Straw Potatoes?

Early potatoes pushing up their shoots.  Notice my homemade concrete path made with recycled pig slats.  

I took drastic steps before we went on our jollies to Portugal and covered my potato patch with old straw.  Here's a picture of them yesterday.  I removed the straw to one side and earthed up the soil over the potatoes and replaced the blanket of straw again.  This was done with my trusty four prong pike and azada.

There were frosts this morning and the air felt very chilly.  Never known an April so dry or so nice.  Talking to a farmer friend who was talking to another farmer, and he said it was like this years ago when he got married one April.  Then it rained all summer.  Hope this isn't summer?  What do you think?