potatoes and acid soil.

Trying to get my potatoes in later this week but I've noticed I have patches of moss growing out there. Moss usually means too wet and acidic. But I've read that lime will cause black scab on potatoes. For a few years I mulched heavily with wheat staw but then my garden became riddled with moles and voles. They loved all that built in food, (the wheat grains still left on the stalks), the winter blanket it provided. The straw really added to the tilth of the soil and loads of earth worms but I didn't use it last year, hoping to get rid of some of the underground critters.The last two years have been wet, (good for mosses),which sure beats a drought, but I'd like some ideas for sweetening the soil and getting a nice crop of potatoes.

Wait, I thought potatoes liked it quite acidic and that the sweeter the soil, the more problems with scab. (I'm trying to combat alkalinity here.) Can you keep the potato bed separate and lime the rest? Or a pine straw mulch, maybe?

Your soil sounds dee-lish, though!

Zeppy, I'm pretty sure you're right about acidic, but I didn't think they liked it moss- growing acidic. And my soil, sadly, isn't that delish right now. The hot sun here and a few years of crops have burned up a lot of the orgainc matter, so I'm planning to go with lots of wheat staw again. Right now there's lots of mucky clay and small stones but I have a load of mushroom compost I'm throwing around out there and that should help, if it would only stop raining.
Not really complaining, I'm just so happy it's spring!
Happy gardening!

gosh I grow the quite sucessfully in leaves! If they don't like acid they have fooled me for a long time

Well roxroe, there's nothing like experience, so I will see how they do. I planted them in the mossy soil, along with a topdressing of mushroom compost. I'm going to follow your example and start raking up leaves out of the woods and pile them over the potatoes as they grow. Maybe mix in some wheat staw too for heavier coverage so I don't get green ones.
I planted that bag of mixed color potatoes we discussed before, along with my sample box of four varieties from WoodPrairie Farms, it will be fun to see what grows. I've planted purple potatoes before, but never blue ones or russian banana fingerlings. Are yours out of the ground yet?

nah been too cold and rainy - just when I forget about them they will spring into full glory

Oh well, at least you have more self-control than I do. I have a bad habit of digging around in the ground to see what's taking the plants or seeds to get growing. keep us posted.

roxroe, when did you plant yrs? My garden's not ready yet...

I'm doing Wood Prarie's Carola. Wish I'd done the experimenter's special...

I planted on 3/9 because a favorable moon sign. It has been so wet - I was going to plant some more tonight (good sign for root crops) but it is dark and forboding out and I am not off work yet.

I use the square foot gardening so I don't have to wait for the ground to dry out to plow.

Any chance you would be able to post pics at some point?