had a drought and scorching hot temperatures and it just all evaporated. I have to figure something else out because I replanted for a Fall harvest. Praying for rain...

[@moiragoldsmith7052]

Find out when the locals sow their potatoes...it tends to be Good Friday for NE UK. I dig a trench, put freshly cut grass, seaweed and comfrey in the bottom of the trench, sow my chitted potatoes, then wait for the magic to begin. As soon as they pop some greenery out of the soil, I draw soil up around them. I do this about 3 times when the plants are young (this obliterates the weed seedlings too). I tend to wait until the flowers show and usually get an abundant harvest. A cheeky tip, when the plants are nearing maturity, you can tickle some potatoes out of the surrounding soil whilst leaving the main haulm in😂👍. I do no dig also...but not for potatoes! I never seem to get a good crop this way. (Veg gardener for 42 yrs). I LOVE to see your progress. Every good wish to you both. 💖

[@stan525]

i was taught to Double Dig! dig one shovel depth & throw dirt to the right all across area. on last row turn around and dig again starting with the lower area dig second time throw to right . in the end you will have double dug the area. I hope this makes since

[@IPC0101]

The garden is looking very productive and lush

[@chrislarsen2684]

Great to know - No Dig is the way to go!! So much easier, also with less space involved - more sustainable - the way of the future to help with the food shortages!!

[@steveiboy]

lots of points could be made regarding standing on your no dig beds, soil improved way better in no dig. looked like watering was more consistent. In the dig bed very little soil amendment, soil looked void of organic matter, the compaction in the dig was horrific. When you set them it looked like they was basically set on concrete. Lots of other points, but i think if some of the points i mentioned was addressed, next time your yields would be a lot better. Great content! All the very best to you both

[@carlagarrett8584]

I got new dirt this year (12 yards), for the garden and raised beds, and that new dirt just made all the difference on everything.

[@garykoblitz4932]

Many gardener's don't know that there are determinate and indeterminate potatoes. The mounding is done differently for each. Determinate grow horizontally only on one plane. Determinate grow up the stem as more mounding is done. I recommend chitting the eyes to minimize the seed potatoes required. Finally, I grew in grow bags this year, which facilitates harvesting. I understand buckets work, also.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Ohh, that’s interesting 😀 ... we’ll have to look up the varieties we planted to check what type they are. Definitely want to try growing in bags next year ... we have so many compost bags that would be perfect for it

[@paulagoulart8125]

I no longer can garden,so every Saturday I garden watching your experiments and your patience,you are both so meticulous with everything you do ,amazing.Love the humor ! Blessings to you both.

[@fay0005]

Interestingly I’ve been searching how to best grow potatoes too. I’m in Australia and cold climate however I came across an older gentleman KZbinr who was vegetarian and mostly self sufficient, he said “remember if you want leafy greens bump up the nitrogen, if you want tubers ie potatoes (and I’m assuming root crops), amend with blood and bone.” I’m trying that this year as my experiment… I thought you guys may find this interesting too🙂 loving the content!

[@dropshot1967]

containers and grow bags also work really well for growing potatoes. They give lots of control over soil quality, humidity and pests

[@uteweyer1548]

no-dig all the way for me. It is astounding how well everything grows

[@sallyrowland6063]

I know I keep banging on about planting by the moon calendar, but I know there’s times good for planting leaf crops, and others good for root crops. Your lush potato crop may be super leafy, but have few spuds. Also, use some gypsum clay breaker ~ it’s fabulous. Great work ~ very INTERESTING 😂 👋 🇦🇺

[@leftytrower8892]

Very interesting and can’t wait for the follow up video.

[@bettypearson5570]

I kept having problems with voles eating my root crops until I decided to use grow bags and pots. Potatoes were in the grow bags which I lined up on the edge of the graveled driveway. Underground pests don't burrow as much around gravel. Some of my other root crops I put in pots and put in various locations around the deck and patio and I decided to also put in a raised bed with what is called hardware cloth in the U.S. (1/2 inch wire mesh) at the bottom of the bed before filling the bed. Haven't had a problem since and was very surprised at how well the grow bags did.

[@niascheiber]

Excellent info. Very very INTERESTING 🤓 thank u for the “catch up” clips to get me up to date too.

[@lindajoyce1808]

Have enjoyed the garden experiment especially the no-dig.

[@loubob21]

I see many gardeners also growing potatoes in 5 gallon buckets. Easy to make the soil/compost mix as you like, easy to move plants if needed, and you can store them in the bucket until ready to be eaten. You might find this method a level 16 interesting.

[@MissouriCrookedBarnHomestead]

New subscriber here. I'm in the US, but I'm enjoying what you're doing in Portugal and have entertained the notion of moving somewhere overseas in some years time. My partner and I have considered it for some time, especially after what is going on with the political situation here. Portugal has been on the table of consideration. My partner is also a Programmer/Coder from way back since the late 60's. We are located in Cheyenne Wyoming and urban garden, but let me tell you, it's difficult with the city regulations and being surrounded by city folks and their ideas. Your garden and land looks beautiful.

[@FaithRoss2817]

This was a very INTRESTING video. LOL. I love watching your videos you two are great.

[@BrokenBackMountains]

No dig is similar to the ancient lazy bed system of Ireland and Scotland. The secret was to feed the beds every year with seaweed, compost, shells etc. Also, my family in Lithuania, feed the soil for the dig potatoes but they cut the seed potatoes in two with a couple of eyes on each bit.

[@elizabethmusso5946]

The garden looks great! Wow!

[@terrimccullough724]

I can’t wait to dig out potatoes and see what surprises are under the soil. I just planted our second Set that should be ready early fall.

[@FlippingSloth]

the dig bed is also on a slight decline so water will roll down rather than sit and go into the beds.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Both sets of beds are on the same incline - might not come across on video but the gradient is about the same

[@FlippingSloth]

@@MAKEDOGROW oh okay well I guess it must just be bad soil conditions

[@jamesgrover2005]

I've been harvesting early potatoes grown in buckets, it's worked very well, we've got very little space here in the Netherlands, so it's possible to stack buckets in a pyramid until they get going and then when they're done I moved the buckets to a useless space for storage.

[@sgrvtl7183]

I enjoy all your videos. You two make it very interesting and personable😊🌻

[@shandybenoit9732]

We love your videos here in Canada. It's giving us hope and helpful information for our eventual escape from here. We also think there should be a game, everytime "interesting" is said you take a drink 😁. Keep up the inspiring work and videos, thank you both so much!

[@chrislarsen2684]

Your string growing method is looking lovely - that is how I like to grow tomatoes - no blight and the fruit keeps going upward with new growth!! Looks like your garden is thriving!!

[@gaynor3976]

Hmm interesting! Was great to watch the comparisons in the potatoes and what conclusions you came too. Now you can enjoy eating them and let us know how that goes. Have a good weekend and week ahead xx

[@Jan-Boer]

Thanks for the video, for a bit of normal yield with soil preparation you have to go to at least 5 kg per square meter. Good luck.

[@LookUpTheKalergiPlanWhitePeeps]

I'm absolutely enamored with this channel. I *love* seeing your progress, I'm all over the place as to where I am in watching your content but have watched quite a bit, even subscribed on the first video. (Hello from Eastern North Carolina in the U.S. by the way!) Side note, I used to work in tobacco as a child, ages 9-12 (at first it was to save up for a train set) then I found I enjoyed driving a farm tractor pulling double trailers behind it, the money it put in my wallet coming from an impoverished childhood helped too, so your tobacco videos brought some nostalgia if you will. The tobacco I worked in had huge wide leaves, so yours was a little different and all this time I never new the benefits that you guys showed tobacco has. I don't like commenting on newer vids because it seems those comments get lost in one another, so I figured I'd compile my thoughts and leave them here. I have high functioning autism so I'm weird like that lol. I wish you guys all the best of luck and thank you much for sharing your lives and experiences for me to find. You are two extremely intelligent very remarkable most beautiful people. Every video warms my heart. Please don't ever stop!

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Glad you’re enjoying our journey 😀 Something else we learnt about tobacco … it totally grows through the winter! I sowed some seeds in October as an experiment, and they took, crazy! We’ve had a couple of frosts in the last week and the plants (in pots, but outside) are still going strong. Hardy plants!!

[@fynbo1007]

The frost damage can be avoided by watering the potatoes plants in the morning before the sun heat the plant and damage it. The maneuver had to be mixed with the soil so the potatoes don’t get to much nutrients a once, they will be burn if planted in pure maneuvers. Thank you for sharing your amazing journey with us. God bless you and your family.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

We always water at dusk or dawn so as to avoid the sun damage. Not sure how watering affects frost however?

[@Dooban]

@@MAKEDOGROW Watering can help with frost in two ways. It's common to water orchards when its freezing in the spring so ice crystals form around the buds of plants. It insulates them with ice against the cold weather outside. The other way is watering plants in the morning. Your water is above freezing so it slowly warms up the plant when it's the coldest(in the morning). Also freezing water emits heat, but if it's freezing you must continue spraying.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

@@Dooban ohh, that’s fascinating. Definitely something we’ll bear in mind - but I assume that means we’d need to water very early .... frost time here is 3-6am in the winter. Any thoughts why we didn’t get frost in the no dig are ... does compost (as opposed to soul) keep the plants warmer?

[@Dooban]

@@MAKEDOGROW Definitely think its because of how active your plot is compared to bare ground. You should do some temperature measurements with one of those cheap IR thermometers, could be cool!

[@fynbo1007]

@@MAKEDOGROW The water will melt the frozen part of the plant so it won’t get damage by the sun

[@kenstreat6127]

Usually there is a first year bonanza with a freshly dug patch. The soil is full of nutrients and the pests aren't established. My first vegi garden was in an area where we removed the turf. It gave me a very deluded view of how easy gardening was going to be, everything grew spectacularly. Huge carrots! Massive cauliflowers. Abundant potatoes. It's been downhill ever since!

[@andreacrashe9894]

*Love your experiment on growing spuds. well done Kylie & Guy.*

[@footplate0]

It is recommended that a piece of virgin soil be double dug and incorporate compost in both layers as this will vastly improve your crop. Interesting experiment and thanks for posting

[@bearders22]

Dug up our early crop of charlottes this week. These were from last years harvest where we saved some to chitt. Wonderful waxy flavour. The experienced gardener next door thinks I'm mad as I always "mound" at the same time as I plant. Just seems a lot of pfaff to do it after they start to break the surface. Just shows as you have proved, there is no wrong or right way - just do what works for you. The extra challenge we have is that our beds are on a slope. The rhubarb at the bottom are triffid like whilst the potatoes do require constant watering. Isn't nature just fab?

[@permissiontoshine]

Nature is certainly a wonderous, interesting beast. The opportunities to learn and grow (whether that be via plants or just personally) is endless.

[@samstevens7888]

Charlottes are one I grow every year at my allotment. The flavour is amazing. Plus if you store them in the right way they keep for a good few months.

[@kathryndavis6986]

Thank you for vlogging your journey! I really enjoy seeing it. I would love to be doing the same, but life circumstances will not permit. Wishing you both well from Eastern Oregon, USA.

[@lorimontcalm9086]

I'd be interested to see how you will be storing the potatoes you've dug during the heat of the Portugal summer. Also in the results from the raised bed. Don't give up experimenting!!

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Last year, and this year, we put the sacks of spuds in the coolest room on the ground floor of the house. There’s probably a little too much light coming in, but it’s the best we can do at the moment

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

@@MAKEDOGROW I also remember from my childhood that the potatoes needed to be dry to store well.

[@gondolin12]

@@MAKEDOGROW grandpa used to bury potato harvest in boxes with sand in our basement. that way they stored for months

[@FromThePrairies]

I use potato’s as the first thing to grow in a new garden as the very action of planting and harvesting helps to develop the soil. Yield is also not prolific but it’s a great first crop for a virgin garden.

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

i love your intellectual curiosity! It makes everything interesting. Your dig bed will yield better every year, but I wonder whether it is worth it. We grew determinate potatoes and thus mounded the spud rows with loose soil. My father also used the double dig method, but the soil had to be dry enough to do it.

[@MAKEDOGROW]

We agree, though the no dig might have better yield the inputs to those beds would be better served growing veg we can’t easily buy. Eventually we’ll create our dig areas in the olive grove where we can also do cover crops and this feed the soil more efficiently and effectively

[@Zorbakozak]

A farmer homestead lady soaks any weeds including roots found in the intended growing area, in water for a week or so. Then uses this for fertilizers. It has TREMENDOUS success. Their INTERESTING reasoning is, if those particular weeds or plants thrive in THAT soil, than once you use those plants juices and add it to that soil, your production will be that much more greater. Your weeds will tell you what you need. 😊

[@elizabethtoet1113]

Thanks for another great video. Very interesting re the yields. glad you are getting some useful feedback

[@flowersflowers473]

Seeing how well kept and organised your vegetable garden is gives me a lot of joy :) Also love all your experiments :)

[@McFraneth]

This winter mulch heavily with horse manure. The winter rains will wash in the nutrients. Then ready for spring sowing. I am soooo jealous!

[@leestimis9264]

I also wanted to add to your Last video about oyster shells that you are unable to get your hands on. Diatomaceous earth is easily available. It is already ground up And very helpful eaten and also put some on the ground so they can roll into their feathers. Takes care of pests inside and out for the chickens. Get the kind that is not mixed with other chemicals. You can even use it as an amendment to soil for pest control there also.

[@catface101]

You could standardise it by using the bucket method and filling one with the soil from the scrub land and the other with compost soil to see the direct difference

[@victorgoncalves2442]

Ummm , very interesting !!! lol . in Portugal , the area we live is vey sandy , soil very loose ,very good crops of potatoes .

[@Tigger4747]

I plant potatoes in the first year of crop rotation on my North London allotment and add plenty of compost to the trenches I dig. Of course this soil has been used for various things and improved over the years. Phosphate or superphosphate and potash (eg ash from a bonfire or your wood burner) are all good for potatoes if you are not against adding such things. I find watering is quite important for some varieties. They are generally earthed up twice, or more if the potatoes start to poke out of the soil. When to dig them up depends on whether they are earlies, 2nd earlies or main crop. Here, main crops are not dug up for 6 or 7 months. Pink fir apple are planted in March or April and not dug up until October unless the blight gets them. Presumably you don't have that problem in Portugal! The main thing that matters is water and nutrients, so I'm not very surprised the ones you planted in pure compost did better. As others have said, maybe the soil in the grassy areas is rather poor and needs more work.

[@sashacat53]

If you have the space which you appear to have, maybe you need to rotate your beds and always have one that you are adding mulch etc to build up the nutrients.

[@simonlewis6276]

Potatoes need what’s called a double dig .Soil compaction under them effects potato yield more than any other factor .Manure will give you bigger healthier plants and bigger spuds but not necessarily more tubers to begin with .Talk to your neighbours ! Tip 1 ,By the way for trench digging with an enchilada a bit shorter handle to suit your particular physique makes life easier and for a more efficient Rhythmic swing . Tip2 The best way to secure the head on the shaft is to wrap a strip of soft leather around the shaft and bang the iron head over the leather wrap from the thinner hand grip end of the shaft .( First put a saw cut in the business end of the wooden handle .Cut the surplus bit of handle sticking out beyond the iron shaft head and bang in the metal wedges into the wooden handle saw cut .Soak the head end and leather wrap in a bucket of water over night ,that will tighten the whole thing up even further and the damp leather will keep in so .Keep the blade sharp with a quick pass of the angle grinder or course metal file .Knock out any dings caused by rocks .Both tips I learnt from a 70 year old Portuguese farm labourer who spent his whole life digging trenches of all shapes and sizes and depths and purposes with this one tool .Happy digging ! Cheers .

[@joanklaczek4009]

Something to note. When you have dug the row, it helps to let the spuds lie in the sun for the afternoon to “harden the skins”. Also note, that new potato skin is fragile, so if you throw it into the bins, you’ll bruise it and promote rot.

[@greggmcclelland8430]

My raised beds are doing great and ground level garden is doing great as well for potatoes. I have not tilled either this year. just added compost(wood chips, food waste, chicken poop) from the chicken yard. Mounding with straw and grass clippings and 2 year old composted wood chips. I think if you want to break up the clay at your scale, a broad fork is the best prep. You don't want to turn over the soil. And when you weed the garden, you can just drop the weeds right where you pull them. The weeds pull nutrients from deep and have tap roots that break up the soil. The fungi structures in the ground are there to provide nutrients and dead weed roots give the bacteria and fungi something to feed off of. Another thing I have seen is putting cardboard down on top of the compost and wood chips on top. Then cut through the cardboard to plant. I will try that on new ground to convert grass to garden.

[@trevorwindle8980]

Hi guys the Chinese market gardeners in little bay Sydney grew all in sandy soil and mounded 30 cms once planted they used a ripe smelling manure mix of pig sheep and straw sprinkled over the top and you have never seen veggies so big , potash is a must to me 👍❤️❤️❤️🙏

[@suzilouden5964]

Seems you can't have TOO MUCH COMPOST......good organic soil is the secret. I grow all my spuds in buckets, not for lack of space, just for ease of planting, care & harvesting. Bon courage & thanx for the great video...😊

[@MAKEDOGROW]

We were just discussing using buckets/containers this morning .... but we’d need to buy a lot of them to grow the amount we want (I think). We might try cardboard boxes, have seen good results elsewhere

[@suzilouden5964]

@@MAKEDOGROW yes, I've also seen old cardboard boxes used to great effect - defo worth a try. If you packed the boxes close together they would support each other as they start to decompose. Better start collecting. Have a great weekend 😊

[@ChristineKelly1000]

@@MAKEDOGROW try 20L drums.

[@cheskydivision]

The no dig was all compost and very soft ground. Possibly mound more soil on the plants as they grow and more compost.

[@champagnjethersiahdduvenag6078]

Inspiring. I love your family

[@McFraneth]

RHS to learn about cation exchange etc. Heavy clay needs sharp sand. And planting green manures to break up the soil. I think you should plant green manures in the Dig patch, nitrogen fixers and disinfectants like mustard etc. Good luck. This is brilliant.

[@ritajohnson5594]

Always told to wait after flowering to dig potatoes I add straw and also look at other varieties such as an indeterminate you can plant succession right now i have 5 that are 2 weeks apart as well as grow later in fall in the Washington area

[@kg1478]

Lazy dog farm on KZbin did a video on a scientific paper that if you pull the flowers from the potato plant it will increased our yield.

[@keithaspin5160]

I love you guys !!!!! I loved your potato experiments....it was ALL very 'I N T E R E S T I N G'!!!!!!! LOL Best wishes from lil ole freezin england!!!

[@freddieivory625]

Enjoyed your vid I and trials!! Thanks for sharing

[@bobyonker3100]

Thanks for sharing all of your interesting experiments. Are there any potato recipes to come?

[@bryansarty3821]

Interesting!!! Great episode!

[@SweetisMel]

Indeed INTERESTING! 😜 My dig potatoes didn’t do well at all. Most are very small, but not surprising since my digging was done by hand and not very deep. Hoping to up my game next season.

[@antoniomaximino1410]

The preparation of the soil is the secret ! You must spread the organic material through the soil and than you must mixed. The soil must be loose under the potatoes. And before you put the potatoes on the soil, just put another batch of organic matter on the bottom.

[@stuffifollow]

A plow before the milling would be an excellent way of getting better soil.

[@jackpatteeuw9244]

I agree 100% ! Try making an "inverted" raised bed. • At the end of the growing season, dig a trench about the width of the tiller about 1m deep, removing all of the soil. Fill with wood chip and let rest. • A couple of weeks before planting, fill the trench with more wood chips so that it is no more than 30cm below grade. • To plant mix the removed soil about 50/50 with manure and fill to within 15cm. Plant the seed potatoes, and cover with more 50/50 mix. • Hill with the 50/50 mix. • You h Will have to keep adding wood chips at the end of each season as the old ones decay.

[@permissiontoshine]

Another great video Kylie and Guy. HELLOOOOO from Perth, WA! I've been avidly anticipating and watching EVERY one of your videos since I discovered it a few months after you started your channel; I simply haven't had the time to comment until now. GREAT WORK. Excellent, excellent quality videos and information within (without being overly 'professional') - you've nailed the combo of all of those things (minus the Go Pro obviously 🙄) so well. It's a joy to come across a channel where it's obvious you've put so much thought and planning into what you're filming and sharing with us. Clearly you're both such intelligent, hard working people. I love that - working hard, but smart. It's my jam.😆 I love watching how your different personalities bounce off each other. You're a great team.💖🐨💖🌈 PS - I live in a flat, so have limited gardening capacity (I've a dwarf Meyer lemon, I'm growing my own garlic x20 for the first time this winter and as far as crop plants, I also have a hyper-productive small chilli bush who this year provided me with 87 large bundles of joy) but I love learning about all of the kind of things you are sharing with us. As an aside, I experience some complex 'life circumstances' which make 'the going' quite rough at times. YOUR VIDEOS HAVE HELPED ME THROUGH SOME DARK DAYS. I'm sharing this, in case you didn't already realise (I suspect you do) the extended kind of benefits your contributions can bring to people's lives. If I ever get to travel overseas again, Portugal is a country quite high on my list, as I missed out on going there when I did the whole 'go overseas for a year' in my early 20s. Maybe I'll get to pop in and have a cuppa, or some of that aquadent you bravely attempted to make palatable a while back. THANKYOU BOTH SO, SO MUCH. I'm looking forward to checking out your website this weekend. I've also been telling family, friends, colleagues about your channel. 🤗🐨🥳

[@MAKEDOGROW]

Thankyou for your Lind words 🥰 It’s always great to hear how we have a positive impact in other people’s lives. It’s one of our driving forces .... to bring positivity, simplicity and realism into people’s lives ... and inspire and motivate everyone/someone to make small changes ... all bundled up with humour and a little learning 😃

[@permissiontoshine]

@@MAKEDOGROW you are welcome. I forgot to say the 'interesting' meter was so funny, particularly at the end when it sounded like it was losing its mind. 🤣Priceless. Hope you are having a wonderful day.

[@nicarazzi]

Interesting! As always, an awesome video.

[@kathybaugh3823]

Very interesting results.😂 I predict the raised bed will give you a good yield too. I think Kylie is right about the soil beneath the potatoe. They do need to be able to grow and take up nutrients so if you do that again you know to dig deeper and to add more compost. We live and learn. Funny how you can laugh at yourself and count how many times you used interesting. I will wait another couple of weeks before I harvest mine. What will be the next experiment? 👍👍

[@Pipscape]

Compost, compost, compost. Organic material will enrich nutrient poor compacted soil, but you do need to mix it in with dig spaces. And you do have to break up compacted soils for dig style growing. No dig has had extra nutrients added for a long time and the watering is more consistent there, too. That richness makes a huge difference! Organic matter and adequate moisture is key.

[@lindakurtz2653]

In the dug area, raking back the loose topsoil and broadforking the lower level of dirt to break the compaction should help all the soil life proliferate.

[@HelenRullesteg]

That was exactly my thought, using a broadfork might be very useful in this context. I'm not a fan of rototillers, the do loosen the top soil but everything just stays compacted underneath.

[@lottagremlin9995]

Yes you are right!!! In the dig patch. Feed it with grasclipping around the plants it will when thick 4-5 cm thick. Preserve the moisture and eventually you get worms in. You need much more fresh compost and mulch. You have to dig a old compact soil by hand about 20-30 cm deep and feed it with cow shit, thick layer, mulch and turn top to bottom. Ones a year. Preferably in autumn, you have heavy clay and you then get in air for the micro life to start. I would recommend a better spade, a pointed one that cuts the soils. Fiskars have a excellent one I bought one 20 years ago and a wide flat fingered fork not a round one. In clay that fork will be your life and back saver. I use it for most things. In havey clay to take something out of the ground you need to wiggle or losen the soil’s. So for havesting potatoes for example place the fork close to the plant and bend and the clay will free the potato plant. I normal go the raw down and first losen the plant lift with the fork and then dig some more. Backing down the row. Leave the leave’s in the grown after your self, burying the plant with the next soil. When you are digging take to custom to turn the soil top goes in bottom of the hole. That way you mixing it. Your machine maybe can do some of this work but you need a plow not a mulcher., A plow also turns the soil over and airs it. Good old arm grease. The first year is always worst. Talk to a cow farmer for fat, straw bed, manure. Avoid saw dust beds the compost process takes to much out of the manure. If possible get a hole tractor scoop ore two, what you can manage and spread out and dig down. In a couple of years you will have the fatest soil in the neighbourhood. Repeat yearly and during growing cover soil with mulch, gras cut is high on nutrients and is fantastic weeding. Keep covering during plant life. The best of luck and I love your channel. Less is more! Example of fork: Xact Soil Work Fork L 💪🏻🌻

[@chronicfish]

Another great vlog guys! This is all very *interesting.* 😋❤

[@paulbanks92]

As some people have mentioned, getting your soil right is key, plenty of bulky organic matter, also laying green materials in the trench before putting your seeds potatoes in will help, if you are working on clay soil, you might want to research flocculation and if my memory serves me right adding lime helps break up the clay over time, but you'd need to check your soil ph to make sure it's suitable for what you are growing. Good luck

[@barkerk100]

Double-digging the whole bed was my father’s favourite effective way of quickly improving the soil. Start with a spade deep trench at one side of the bed, turn over the bottom of the trench to a forks depth (the double dig), turn in some manure and compost in this second depth layer, then cover this trench by digging an adjacent and adjoining trench, alongside. Double dig with a fork, turn in nutrients, then just continue until exhaustion. Very effective for potatoes.

[@moiragoldsmith7052]

Yes, I agree with Dad...this is a great way to work with a new plot. I do like to earth up potatoes too. As soon as the shoots show I put more earth on top, I do this about 3 times. This keeps the weeds at bay and one season of this hard work...set the plot up for many years to come. 💖

[@victorgoncalves2442]

That's exactly how my granddad use to do in Portugal ,and also my dad . Also he used the grass on the bottom of the trench upsidedown (roots facing up) as compost , nothing waisted .

[@maeveskelly4686]

My dad did something similar every year in March (in Ireland). Always had a good potato yield. Also rotated where the potatoes were planted each year to prevent nitrogen depletion which can happen if you plant in the same spot every year (I have heard- I’m no expert).

[@martinjames3950]

I always dig my potatoes patch over then plant under black plastic always pleased with the results

[@KS-cz2rb]

Use a broadfork (or grelinette). It helped me a lot to not disturb the soil too much but loosen it up and get air and water in it. My soil got so much better after the second season using it.

[@KS-cz2rb]

Also: I use nettle manure all the time. Water with it every 2-4 weeks. Organic and has alot of power.

[@veemount3803]

Shoring-up is quite important. A good way to see this is to plant 3 tubers in a 30L pot. A good couple of inches of soil in the bottom of the pot then rest the chitted tubers on top and add enough compost/soil on top to cover the tubers. When you see green growth coming, cover that growth and repeat until pot is filled. Once flowered and greenery is wilting it’s time to harvest. As it’s in a pot it will definitely need watering regularly.

[@simplylivingsimply9948]

Hi Guys, well done on your experiment. Sometimes it's the best way to learn. Every garden is different. My mother grew up on a farm in Poland and I remember her saying two things about growing potatoes that have stuck with me over the years. One was that potatoes were used to break up the soil as a first planting to prepare the ground for other crops. They can grow in hard soils, but I never did ask her what the yields were like in that instance. The other thing she would say is that potatoes don't like too much water so they didn't water them. Needless to say that does not work for us here in southern Australia in the drier, hotter parts of the year and from what I can gather it is not too dissimilar where you are living. We grow potatoes year round and the harvests differ quite a bit depending on the time of year we start them as well. Your neighbours might be helpful here too. Perhaps the reason they are not needing to water is that they have been working the soil for some time and it has better water holding capacity than that which you are planting in because it is lacking hummus and is too compacted to soak up the water which just runs off it. Anyway onwards and upwards :) I love watching your channel and I am always inspired by the amazing work you are doing and the progress you are making. It would be great to have neighbours like you :) All the best

[@davidbloch5370]

Yes you learned that improving the soil over time gives better yields. Taking dry clay and adding loom like hummus, grass cuttings adds nutrients as well as retains water. A good fertilizer helps as well. Find out what a particular plant requires and feed it every other week.

[@deborahh3912]

Very interesting 😄. Love how you are experimenting, even with the humble spud. Have you thought about cover crops to fertilise and loosen soil structure by any chance you know that thing the permaculture crowd do?

[@sbraga02]

Hi! Your results are very similar to mine. In the dig area the soil gets very compacted and the potatoes don't have room to grow( we can almost see the shape of small rocks carved in some potatoes) and also the quality of the soil is not the best, we try to add some compost but we don't have enough for the moment. At the same time we grew some in containers full of compost, and add some natural fertilizer, and the result so far is good, not excellent but good, it's the easiest way to grow potatoes and I'm trying carrots right now. Next time try also planting potato peel and see the results. Love the show.

[@NickGranville]

Soil quality probably had more effect than the dig or no dig method in this case. The dig bed looks like it was compact soil devoid of organic matter (other than the small amount you added at the source. In saying this, the no dig method is a great way to do things. Soil quality and watering is key as it sounds like you found out

[@thomasclarke468]

My father used to talk about ‘double digging’ to plant spuds !

[@lanaosterfield9989]

Kylie may be familiar with ABC gardening program which suggests mounding potatoes with straw and compost I tried this the first time I grew them in a chicken wire circle and got a very good crop from one plant. Those plants left in your dig garden will benefit from some feeding and mulching although I know you are looking at not putting a lot of work into them those in your raised bed will possibly give you your best crop providing your darling voles are not in there.From memory you put wire net at the bottom to stop their invasion I think???? Good luck Lana Australia.

[@RQCK0N]

Please note that a rotavator will 'polish' the bottom of where it is used and this needs to be broken up with a digging with a garden fork (buy a good one otherwise it'll wreck your back). Actually the best thing to do it dig the ground with a fork first and then only rotavate about 80% of that leaving the bottom broken up. When you initially trench the furrows some compost and chicken manure in first, then the seed potatoes then build up the furrow by trenching between. You should also try to keep weeds down as any other growth 'sucks' the nutrients out of the soil.

[@ennykraft]

I grew up on a farm in Germany and we grew a lot of potatoes. We only used the dig method so this was a very fascinating video. My 2 cents (although the climate is very different): soil is very important. In the north of Germany where the soil contains more sand, the yield is higher than what we got. They don't like dense and loamy soil. It also takes time for good soil to develop. Newly broken ground is awful for plants. Dense, poor in nutrients and lacking microorganisms and worms. I follow a woman on IG who created little worm farms in her new raised beds. Will you plant avocados? I know they got a bad rep for needing water but citrus trees need the same and the nutritional value of the fruits is much higher. Crops that don't grow here (like sweet potatoes and groundnuts) are fascinating to me. Thank you for the fantastic videos. I found your channel last weekend and am having a great time watching them.