[WG.]

I do no-dig spuds...you need to keep covering them with straw until the foliage almost meets, then a layer of grass clippings to keep them damp and dark. When ready to harvest, pull off the grass and straw and pick spuds while others dig for them

I like the sound of this, particularly since the tatties must be very clean when you harvest them.  A few questions, if I may ...

1. can I lay down the straw in advance, i.e. before winter, so that it gets wet through?

2. are slugs a problem?

3. maincrop, earlies or either?

[Trillium]

WG, I originally used grass clippings on green peppers, strawberries and beans, and they were a gross disappointment. Didn't have enough at the time to do other crops, and I'm quite happy about that.

As for your tatties, WG, I've used straw right on top of the ground and want it to get damp/wet so it stays there rather than blows around. Putting grass clippings on top of that isn't a problem at all, it's just directly mulching with fresh clippings I've always found a problem. I've never found slugs a problem with mulch and tatties as the tuber is too tough for them to bother with and the leaves are a bit too fuzzy, which they don't care for.

 As for earlies & lates, can't help you there as we just do a maincrop here and 'steal' a few earlies.

[GrannieAnnie]

I did no dig spuds last year putting them under terram, it was great for not digging them up!!!, but there were more marks on them, slugs possibly!!!!  and I hadn't mulched around the holes where the haulms were grwing, so got a few green ones!!!

[purplebat]

I do wish I had read this earlier; I've just spent the best part of the afternoon trying to break through the concrete that the lottie has become to earth my spuds up, "sigh" never mind I'm sure my back will thank me one day  

[GrannieAnnie]

I dug trenches too this year purple!  OH kept telling me that the terram was no good (still ate the spuds though didn't he???!!!)  then proceeded to tell me the first row was too deep, the 2nd row wasn't deep enough, after that I told him to go find something moe constructive to do instead of moaning at me!  Now he keeps asking me why I've only got 2 cabbage plants in the greenhouse, if he looked, he see the other trays that have different varieties in.  The 2 biggest plants are the only ones to survive from the very first sowing, of which I killed most of them becasue they were too hot!!!

[Aunt Sally]

I think you need to gaffa tape him to a tree trunk grannie, until he's had time to reflect upon his people skills  

[Trillium]

Grannieannie, are you absolutely absolutely sure he recovered from that long ago pick axe incident?    Sounds like some lingering symptoms still emerging  

[purplebat]

I dug trenches too this year purple!  OH kept telling me that the terram was no good (still ate the spuds though didn't he???!!!)  then proceeded to tell me the first row was too deep, the 2nd row wasn't deep enough, after that I told him to go find something moe constructive to do instead of moaning at me!  Now he keeps asking me why I've only got 2 cabbage plants in the greenhouse, if he looked, he see the other trays that have different varieties in.  The 2 biggest plants are the only ones to survive from the very first sowing, of which I killed most of them becasue they were too hot!!!

I think I'd down tools and tell him to do it his blooming self! mind you that would probably be tempting fate going by his recent escapades