'Oh, this is easy', I thought. For the second planting I dug the seed potatoes in deeper, but didn't bother to hill them up.
But when it was time to harvest, I chucked into the compost about half the crop of spuds. Without the hilling up, all the spuds exposed to light were patched with green. And the bigger the potato, the more likely to be poking up through the soil. It was a disheartening exercise, especially in the muddy soils of autumn.
So this year, when I've planted spuds in all of last year's corn patch (photo at top), I am determined to hill, and hill well!
Seven weeks from planting, the potato tops are up and growing fast. First I run the tiller between the rows. This knocks back any weeds, and loosens the soil so it's easier to shift. In the photo below I've tilled either side of the first row.
Now it's only the Dutch Creams and Nicolas to do....but that's a job for next week.