What potatoes to choose

[Paul Narramore]

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/gh_spud2.php

After reading the attached link, I am even more baffled than before. Basically I am searching for the best flavoured 1st Early potato. I'll grow ANYA again, a 2nd Early, because of it's superb flavour so I'm looking for a 1st Early to compliment it. I have a 10ft x 5ft raised bed so I shalln't be growing a lot. Flavour must come before quantity. Any ideas? Digger?

PS In the December issue of GW magazine, Pippa Greenwood recommends a salad potato, Harlequin, as her favourite but I I want a general purpose cooking potato, I'm not sure this is the best one to go for.

[digger]

Hi Paul, Charlotte are a fairly good doer, so I am told. First earlies this far up North don't always do well because they end up sat in cold clay under 5 inches of rain water, but if I had the fortune of your "garden of England" (lucky you) climate I would give Charlotte a go, you can begin lifting them from early June and they won't take any harm if you lift them at intervals

[sue1002]

I'm doing 'Rocket' again this year, I tried them last year for the first time - the flavour is good and I also got a good yield. They are a very first early which are supposed to be ready 10 weeks from planting. As with last year, I will be doing them in buckets, two to a bucket and start off the first ones at the end of February in the greenhouse. I plant up two buckets each week and once the frosts are over transfer the buckets against the wall of the house. The first ones are ready from early May.

I bought the seed potatoes in Wilkinsons last week (£3 for 3kg) and as with last year I have saved some, wrapped them in newspaper and put them at the back of the fridge. These will again be planted in buckets in August/early September for a crop of new potatoes for Christmas. The first frosts of the winter did however stop the growth of the foliage and I was too late in transferring them into the greenhouse, this year I will remember to move them before the frosts strike. We had some lovely new potatoes at new year from that crop, enough for a week's worth of meals for us, if I had moved the buckets earlier we would have had more bigger ones, the rest we could have played marbles with.

[Neil Bromhall]

From Sue.
Hi Neil, I grew Rocket last year for the first time because they are a very first early and should be ready to harvest around 10-12 weeks after planting, this choice was partly because impatience kicks in and the thought of extra early new potatoes seemed appealing. The Charlotte and Anya are the ones Paul that is growing.

I was very pleased with the performance of last years Rocket, they gave a good yield and were very tasty.

I've chosen Sarpo Mira as the main crop, they are supposed to be blight resistant, slug resistant and produce a heavy yield. I grew these the year before last and was pleased with the taste but wasn't too impressed by the yield at the time. I think that is because I grew them in compost bags, they didn't get enough water during that hot summer and they were a bit scabby. Last year I grew Desiree and didn't get as many spuds as I'd hoped for, plus we had quite a lot of slug damage to them. Like last year the maincrop will be grown in the ground instead of bags so I'm hoping for a better result this time.

[Neil Bromhall]

The potatoes I found in the Organic gardening catalogue that I might try are
Sarpo Mira - Big yeilds of tasy, floury, red skinned tubers. Grows well in many soil types.
Vigorous, weed suppressing foliage. Long storage
Very high blight resistance

King Edward. Heritage general purpose variety with excelent cooking and eating qualities. England's best known potato - some say the best roaster ever.

Charlotte Very popular high yeilding variety with long yellow tubers and waxy, tasty fleash. Excellent for salads. Stores well. Second early.

Pink Fir Apple. Late maturing salad potato with distinctive, long, knobbly tubers. Yellow flesh with 'new potato' flavour even in winter. Slow to chit, so start off in the dark and move to light when sprouts appear. Late maincrop.

[sue1002]

As far as I know, I think the Sarpo Mira are an exclusive variety to T&M, I ordered mine around October time and they were delivered the week before Christmas, you'd better get your order in quick then Neil before they run out of stock for this year.

[Neil Bromhall]

I put my potatoes out to start chitting and the pesky mice have come and nibbled some of the shoots.
I've now covered them to keep the mice out but with less are circulation I'm concerned that the potatoes could turn mouldy in the still atmosphere.
Any suggestions?


I'm keeping the netting which the potatoes arrived in. The netting will be perfect to hold the comfy leaves when I make my home made natural fertiliser.

[digger]

Hi Neil, You could try and cover the potatoes with a cage of wire maybe? i have an old mouse/hamster cage that has found a second life covering things like potatoes as they are chitting, you could have a scout around for a used mouse cage,as they are initially designed to keep mice in they are brilliant at keeping mice out:-). That said I am a hoarder and i can't bear to throw things away just in case I find a use for them