This sounds tempting to me mostly because I'm on vacation this week and it has been and is supposed to be non-stop rain. I don't know if I'll even get the slightest chance to till up a row for my 17 tubers I have from my 1 lb sampler from you Tom. I have some and could get more bags of compost and pour it out into a row or two rows and set the tubers into it. I also have several (9) bales of hay that a friend of mine provided.
Here would be my concerns, first would I be able to keep track accurately of 17 different varieties of potatoes grown in this manner? I could possible put a bamboo stake as a marker for each.
My other concern would be that this seems less "traditional" then tilling and hilling and I of course want to be successful in at least producing and maintaining these varieties.
So, would the benefits of planting now, on top of compost and under straw two to three weeks before the last frost free date (mid-May in zone 5b, NE Indiana) which I could do in steady never ending rain, be preferable to waiting, having to go back to work at my 56+ hours per week job and finding the next dry enough to till day off for planting?
I know it will be my "coin flip" but I would appreciate feed back.
Here is a video of about what I'll be doing except in pouring rain:
http://youtu.be/q1OShZZUt0k