Potatoes-Season 2: Score Voles 2 Gardener 0
Posted by: TammyThe scores says it all. I have once again had my efforts thwarted by a creature smaller than my seed potatoes! Last year, I planted in tradition troughs and covered the seed potatoes. It was pretty successful early in the season when I periodically went out and filched out a few potatoes for dinner. Later, when I went to harvest my final haul, I was shocked to discover almost every remaining potato had been dined on by voles.
This year, I decided to make my life a bit easier in terms of soil management by doing the lazy bed method. I basically placed my cut seed potato on the ground and covered with straw. My smaller raised beds made the trough method more difficult and this made filching a few for a meal, easier.
Apparently, this method makes it easier for voles, too! Today, when I moved aside the straw, I found a vast network of vole trails. There wasn’t a single potato to be found! The only potatoes I obtained this year was from my garbage-pail-potato experiment. The barrel method works great for so many people but I was still determined to plant in the ‘normal’ method. I guess I have to keep the potatoes entirely out of the ground here, or I’ll never enjoy a homegrown potato.
So, this has led me to ponder next year’s potato season already. I had placed my seed potato filled garbage pail between my two vertical beds. There is adequate spacing there and neither climber-filled fence shaded the barrel. I’ve decided that I could easily fit three to four garbage cans in that walkway. On the other hand, I’ve also thought on having my husband create four square, wooden planters or two rectangular planters for that area. Seeing as he doesn’t want to give up more lawn for my gardening, this would maximize my current space nicely.
I do hope this idea works because honestly, 3 strikes and I might be out of the potato game!
March 15th, 2011 at 1:48 am
Imagine my surprise 2 years ago when I went out to harvest my sweet potatoes and they had been eaten from underground by voles. They also ate 1/4 of my white potato crop. Finally, it seems that the solution is to use plastic garbage cans, drill holes in the bottom for drainage, and use a non-soil medium. We will be doing this the summer of 2011 and using the same method for beets, radishes, carrots, spinach, etc. We also bought a Jack Russell Terrier and are installing two barn owl habitats (instructions online). The JRT will hunt voles during the day and the owls at night.
April 26th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
I’ll being doing something similar with my potatoes this year. I’ve purchases two large water storage containers that I’ll fill with soil. I hadn’t considered “non-soil medium’ however. Hmmmmm, I might have to look into that! What are you using for that?