Growing potatoes in straw is a great idea. You will need good-quality straw and plenty of it. Never use hay, as it often is full of weed seed. The best straw is good, clean wheat straw. You don't have to plant or hill the potatoes, you can just lay them on the ground and cover them with straw. It's important to apply a thick layer of straw - 8 to 12 inches is not too much. Water the straw well to help settle it into an interconnected mesh and reduce the amount of straw that gets blown around by winds. Use a rake after watering to tamp down the straw. Reapply straw halfway through the growing season. Straw is a great mulch and cuts down almost all of the weeds, although a few will poke through. When you start to notice weeds, that's your indicator that it's time for the second layer of straw. Pull the weeds (this will be easy because they will have shallow root systems, having struggled to push through the mulch) and then lay down another thick layer of straw (6 to 8 inches). Water afterward to help keep the mulch in place. This second layer not only deters additional weed germination, it also protects your developing potatoes from exposure to light, which causes them to turn green and be inedible (at least the green parts). After your potatoes have flowered and are dying back, you can harvest any time. This is when the joy of straw mulching potatoes becomes very clear - no digging. You just push aside the straw (you can use a rake but be careful not to skewer spuds) and pick the potatoes off the ground. You can till the straw mulch into your clay soil to help improve its quality or create a compost pile that will later fertilize your garden.

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