What is It? The trick to growing spuds on wet land is to plant tubers ABOVE the soil surface (not below ground or on top of the mud).

I receive about 20 e-mails daily. This time of year, many of them whine about soggy soils and delayed planting. Hot news flash: The season to deal with wet fields is in Autumn when you dig trenches, build raised beds, and plant cover crops. That said, it is possible to garden in the muck. My ancestors learned how to do this centuries ago. Then, all of the good land was owned by the rich. My people got an abandoned stone quarry and a few acres of seasonal marsh. From this they built a profitable business. Nine centuries later, my family is still farming the same land. Get your boots on and I will show you how it’s done.

How To Do It: Spread 8 inches of leaves or other organic mulch on TOP of the ground. If you do not have enough materials to achieve a depth of 8 inches, use whatever is at hand. The point is to keep seed potatoes ABOVE the soil surface so they are not sitting in water or touching mud. Potatoes planted on the soil surface will ROT.

Use whole seed potatoes the size of an egg, about 2 to 3 ounces each. Green potatoes better resist insects, diseases, and mice. Space potatoes 2 feet apart equidistantly.

Cover seed potatoes with another 8 inches of leaves, straw, spoiled hay or other waste vegetation. If you are gardening near a slough (pronounced “slew”), use rushes and aquatic weeds for mulch. In Austria we use mostly rotted bark, green weeds, composted wood chips, and pine needles. Anything organic grows a good crop of spuds.

Old Farmers Trick: If you have a range of materials from fresh to rotted, put the older, decomposed mulch on the bottom. Lay newer mulch on top. If you have any manure, spread it like a sandwich between the bottom and top mulch layers. Mulch will settle to approximately half of its original depth within a month or two.

Fertilizer is not essential but if you have some, sprinkle it over the top mulch. Caution: Apply chemical fertilizers in small doses throughout the growing season. NEVER spread chemical fertilizers on bare soil. Always apply artificial fertilizers to growing plants. (Fertilizers are wasted if live roots are not present to absorb nutrients). Prefer organic fertilizers whenever practical. Synthetic nutrients unbalance soil microbes and attract insect pests. Excess nitrogen yields low quality potatoes that taste poorly and do not keep well.

There is no other work until harvest. Wait until vines are dead then gather tubers by HAND (no forks, rakes, or spades). Do not wash potatoes or they will rot. Let spuds dry a few days in the sunlight then place them in well-ventilated baskets or crates. Store potatoes in a deep cellar or other cool, dark place. Note: Always handle potatoes GENTLY. Cut, bruised, or otherwise damaged tubers will ROT in storage.

Average swamp potatoes yield 2 to 3 pounds of tubers per plant — without plowing, trenching, digging, hoeing, fertilizer, fungicides, soil fumigants, herbicides, insecticides, or irrigation.

Agronomy Notes: Potatoes are highly susceptible to nematodes and soil diseases. (Nematodes are tiny parasitic worms that suck root juice). Move your potato garden every year. ALWAYS plant spuds on fresh ground. Use long rotations: It takes 7 years to kill nematodes and pathogenic microbes.

If you are literally sinking in the mud (our neighbor lost his tractor in the marsh) try some form of RAISED FIELD technology like chinampas or hugel. Mulch will deal with wet land but not a flooded polder.

Remember: On wet ground, always plant potatoes ABOVE the soil surface. Use lots of mulch to keep tubers from touching mud.

Related Publications: Historic Hugelkultur; Hot Potato; Spanish Potato Trials, Salzburg, Austria 1650; Upside Down Potatoes; and Wildcrafted Potatoes.

Other Articles of Interest: Biological Agriculture in Temperate Climates; Crop Rotation Primer; Crops Among the Weeds; Earthworm Primer; Managing Weeds as Cover Crops; Trash Farming; Worm Farming.

Would You Like to Know More? For more information on biological agriculture and potato growing, please visit: http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com — or — send your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America — or — send an e-mail to worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com.

About the Author: Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania in summer and Florida over winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new plant varieties).

Index Terms: Continuous Mulching; Crop Rotation; Deep Mulching; Marshes; Mulching; Nematodes; Potato (Solanum tuberosum); Potato Gardens; Raised Beds; Seasonal Wetlands; Sheet Composting; Swamps; Year-Round Mulching; Wetlands.

Related Subjects: Chinampas; Hugelkultur; Raised Fields; Planting Mounds; Sukakollus; Waru-Waru.

Original Publication Date: June 2023, Miami, Florida.