About: I like the outdoors and making cool things that work practically.

Potato growing has got to be one of the vegetable gardener’s favourite pursuits. Digging for potatoes, however, is less popular, especially among those of us with bad backs. In fact, I gave up growing them altogether at one point, purely because I wanted to stand upright for the rest of the year.



Enter the Cardboard Box method! This allows you to still grow potatoes, but without the deadly work of digging them out of the ground. Additionally, its a lot of fun and a great way to use your old packing boxes.

Advantages of the no-dig method:

There's no fork damage! No longer will you spear the most golden, wholesome potato through the heart while digging it out of its soily home.

- It is a good way to clear weeds on the ground.

- As the potatoes grow, you don’t have to keep earthing them up - just add more mulch

- If you've had potato eelworm, cardboard + no-dig will protect your crop (somewhat)

- It'll probably make the best-looking potatoes you've ever grown. Not scabby potatoes and with a smooth and clean outside.

- Those tiny, and sometimes large, volunteer potatoes that get left in the ground to sprout next year totally disappear.

- Over-enthusiasm used to mean I'd eat a meal with potatoes just bigger than peas. Now you can simply check the potatoes by lifting up some mulch, then putting it right back where you found it. No wasting a whole plant.

- The mulch breaks down to add organic matter to the soil.