I till in more than enough organic matter every spring, so much so that it sometimes bogs down the tiller. And it’s an industrial-strength tiller, so that is saying a lot! But it breaks down fast enough there isn’t much left by the time harvest season rolls around.
My land isn’t suitable for no-till methods. That may change in the future, but for now, this is what I’ve got.
You Tube by former Wisconsin resident John Kohler from "Grow your Greens." Big pile of wood chips at about 4 min. These gardeners apparently get them free from tree companies. Local tree companies here will not let you have any because of the Emerald Ash borer problem. (I asked!)
SuperSize Your Vegetables with Wood Chips & Rock Dust in Your Garden
They use mushroom spore on the wood chips to help break it down, hold water, and, I suppose, grow mushrooms. (King stropharia, or the wine cap mushroom takes its name from the rich wine like coloring of the cap in its younger button state.) He had a later video that discusses spores.
There are a bunch of Videos out there about chips if you are interested. (Bio char...morels apparently grow under dying elms and old orchards were there was recent fire, but you probably already know this. (Others may not!))
Soils can be bacterial or fungal based, and I am not sure how easy it is to switch between them. You may already have some thoughts on that subject, or maybe Diana does.
Best years I had for potatoes is when I dragged humus and leaf mold into the garden from an area where I wanted grass to start growing. Tilled it in and it made my heavy soil fluffy for a couple of seasons. I’m slowly converting forest to pasture so I have no shortage of humus, leaf mold, leaves. My neighbor tilled a bunch of leaves into his potato plot and had the best year ever.
Most people wait until the soil is bone dry to dig potatoes but I do it when it’s about the same moisture level as it would be for tilling. One year I didn’t have to dig them. I just pulled the plants and the taters came up with the roots. That was that first year after adding humus, leaf mold.
I’ve got a big spot where I’ve been pushing rotted wood and leaves for a few years and it should be rotted down more and ready to drag up to the garden.
Tried potatoes in 12 inch tall rings made from slices of plastic barrels this year. Scratched up the ground, set seed potatoes down and covered with shredded leaves. Not impressed.
Probably got a 1:2 ratio.(2lbs of harvested potatoes per 1 pound seed potatoes planted) My old organic gardening book by JI Rodale says 1:7 is a good return and I think I hit that on that one good year. Usually get 1:4 - 1:5.
I could only find a single 5lb bag of Yukon Gold seed potatoes this past Spring which is what I prefer to grow. Russets are so cheap to buy, it doesn’t seem worth the effort to grow and we like the Yukon Gold better. Better than the reds even.