The potato patch doesn't look that great. It is the time of year when potato plants begin to die down. Not only that but weeds are encroaching its space.
This space of my garden didn't have any bales in it this year. It was all from last year's bales. The soil is some of the best I've ever seen in my garden. When I harvest my potatoes I use only my hands to get the ones on top without bothering the plant's roots. As the season gets later, I will use my fork for the deeper ones.
Don't let people fool you into thinking that using bales is a useless garden technique. By using hay bales, your garden gets better and better each year even if you use them only as a border around your garden space. The bales that make the boarder become the richest mulch for next year growing season.
Next year I going to try growing potatoes in a straight line. It will give me more access to my potato plants without stepping into my patch. I will make a deep trench and line up the bales within the ditch. I will add a few (3-4) feet of soil and grow on top of the bales. The following year, I will grow in the same place but without using bales underneath. I will alternate every year.
Today's harvest was a large one. When I'm in my patch I also try to scoop more soil around the small exposed potatoes with only my hands. Who needs a shovel when the soil is so loamy.
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