Potato growing question

[Saraheliz]

Hi

the next plot to mine has potatoes emerging through some freshish (put on plot in April) horse manure. I did think it had to rot down at least a year before it could be used. Does anyone know anything about this technique and whether it is a good idea or not as I am wondering about next year.

thanks!

[Two_Sheds]

Wait and see what his crop is like

[snohare]

I'd be interested to know what his crop is going to be like this year too, as this is exactly what I ended up doing this year on my plot !
I didn't want to, but I had no compost or topsoil; I wanted to try the no-dig method, but didn't have the old FYM that was needed really. I ended up filling a bed with fresh-ish horse manure and straw, made holes, and put in tatties with a surrounding layer of old compost/topsoil, that wouldn't have much nutrients but also wouldn't burn the tatties when it got wet, as I thought the manure would. My rather forlorn hope was that the nutrients would diffuse through the damp soil to the tattie stem roots while they were young, and once a couple of months older the manure would not burn further root/tattie development. So far the shaws are growing fine, I just earthed them up with some molehills I was able to collect, but I have grave doubts about the yield to come - if I hadn't managed to plant tatties more conventionally elsewhere, I think I would have been inclined not to try this, but plant fruit bushes in amongst the FYM instead.
Of course, now I have been given a trailer load of beautifully well rotted FYM, and the offer of as much as I want - just after I have finished all my beds.