How to grow sweet potatoes in straw bales - harvest loads of sweet potatoes without having to dig!

[@CurlyQsgarden]

That is amazing! Yes, please make an instructional video about the conditioning process. I’ll have to try this when I get a bigger garden space!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Will do! I might not have enough footage from this year but I’ll do a comprehensive one probably March when I’m getting the next years garden in!

[@RunW-TheBigDogs]

Can you do regular potatoes 🥔 like this? ​​@@TheGardenFamilyI will watch it

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@RunW-TheBigDogs for sure! A few modifications but potatoes definitely like second year bales so I will plant some next spring 🤩

[@ladonnapham4749]

Yes please

[@ronamdurham1408]

Wow, I'd love to use this method, a step by step would be awesome!

[@melaniemckenzie9282]

I am in the UK ...I have just ordered my straw bales..so appreciate you doing this video..so stoked I found it..thanks for teaching me something new...I already have my slips sprouting ..perfect timing.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hooray! Wishing you the best of luck!

[@sangminlee3136]

Hi, I'm a korean farmer. No dirt. No digging. Clean sweet potato. Amazing idea! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hello! Yes, it is a great way to grow sweet potatoes. Wishing you the best of luck in your garden!

[@michaelbessette8685]

The first thing I noticed was the clean sweet potatos.

[@ericatawney4960]

You're boys' enthusiasm is contagious!!! Great video! Can't wait to try! "That's a big boy!"

[@TheGardenFamily]

We had so much fun harvesting the potatoes together! Thanks for the wonderful comment, happy gardening to you!

[@BitOHoney276]

The enthusiasm from your children was infectious! You are blessed. ❤ I live in the Southern US and might be able to get two rounds of harvest. I'll have to try it.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! It was so fun harvesting with my boys. Yes, you definitely have a longer growing season down there!

[@friendlybello]

So much fun to see the kids enjoying the garden with dad. Growing your own food is some of the best family time there is

[@TheGardenFamily]

What a nice comment ☺️ we had a fun time

[@someoneelse9059]

I think dad was more excited than the kids…

[@deathbyfugu1987]

The excitement in this video is palpable! What an incredible harvest!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Me and my boys sure had fun!!

[@tiportangeles2696]

Just WOW! I love how clean the sweet potatoes are when grown in straw! Thank you!

[@TheGardenFamily]

It sure makes harvesting them fun! And no damage from shovels etc :)

[@vidasustentavel9465]

It's really cool to see people growing their own food. It would be great if more people acquired this habit. In addition to improving our health by consuming healthier foods, we contribute to preserving our planet by reducing the use of pesticides. Congratulations on sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you so much for your kind words! Trying to teach my kids to pass things on to the next generation =)

[@johnpowell8568]

Wow! That is very impressive considering the actual square footage used. Also, and to me more importantly, you really showed HOW to grow the slips, and what they look like, AND that part about pre-planting/starting the slips in a small amount of dirt BEFORE planting them in the straw bales. Your time-frames and procedures were very clear and accessible. Also, I never before heard anything about your high nitrogen/watering to condition the bales. Thank you, and I'm putting your video in my favorites list! Thank you from California, because I always thought sweet potatoes would only grow in the southern states.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hi John, thanks for the kind words! Very nice to know it was well received. Wishing you all the best next season!

[@janetneuhaus4206]

One thing good is the red leaves .In Phillipines we use to put it in soup or just cook it and put one teaspoon of lemon.Lot of vitamins in it.

[@OlijeKing]

This is amazing. Yes, please do a step by step video of the conditioning process and planting from seed to stem. Thank you

[@TheGardenFamily]

I’ll be working on it this season!

[@nylesgregory2120]

Ooooh Myyyyyyy Flippin Gggggggggd!!! I hadn't expected those results. That's phenomenal. Flat out. You nailed it. I am hardly ever impressed/surprised, but this one got me. Haven't read a single comment, yet the abscence of pest damage coupled with the cleanliness and SIZE-OF-END-PRODUCT is simply unmatched. Outstanding. Superb Job. A+++++. Speculation over. This is the model to follow. Thank you for this and your guidance. Terrific insight on this one. Take a Bow. You deserve it👏👏👏

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hi Nyles, wow, what a great comment! Really appreciate it =). We absolutely love this method and will do it again next year! Sounds like people want a little more in depth video so I'll work on that for next year. Wishing you a wonderful new year!

[@nylesgregory2120]

FWIW - I have an undergrad in Env. Science and lived (on Campus) at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. The spirit of their teaching is "Learn by doing." I then enjoyed two decades in the Parks Departments of three different California City Environs. I worked my way through the system and speak a very rare language that very few understand. Even more rare is to be surprised by a different approach. You floored me. Absolutely stunned by your results. That happens maybe twice in a decade at best. That was just a remarkable surprise. AND Sweet Potato's are a multi-level product to boot. I understand that post-harvest, they have to be cured in order to build the sugar level up in time for Thanksgiving. But your results - clean (pest-free with minimal damage) and Huuuuuuge clusters (they look like a bushel of ripe Mango's), I'd never seen that before. Something tells me your end product DID NOT NEED A 2nd stage curing - do I have that right? The temps in that bale were already up so high throughout the season, that a 2nd stage curing process was not needed? I suspect that to be the case with your approach. Terrific post and can't thank you enough🙏You!!! Merry Christmas and following closely your posts from here on.

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@nylesgregory2120 not sure why it didn't notify me of this reply. Small world, I taught a prep course at Cal Poly back in 2007. I was living in Santa Barbara at the time. There's definitely something about that composting straw the sweet potatoes really like, I think a lot of it is they get started nice and warm! We did end up curing them, not sure if we had to but we did. We've been eating them the last couple months and they are delicious =). Hope you have a wonderful new year!

[@AdbentyurNiToyang889]

I love listening the boys.. How they're amazed of your produce..

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yes, we had such a great time harvesting together! Thank you =)

[@lynnclark4208]

Yes! I'd love an instructional from start to finish. Especially seeing the slips planted. This is very encouraging. And the curing process. Thank you so much!!!😊

[@TheGardenFamily]

I’ll be working on it this season! I’ll probably release it as a few videos so I can get them out to everyone in a timely fashion…first video will be starting slips and conditioning straw bales :)

[@lily-annevereecken53]

Very nice result! - How many slips did you plant per straw bale? Did you use a lot of water during this cultivation or is this mainly at the beginning of the conditioning process? I look forward to your full demonstration . I will soon try growing sweet potatoes this way for the first time and am looking for a lot of information before I start. Thank you in advance for your answer. Greetings from Belgium . New subscriber, so I certainly don't miss your follow-up videos.

[@lily-annevereecken53]

Where there also sweet potatoes in the ground , where the vines attached themselves to the ground. What climate do you live in? because that obviously makes a big difference. Here in (Belgium we have a temperate climate)

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@lily-annevereecken53 thank you! We planted 4 slips per bale but probably could have done 2 or 3. The straw bales take about as much water as raised beds (more than in ground plantings). I will try and get a video up when I start the conditioning process!

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@lily-annevereecken53 a few small potatoes starting forming where the vines went into the ground but not big enough to harvest. We are in a humid, continental climate so we have cold winters and warm humid summers. Sweet potatoes definitely like warmth! Our average summer highs are around 85F (30C) and lows are generally around 65F (18C). You may need to find ways to increase heat in Belgium if it has cooler summers?

[@sallydeppe8575]

I just so enjoyed the enthusiasm of your boys. My son are gone onto adulthood

[@TheGardenFamily]

Well thank you! They definitely grow up fast

[@citizenshipkingdomofgod8108]

This is AWESOME! Please do a step by step video starting with the slips. Thank you.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Will do! I'll try and get a more comprehensive growing guide for next year

[@raytaulakani4751]

I just love the simplicity of it. Thank you.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thanks! It’s a great method!

[@plantaseednotlitter2260]

Well done loyal and faithful servant that harvested hay bale sweet potatoe. Happy Fall Days!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! And I hope you have a blessed Fall as well ☺️🙏

[@mistygeller3193]

I second that last comment!! How fun!! I love the pure joy in your kids 😂😂 Never mind the fabulous harvest! So very cute 🥰 Please give us your step by step process!!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Well thanks Misty! Me and the boys sure had fun harvesting them, and now we are eating them for Thanksgiving! I'll work on the step-by-step next year =)

[@lydiawhite322]

Holy smokes, that was a BIG haul! Im impressed!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! We had a lot of fun harvesting =)

[@mickichikwinya5519]

How fun. Yes, I'd be interested in more information on the conditioning process as well. This would be great in an area where I need straw bales for erosion control. Yet, still being able to successfully grow something well.

[@TheGardenFamily]

That would definitely work super well, might as well get some sweet potatoes while you’re at it right?! I’ll work on a more step by step video this coming season

[@adrianwilson5950]

"Look at this big boy". Kids are so funny. Lol

[@TheGardenFamily]

Love my boys! 💙💙

[@annabodhi38]

Hahaha!! The kids are so excited. Thank you for the video and for all of your hard work.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! We had such a fun time =) Happy gardening to you

[@Barrell60]

Good job! Loved the boys being so excited.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yes! Thank you! The three of us were all pretty excited 😆 ☺️

[@earthnailsandtails]

Nice Peter! It always amazes me to see how soil forms and the haul is pretty incredible

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yeah, I’ve always loved growing them this way. They grow super well in the ground as well (as you know!) but the harvest is just so easy in the straw bales. Me and the boys had a fun time :)

[@rosanchambers929]

Tell us all about the process of preparing the straw beds and how to maintain them. Thanks for sharing this great idea 👍👍👍❤

[@imlew7853]

Among the utube potato growers, your bale produced the most harvest, the easiet method, the easiet harvest and cleanest tubers.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! It's a wonderful method!

[@imlew7853]

@@TheGardenFamily Yes, you are very welcome. I also shared your sweet potato success with othe utubers who put 3x your work and got less than half of your harvest. As simple as growing sweet potato, like ginger, the growing medium with not so wide space are the top secrets.

[@SeedsofFaithGarden]

So glad you featured growing potatoes in this manner. I’ve seen others grow in ground and in compost. I like this way much better. I would definitely like to see the step by step tutorial. I’ve subscribed so I won’t miss it when it’s released.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Great! I'll work on a "how to condition your bales" video in Spring and get footage of my whole season next year and put out a longer comprehensive video starting with slips and ending with a harvest next year!

[@SeedsofFaithGarden]

@@TheGardenFamily Thanks!

[@jeremiedayglider1690]

Yes, please!@@TheGardenFamily

[@jeremiedayglider1690]

me, too!

[@lily-annevereecken53]

Mee too (from Belgium)

[@EMSpdx]

Late to this- the excitement of the kids was infectious! And wowzers, that was a crazy harvest. Maybe next time bigger bales and more spread out slips? I need to try this next season here in Oregon!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yes, great plan! We are actually thinking of doing a big 3x3x6 foot bale next year so they have more room to spread. And the kids (and I!) had so much fun pulling them out!

[@kirstiebertram3466]

😂 I harvested sweet potatoes from grow bags with my 7yo, her response was also 'that's a big boy'. Apparently a universal response to harvesting sweet potato. I have planted some sweet potato in in sugarcane mulch bales, I think an advantage over the grow bags is I really got sick of watering the grow bags. They dry out a lot. The sugar cane mulch/ straw bales I think retain moisture better which sweet potatoes need to grow well. 🤞 hoping they grow well, one lot has been growing well since September. Hoping yo squeeze in 2 lots - September -January and January- May.

[@TheGardenFamily]

I’m glad you had so much fun harvesting with your little one! 😊 I agree, the straw bales seem to hold moisture better than grow bags. Happy gardening!

[@sbdiaries]

What a cool idea indeed 👌 sweet potatoes i hay bales 👏. Very beautiful upload and thanks for sharing 👍. Greetings from 🇬🇧 Simon and Beth ❤❤❤

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hi Simon and Beth, thank you very much for watching and for the nice comment. Happy gardening to you both!

[@phreed6320]

EXCELLENT!!! Going to go get me some straw bales for planting. Going to do regular potatoes too and hope it works better than last summer's attempt!!!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Great! Best of luck :)

[@gailpettee7906]

I love how enthusiastic the children are❤

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! Me and the boys had a great time :)

[@neverendingharvest6413]

waiting on this years harvest. best looking crop we have evey seen. fewest weeds.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Exciting! Wishing you a wonderful harvest

[@christymarr1984]

Such a good dad!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Aww, thanks Christy ☺️🙏 had a great time harvesting with my boys

[@kekiplus1andonly]

This is awesome,perfect harvest for sweet potatoes. Easy and smart

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! It is definitely an easy way to harvest

[@corrineterry6676]

Beautiful family! Beautiful video! Awesome harvest!💜

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you very much! We had a very fun time harvesting

[@loves2spin2]

Oh my goodness! Fantastic! We grow sweet potatoes every year and lately the southern shrews have been chewing on them badly. Maybe this would solve our problem. Thank you!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hopefully this helps! We didn’t have any rodent issues but this was also the first year for our veggie garden at our new property. Hopefully that’s stays true in the coming years!

[@ElderandOakFarm]

Wow! That is an amazing harvest in such a small space! 😮

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! The vines do need to sprawl out a bit but a lot of sweet potatoes in not very much space is great!

[@bebomora7391]

That was great! And your boys are so sweet and cute! They were so excited. Very nice video!! Ty❤❤

[@TheGardenFamily]

well thank you! We had such a fine time harvesting together =)

[@cherylgomez-ray1063]

Just wanted to say Thank Yo we did about 15 slips in a half of round hay bale and just harvested 66.4 pounds!!😊

[@cherylgomez-ray1063]

ThankYou

[@TheGardenFamily]

I love this!! You are so welcome Cheryl. Glad you had success using this method!!

[@kentcostello5286]

That's one of the best videos I seen. The best gardening is with kids 😅

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thanks Kent! Me and the boys had such a fine time pulling these out. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[@betterlivingonabudget]

Wow,, you've convinced me that straw bales are the way to go with sweet potatoes!

[@TheGardenFamily]

it really is a great way to grow them! =)

[@jenniferm3572]

Yes a step by step video would be great if you’re willing.

[@TheGardenFamily]

I missed the boat last season but I'll try and get one together this season

[@rekster11]

Very cool method. Can’t wait to try this out. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheGardenFamily]

You're welcome! Hope it works well for you!

[@godheadwallen]

HOW FAR AWAY ARE FROM DAYTON I LOVE YOUR TWIST ON FARMING. YOU MAKE IT FUN.

[@TheGardenFamily]

We are about 25 minutes south, between Dayton and Cincinnati =)

[@croboy751]

Awesome video! Yes, would love a video on hay bale preparation also.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! I’ll work on one next spring :)

[@croboy751]

@@TheGardenFamily Great!

[@DanielleBlanchardArts]

Wondering if we could get somilar results from grass clipping and leaf mold piles to stay away from pesticides

[@TheGardenFamily]

Good idea! You can definitely do this but you have to have a way to condense the bale into a tighter form. So perhaps a breathable structure and condense the material inside the structure? The combination of greens and browns would reduce the amount of fertilizer needed as well!

[@山田太郎-t8u4u]

Beautiful and big. I am Japanese. I love sweet potatoes and planted them in my garden, but unfortunately I was only able to harvest ones as thin as a pencil. It is said that in fields with a lot of nitrogen, the roots will be thinner and the leaves will grow thicker. Therefore, we are planting a variety called Soushinna, which eats sweet potato leaves. This is also a delicious and nutritious vegetable.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! The leaves are also quite delicious, I agree. Wishing you success in growing large sweet potatoes next year!

[@Adam-lq1wv]

Thank you for sharing! Great job on sweet potatoes! Greetings from VT.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Well thank you! Hope you have a mild winter up there!

[@kekiplus1andonly]

The colour on those potatoes is beautiful 🎉🎉🎉❤

[@TheGardenFamily]

They really were a great color! and no dirt on them =)

[@garyweaver6026]

Looks good. I usually get 25 lbs of new sweet potatoes from each plant. I rake vines in a circle around 4 plants when vines start to get too long I start cutting vines off to keep them from getting out of control. I am in TN we have hot dry 100° desert weather June to Oct. Our last frost is April 20 and first frost Nov 5. If vines get too long too much of the plants energy goes to producing vines and less energy to produce potatoes. 4 plants gives up 100 lbs of new potatoes.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Very nice!

[@maryannvalila3080]

As a filipina, we eat the sweet potato tops too as salad, what you do is blanch it half cook..lots of vitamins

[@TheGardenFamily]

We also enjoy the greens and often eat them earlier in the season! In the late season they sometimes die back from frosts here in Ohio, USA and are less good to eat after the frost

[@maryannvalila3080]

Hi, nice watching your vlog, i am from philippines my grandfather is a farmer before. You also plants the vines thats how we use to plant it, just cut 8 inches and poke into the soil, it will grow❤

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yes, they are definitely very easy to grow! We can only grow them from May to September here because we are in a colder location, so we tend to just focus on our first planting as they are the only ones that have time to grow large potatoes

[@residentialdreamer]

I LOVED watching this video! I LOVE the enthusiasm of your children! Do you use ORGANIC straw bales? I tried gardening in bales before and didn't have great success and someone told me straw bales are sprayed with glyphosate and you need ORGANICALLY GROWN STRAW. Is that true?

[@TheGardenFamily]

well thank you! our straw is not organic but it comes from a wheat farm down the road from us. That farm does use an herbicide prior to planting the straw and an antifungal spray but no herbicides on the straw itself before harvest like many growers do. It's definitely hard to find organic straw but we felt good knowing how this was treated and have not had any issues in our garden!

[@TheHellfiremissile]

for the broken ends, just dip them in salt before letting them dry out. Will extend their storage life. Cheers.

[@TheGardenFamily]

thanks for the tip!

[@savedbygrace5152]

I'm curious to know if potatoes will work as well. Can't think why not. Lord willing, I will do that next growing season. Thank you for this video! From Payson AZ

[@TheGardenFamily]

They work as well but I suggest two modifications: 1) plant them in some potting soil (doesn’t have to be much), since you plant seed potatoes rather than slips. And 2) they seem to prefer second year bales

[@gracetumwine7364]

Am going to use your method next time I plant potatoes.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Best of luck!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video, thanks! We’re farming/homesteading in Oxford, Ohio so I’m thinking we must be close-by.🤠 What I’m really impressed by is the lack of vole damage! We grew ours under the black plastic this year and gave a lot of bites to the voles, but wonder if starting and having them up off the ground discouraged the vole activity?

[@TheGardenFamily]

A few people have mentioned that...we live in the country next to a large prairie and definitely have voles. We also have fox and a few feral / barn cats. So far we did not see any vole damage in our garden, but it also is a brand new garden so hopefully that won't change in the future. We did proactively place hardware cloth beneath all our raised beds. In the straw bales, they likely would feel exposed getting into the bales in comparison to staying hidden in their holes under ground... Nice to see a fellow SW Ohioan. We will follow along your channel!

[@GardenBandits]

Thanks for this video. Per your helpers, many motherlodes. I think you hinted at the used haybale could be used for soil(?). Please advise. Thanks!

[@TheGardenFamily]

haha, love those boys =). Yes, the partially composted straw bales make a great soil amendment. Since they have adequate nitrogen they can be tilled in without nitrogen tie up but we tend to use them to top our beds in the fall to prepare for winter and let them break down even more

[@NewDimension7]

Sweet Potato, yeay I like this. Yuhu Very helpful tips , thanks you for sharing this method.

[@TheGardenFamily]

You are welcome!

[@jugnoothelight8662]

wow beautiful sharing

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! ☺️🙏

[@hcambo5373]

Nice work ❤❤

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! ☺️

[@linelmarhao]

Absolutely amazing will try next year too ! " ? Where to get good slips in time that will be sure organic and good expected results ? Thanks for the inspired video

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! We bought this sweet potato from our local store. I agree to get an organic potato to make sure it doesn't have anything sprayed on it that will inhibit sprouting. We make our own slips indoors in spring, it's very easy!

[@donaastriberliana57]

Woww that's so amazing,, I never see this before, how the sweet potato can grow so well in that..

[@TheGardenFamily]

It is a very good method!

[@Teresa-dg8yn]

Please do make a step by step teaching video for those of us who have never planted a garden.Thank you

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@Teresa-dg8yn I missed the opportunity to do it this year but I’ll try and put one together next season!

[@darkhollowbiodynamic]

Great video! We’re going to do this this year thanks to you!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! Wishing you great success! ☺️

[@ahmadsobirin3363]

This is best chanel.that i ever seen.i can give subcrib.thank you for you experien

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you Ahmad! ☺️

[@ltodd79]

Well. I am amazed! Gives me hope that I could plant sweet potatoes in my zone 7 plot. (You can always pressure can the broken ones.)

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! Yes, we are here in Zone 6 and have good results every year this way!

[@PatriciaJoy]

Whoa! This is amazing! I'm in NE ohio and am totally trying this next year

[@TheGardenFamily]

👋 fellow Ohioan. It’s a great method for us here in zone 6!

[@justbeachy4666]

Wow! Once those sweet potatoes have cured for a few weeks, you'll have enough for Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinner! Would love to see another video on the growing process. Sweet potatoes thrive in poor soil. If the plant receives too many nutrients, it produces abundant leaves but no tubers. You may find that anywhere outside of the bales that the vines were able to root, you'll have bonus sweet potatoes.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! Yes, we were really happy with the harvest in just two bales. We are always titrating how much food to grow so we will see if we go through all of them and plant a 3rd bale next year if need be. These definitely produced a large amounts of vines, that's one issue some people may have if they live in smaller space. But they shot out a lot of tubers too! They did seem to root farther out as well but not for very long, so we found a few smaller tubers around the bales as well. Thanks for watching!

[@Aleyanee]

Si beautiful!! Congratulations!! Can you olease share how many slips did you plant per a straw bale? Thank you!!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! We planted 4 slips in each straw bale =)

[@Paopao621]

Man, this is game changing, im definitely gonna try this.

[@TheGardenFamily]

You won't be disappointed!

[@TheLitVic]

Amazing yields and thank you for sharing your experience! Question: Did you use any other form of fertilizer besides the initial Nitrogen during bale conditioning? Thank you!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! After the initial conditioning a balanced fertilizer is nice. We used garden tone. If you see them still struggling a water soluble fertilizer such as agrothrive works as well

[@TheLitVic]

@@TheGardenFamily thank you for the tip! Much appreciated!! 🙏❤️

[@daviechakwangasha5730]

That is great .How do you arrange strows.and what fertrizer do you use.

[@TheGardenFamily]

When placing the bales just make sure to have the cut side up so it can absorb water. To condition the bales we use just a high nitrogen lawn fertilizer (inorganic). Once the bales are conditioned they don't need much fertilizer but we usually add a slow release organic fertilizer (I believe we used espoma this year)

[@tkarlmann]

Great idea! I have 2 questions: 1) How many slips did you plant per straw bail, and how far apart were they? 2) It appeared from the video, that some of the roots went through the bail and into the soil beneath. Is this true?

[@TheGardenFamily]

We did 4 slips per bale, evenly spaced (so about 9" spacing or so). Some of the roots did go down into the soil eventually (towards the end of the season) but this isn't necessary for good production. I've done them on a concrete pad before and they did great!

[@edwardpilkington8795]

How deep were the slips planted? Was it just enough to cover the roots? How did you support the top portion or did it eventually just lay on its side?

[@charisseayre1299]

How many slips did you plant in each bale? I'm defs going to give this a go, that was an amazing yeild! Thanks for sharing. 👌

[@TheGardenFamily]

You're welcome! We planted 4 slips per bale which seemed about right!

[@jeffmeyers3837]

Do you continue adding fertilizer to the bale until the temps drop to 90, or at what point do you stop adding fertilizer every other day?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yes, every other day until the temperature drops. You want to make sure it won’t spike again once you plant in it. It usually takes about 2 weeks 👍

[@wavvycrockett]

Unreal! Learned something new! Thanks gonna try

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thanks Steve, it’s a great method! Working on a more step by step video this season ☺️

[@wavvycrockett]

Cant wait. This is a GEM!@@TheGardenFamily

[@Dirty_Agenda]

Near the end @7:54, you say you will be "curing" them. Forgive my ignorance, but what does that process involve?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Good question! After harvest place the sweet potatoes in high heat, high humidity for 1-2 weeks. It will help change the starches to sugars and increase the shelf life

[@Returntothesoil]

I wonder if you loosen the bale then pile the straw up and plant in that if it wont be so condensed and wrap each other? What do you think ?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Not a bad idea! One problem is you don't want it too loose or it will lose moisture...I'm also thinking I might do one larger bale (3x3x6 ft) which may give them more room to grow

[@karenjoy7557]

That was amazing and yes no dirt... So U just put fertiliser on the bales and some soil when planting them and fertilised them after that... As I can't wait until next May as we are warming up here in Australia as today was 35deg...so I would love to try your method also want were the sweet potatoes you grew never seen that colour... I love eating it raw like a nutty taste... Well done looks great...glad I have just found your channel...😂❤😂❤

[@Cali33650]

Interesting method. I do have a concern about watering? Since he bales must dry out very fast in the summer and the sweet potatoes love water, how often and how much per bale do you water in the summertime? Thanks

[@TheGardenFamily]

Surprisingly the watering is not bad. It's about the same as a standard raised bed garden. I did find that pushing wood chips up against the bale helped retain water but probably watered the normal 1-2" per week. They do prefer smaller amounts of frequent watering however, rather than lots of water every 1-2 weeks like you can get away with in in-ground beds

[@Cali33650]

Thanks for your quick reply and information. I grow them in large buckets, water them every three days or so and obtain good results (smaller sizes than yours for sure). The season is near to a close in zone 8b, Pacific Northwest. I just challenge myself every year to produce better size potatoes by making a few adjustments. Thanks for the motivation and bon appetite. Best regards, @@TheGardenFamily​

[@DavidLeslie-d6h]

Wow great! Hey straw bales versus hay bales? Straw better?

[@TheGardenFamily]

We use straw since it has no weed seeds and usually just a few leftover wheat seeds

[@_familyMAN]

How many slips per bale did? After initial prep of the bale, did you guys fertilize at any point?

[@TheGardenFamily]

4 slips per bale and we did a balanced fertilizer at time of planting

[@nomagcisacawe3297]

Hi. How often do you water the slips once planted in the bales?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Similar to a raised bed, so we supplement watering if we didn’t get 1+ inches of rain that week

[@tigercub1965]

I’ve heard of graze-on. How do you make sure your hay-bales are graze-on free?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Good question and an ever increasing problem. We use straw rather than hay but both can be used. Hay seems to have a higher chance of having persistent herbicides. Conventional growers use herbicides in wheat but they are less persistent. For us personally we buy from a farmer down the road so we know how our straw was handled. He does spray glyphosate prior to seeding but does not spray a desiccant herbicide at time of harvest. So far we have not had any issues with our plants but you definitely need to be careful!

[@billboak319]

Alot of our feed stores carry rice straw ,what kind of straw do you use

[@TheGardenFamily]

We use wheat straw...perhaps rice straw would work as well?

[@billboak319]

@@TheGardenFamily I like wheat straw too harder to find for some reason ,rice straw get real heavy with water

[@samuelschumpert4046]

What do you do with the foliage? What do you do with the straw after? That would make a good video. And yes. Step by step on prep would be great!!

[@TheGardenFamily]

The foliage we just compost, the straw we use to mulch our beds in the winter :) I’ll work on the longer video this season 👍

[@jasperine141]

How do you store them? It seems they grow in a row rather different to potatoes. I'll have to grow in long raised beds with the straw inside the bed.

[@TheGardenFamily]

They need a period of time of high heat and humidity to cure, then they are stored in our cellar where it is cold in the winter

[@frankiefeagins4644]

great video, I am definitely going to do this

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! Hope you have a great harvest!

[@stellachipembele3147]

That is a wonderful harvest. Please do us a video on how to prepare the bales. I have a quick question: Can ordinary grass do if I don't have straw?

[@TheGardenFamily]

I believe you can make bales out of anything but they have to be tightly compressed to work, you can’t just have a loose pile of grass…

[@nathanaskins7544]

How do you cure them when the weather gets cold? Down south they can utilize the sun, up north though when the sun's gone and the temps drop?

[@TheGardenFamily]

We bring them inside and put them in bags on a heater vent for about a week!

[@cardinhamkilligrew9712]

how many slips do you put in each bale? Whats the spacing and location you put in the bail...?

[@TheGardenFamily]

We did 4 slips per bale in this video (2023) but reduced to 3 slips this year. They are spaced centered in the bale about 10-12 inches apart

[@LightBeing369]

Love this idea and that HUGE sunflower head, thanks for sharing 🌻✌🏼

[@TheGardenFamily]

thank you! Yes, we have a few mammoth sunflowers we are letting dry to harvest seeds from soon =)

[@d.g.4745]

Can straw bales be used for regular poratoes?

[@TheGardenFamily]

It definitely can but I usually do some slight modifications: for regular potatoes we usually plant them in a small amount of potting soil within the bales to get them started. This is because you plant seed potatoes for regular potatoes but you transplant slips with sweet potatoes. I’ve also found regular potatoes like the bales a bit more composted so they are good for the bales the second year!

[@lanakim3311]

Any additional fertilizer after initial conditioning?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Yes, after conditioning we put a balanced fertilizer on top of the bales. We used Espoma Garden Tone

[@beautifullyhealedroses]

Yes, when you plant next year do a video -please.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Will do! I usually will condition bales in March or so, I’ll get some footage then!

[@beautifullyhealedroses]

@@TheGardenFamily Yes please and the slips as well... and how you fertilize them throughout the season until harvest.

[@royhoco5748]

did you add fertilizer during the growing season?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Hi Roy. Yes, after the bales were conditioned we fertilized with espoma garden tone every couple weeks by sprinkling it on top of the bales

[@royhoco5748]

@@TheGardenFamily thank you

[@artie9403]

Hey Peter and family….thanks for the great video. If you could go a little further into starting the slips and then planting the slips into the bales it would be really helpful. Also, can you leave an Amazon link (so you can get paid a little) for the type of fertilizer you are using to get the bales started? Thanks!

[@TheGardenFamily]

I will do a dedicated video on how to condition the bales as well as starting/planting slips next spring! For the fertilizer I just use a lawn food (almost all nitrogen) since it is the least expensive. You just need to make sure it doesn’t have any pre-emergent herbicides in it as some lawn food does

[@TheGardenFamily]

And thank you for the nice comment! ☺️🙏