My grandmother always told me that was the easiest way to grow potatoes.
I tried potatoes both in barrels and in bales last year. Both worked pretty well ... Barrels have the advantage of being reusable next year. Bales have the advantage of being able to thrown in the chicken coop for litter and then used as compost in the spring. I can see me doing both again this year, just because I have those two big patios in the back yard. I sure which Everett hadn't had such a concrete fetish ...
I'm seriously thinking of stacking some bales and doing a BUNCH of sweet potatoes in the middle and onions and different herbs to dry all around in bales now that I have a cellar (i.e., that tornado shelter) to put them in ...