What a good read. Thank you for the effort.
You mentioned that the plants needed lots of water. I'm almost sure you know this, but have you thought about covering the soil, perhaps with bark mulch (don't know if this is good, but have seen it done more often) or even planting the potatoes inside other plants?
I made an interesting discovery this year. I took two bought pots of basil outside and planted one pot in the soil in the middle of the flower bed we had established, where I thought it had little chance of survival (ignorant as I am) and the other in a pot outside the front door, along with some mini roses. The basil plant I put in the soil with the others in the bed already looked very battered and was getting yellow leaves.
To my great astonishment, however, the plant recovered and even got very tight and firm stems. Embedded and almost overgrown by the other flowers, it sprouted beautifully and the leaves became firm and large again. The other one in the pot in front of the door didn't fare very well, although I watered it, it didn't really want to grow and since it wasn't surrounded by very many other plants, it ran out of water very quickly.
I thought I'd share this experience, it seems to be properly housed here. I remember the big potato field in our garden when I was a child. We never needed to buy any.
Bye from Germany
Thanks ERH!
I'll certainly take into consideration the message from your two Basil plants and agree that the experience is nicely housed here....welcome to it! I think that the plant (and animal) kingdoms have far greater flexibility and sensitivity that what humans have 'discovered' and documented.
This was my first attempt at growing potatoes - how nice for you to have had homegrown tatties as a child!!! I've heard that they shouldn't be grown in the same soil immediately after the previous crop so I'm planning on making a raised bed at the bottom of the back garden for next year. Means I'll be able to experiment growing greens and suchlike where the tatties grew. I like the idea of mixed beds and plan to do something like that - carrots, cabbage, beetroot, kale, lettuce kinda things.
In Portugal, where I lived in a tent for 9 months and worked the land in different communities, there was Datura growing in the potato fields. I admired from afar and this guy offered me a trippy hug :D
I hope that your further experiments with putting different plants in one bed will be successful. I have followed this on many permaculturist videos and there are quite unanimous statements about it. The best way to check general statements is to try them out for yourself. Unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity to do this myself and I am happy when I see people with a piece of land discovering this for themselves.
HaHa, thanks for the photo, really trippy :D
My memory is leaving me as far as my parents' potato field is concerned. I only know that my childhood garden was full of vegetable beds, fruit trees and berry bushes, and that my parents regularly spread an intense scent throughout the house when, for example, they put the freshly harvested cucumbers into preserving jars. The scent of dill and other fresh herbs awakens warm feelings.
One thing I know for sure that works is that you should not expose the topsoil to direct sunlight and that covering the soil not only saves water but also prevents the soil from sunburn. When I first heard it said that soil can get sunburnt, I was surprised, but immediately thought, "Of course, that makes sense!"
Greetings to you.
Of course, that makes sense! :D ......thank you and greetings in turn 🙏