LOL. I hilled the potatoes with straw this year. They have just started blooming. I will tell you this, potatoes are my favorite thing to plant.
Catch a nice day in April and git ur done. Cover with straw. Water if it doesn’t rain, but here we almost always have sufficient rain in April and May. Easiest thing I have ever grown.
I had bad results with straw last year. I think it’s part of the fun of gardening, though. I like trying new things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.