The Simple Way to Grow the Potato
Now is the time to think about planting Potatoes. It would be a good idea to look into your region and see when is the best time to plant. However, the emphasis here is not when to plant, but to be ready when it is time to plant.
What you will want to concentrate on right now is making sure that you have the starts. You can either wait and pick up the starts at a nursery or feed store, or you can buy up some Potatoes' from your local grocery store and put them away in the garage or basement until it's time to plant. Just leave them alone and let them sprout. This could take a while, so buy them NOW and be ready. Now for the simple way to grow the Potatoe. Find some old straw. It really doesn't matter what kind...just make sure it's older.
When it's time to plant; take that straw out to the garden and lay down a bed of straw about 4" deep where your intended Potatoe row or rows are going to be in the garden. Next step is to cut your sprouted Potatoes into 2-4 peices and then place them on top of the straw with spacing of about 10-12" apart. After you have laid down all of your starts, then cover them up with about 6" of that same old straw. Don't forget to use Drip Irrigation for watering.
Now just walk away until it's time for havesting. It won't be long before you will see the plants start to push up through that straw. When you are ready to harvest; just pull back the straw and most of the Potatoes will be laying on the surface of the straw that you planted them on and they will be nice and clean and easy to pickup. You don't have to dig them up. HOW SIMPLE IS THAT