Never grew them in straw but have heard of the method. Coworker said it worked. He mentioned the potatoes had a different color to the skin but the flavor and everything else was the same....last year we experimented with one raised bed and grew potatoes in a blend of compost, peet moss and a little vermiculite....they did great and the soil was so loose we were able to dig them by hand....so if you dont go the straw route you could drill drain holes in the plastic pond and use it as a raised bed with a loose soil....even heard of people adding straw in their inground garden row to loosen earth so I guess you could even do a combination of soil and straw to loosen the soil.
