I believe it’s easier to pile a mound of earth to plant sweet potatoes than digging up the same equivalent volume of soil in the ground (unless an excavator is used) . This is especially so in my farm where for the most part, the soil is rocky hard or clayey.
As sweet potatoes need loose and well draining soil for healthy tuber growth, making a layer of 1-2 feet of loose soil above ground is key. The only problem is that I would need to get the soil from somewhere, an attempt which is pretty equally labour intensive as well. At the moment, that seems doable so I’m for it.
I therefore set about creating just that by building a raised bed for sweet potatoes using logs fell from an ongoing tree-felling exercise. The dimension is about 7′ x 25′. I first picked a spot on open ground that would be receiving the most sunlight in a day.
The deepest end would be about a little more than 2 feet while the shallow end would be about 1 feet plus. Those are the edges with the minimal depth requirements. I intend to dump in a mix of compost, regular soil, black soil, decomposing organic matter and ash; building it into a mound that protrudes a little at the mid section.
The raised bed is located at a low point of a series of terraces. Sharing the same concept and rational as the location of a banana circle that I built, this is done so that the bed can be a recipient of nutrient run-off.
Arranging and slotting the logs in place require some luck in getting the right sizes and shapes to fit snugly. I would prefer to align them based on their natural dimensions and would not cut until absolutely necessary. Otherwise, to deal with stubborn logs which would not sit still when placed, I just drove a couple of stakes into the ground to hold them in place.
Unfortunately, without workers at the farm, I would need to divide my time among a number of things. Bringing in the soil would prove quite monumental a task at the moment and I may need to do that over a period of time. I just can’t complete this bed in one session.
Hopefully I can quickly settle this so I can begin planting to maximise the current rainy season. Until that happens, this bed in its current incomplete state has to wait for now.
