Plant your potatoes in empty raised beds.  I love to grow my own potatoes, but I always hate the prospect of the work of digging them up.  Think ahead to avoid laborious digging when harvesting potatoes and plant them in raised beds.  Using raised beds also lessens the likelihood of pests like rodents getting into your potatoes. Plant your potatoes in 2-3 inches of compost and cover with old straw.  As the plants develop, begin adding alfalfa instead of straw to the raised beds. Expect less work when harvesting, and add any left over material from the beds to your compost pile.

Raised beds like these are perfect.