It is not enough to be “organic”. Now, shoppers want wildcrafted. This is as wild as it gets:

Wait until late Fall or early Winter when air and soil temperatures are reliably cold but the ground is not yet frozen. This is called dormant planting = most everything is asleep waiting for Spring.

Fall planted potatoes yield more than Spring planted potatoes. Dormant planted potatoes sprout very early in Spring and make most of their growth when weather is cool and wet. This provides considerable protection from drought and avoids most competition from weeds.

Choose the weediest field you can find. Broadleaf weeds 5 to 6 feet tall are ideal but use whatever is available. If you cannot plant in Autumn, wait patiently for Spring weeds to grow shoulder to head high. In Pennsylvania, potatoes can be planted the first or second week of July for harvest in late October or early November.

Mow the weeds and save the cuttings for mulch. On large farms use a forage harvester to deposit chopped weeds into convenient windrows for planting. Alternatively, use a hay baler. Weeds for mulch can be baled wet. Cut only weeds needed for mulch. Leave all other weeds standing. Weeds feed and protect soil.

Plant whole seed potatoes the size of an egg (2 to 3 ounces). Do not use cut or damaged potatoes as these will rot. Plant a mixture of colors and varieties to increase biodiversity. Multiple species protect crop from insects and diseases.

Do not apply fungicides or insecticides to tubers or vines. No chemicals are necessary for wildcrafted potatoes. Control pests and diseases with 7-year rotations. Always plant potatoes on fresh ground.

Dig planting holes 5 to 8 inches deep. A bulb planter works great for this task or use a no-till planter.

Space plants widely to avoid water competition = 3 feet x 3 feet apart = 4,840 plants per acre. Alternate rows of potatoes with rows of weeds. Adjust weed row width to match your equipment. Weeds regrow in Spring and protect potato plants from bugs.

Fill holes with dirt then cover with 8 inches of weed mulch = about 2 bushels = 18 gallons. Make a circle of mulch at least 2 feet in diameter. Mulch protects young potato plants until vines start running. When plants are established vines sprawl over everything around them and even climb nearby weeds.

No fertilizer is needed for wildcrafted potatoes. Weeds bring nutrients up from the subsoil to feed potato plants.

Irrigate if practical or just let nature take its course. Neighboring weeds provide potatoes some drought protection. Weeds make light shade and block drying winds. This raises humidity around potato vines. Potato roots also follow weed roots deep into moist subsoil.

There is nothing more to do until harvest. Wait until vines are completely dead before digging tubers with a garden fork, potato plow, or potato harvester.

My 2022 wildcrafted potato harvest averaged 2 pounds 4.5 ounces per plant. This yield did not win any prizes at the Butler County Fair, but I do not care about ribbons. Wildcrafted potatoes are selling for $1.00 per pound, and I have $10,000 worth of spuds in the barn.

RELATED ARTICLES: Crops in the Weeds; Living Mulches for Weed Control; Managing Weeds as Cover Crops; Upside Down Potatoes; Trash Farming; and Weed Seed Meal Fertilizer.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE? For more information on biological agriculture and farming in the weeds, please visit: http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com — or — send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com — or — post your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, 15108 United States of America.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during Summer and Florida over Winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new varieties).

INDEX TERMS: Bio-Drills; Biological Agriculture; Biological Insect Control; Bio-Pumps; Cover Crops; Mulching; Nurse Crops; Organic Farming; Potato (Solanum tuberosum); Weeds as Bio-Drills; Weeds as Fertilizer; Weeds as Mulch; Weed Farming; Wildcrafting; Windbreaks.

PUBLICATION DATE: January 2023, Evans City, Pennsylvania.