Saturday, 20 February 2021

Time To Get The Spudatoes Chitting.


 The missus came back with three net bags of  Orla seed potatoes yesterday.   They cost fifteen Euros.  I have also got some British Queens what a friend gave me when he harvested his first ever crop last year.   

My Irish Grandfather always grew British Queens and Kerr Pinks.  Back in the the days when most people had a 'garden' and set spuds and other vegetables for themselves and Cow cabbages and Mangels for the livestock.

Last year we grew Home Guard which we bought from our local German garden centre and beer providers.  They were very good in fairness.

We have grown Orla before because they originate in Scotland and are therefore much more blight resistant and for their delicious taste.  My friend sprayed his potatoes for potato blight.  Something I never do.   If we have a wet and humid June.  I usually cut the potato haulm/stalks off with garden shears or use the petrol strimmer if we see any signs of blight on the leaves.

Orla are a first and second early and they can also use for a maincrop.  We only grow early potatoes.  I am going to grow some new potatoes in the polytunnel too. Me thinks I will grow the British Queens in big pots in the polytunnel.  

It's far too wet to do any digging at the moment.  So I am going to start collecting seaweed from a local beach.  I will also cover the seed potatoes with homemade compost when we plant them around Saint Patrick's Day.

What seed potato varieties are you growing this year?






30 comments:

  1. I am not going to grow any potatoes this year Dave. Recent harvests have been disappointing and potatoes take up a lot of room. I can't be bothered so I will be growing some marijuana instead. After harvest, I will dry it out gently in the oven before popping it into small plastic bags that I will sell at the street corner for £30 each. I will do you and JayCee nice discounts if you want to place your orders early.

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    1. I would like to take you up on your very kind offer Mr Pudding. Can you make spliffs? I am not very good with cigarette papers.

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    2. Put my name down for a couple of kilos please YP.

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    3. I'll have a few Pounds of that marrow banana stuff. 😊

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    4. Your orders have been logged - now let us hope for a decent growing season. We will be off to Itchycoo Park in the summer.

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    5. now see, that's EXACTLY what is wrong with the world today! All of you gardeners, but instead of getting stoned by the labor of your own hands, you lounge about and spend money to purchase from YP. TSK!!

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  2. I'm growing Rooster. First time last year and they were fantastic.pink for apple, husbands favourite salad potato, Harry, something new as we had a new grandson last year named Harry and finally maris piper. We always grow them.
    Just planted some broad beans and some chioggia beetroot in trays, ready to go out when they're big enough.

    I'm going to plant tomato seeds at the end of the month. Sungold and marmande. Same as always!

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    1. Hi Christina. They sell Rooster potatoes in the supermarkets over here. We've got marmande in trays in the front room window. Thanks.

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  3. Wish we had names for our potatoes and also we knew which were good for baking, boiling, frying. We just get potatoes from northern Greece, potatoes from the island of Naxos, potatoes from Cyprus or Egypt. It's a guessing game as to whether they're good or not.
    Of course we could grow our own, and did once, but there weren't enough for our household.

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    1. Hi Linda. I have saved supermarket potatoes and waited for them to chit or sprout and planted them. I once knew an allotment holder who grew potatoes from the eyes in the potato skins. A good tight wad trick is to just cut your seed potatoes in half and plant them. Thanks.

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  4. We only grow earlies or 2nd earlies ,because of the blight. We prefer charlotte or nicola, we grow most in pots in the tunnel in supermarket flower holder pots. They nly charge 99p for 8 of them. They sit on guttering ,so watering is easy. We cut a hole in each pot and insert a net pot into it.the roots grow down into the gutter, so we just fill up the gutter. It works with larger tubs also.
    Kathy

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    1. Sounds like you have got a very good irrigation system Kathy. Sarpo Mira are an Hungarian blight resistant potato. We've grown them in the past but prefer Orla. Taste means much. Thanks.

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    2. yes, I agree Dave, thats why we chose charlotte and nicola. I thought Sarpo were a genetically modified type, not known for its flavour. We try and keep to old types of plants, where we can save our own seed.(some times !)

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    3. Good point Kathy. A lot of supermarket bought vegetables have no taste or flavour. Didn't know Sarpo was genetically modified. It's probably that what gives it's blight resistance? Thanks for replying to my comment.

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  5. We have had blight here so P started growing his spuds in black plastic bin bags. It was very successful and the best part was that to harvest them he only had to tip the contents of the bag out - no sticking a garden fork through the best ones by accident!

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    1. You just set the bags of soil on the ground?

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    2. Hi Debby. Yes, he puts soil/compost in the bags and sets them in a convenient place then plants the seed potatoes. As they grow, he adds more soil and rolls up the sides of the bags, just like earthing them up in the ground.

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  6. P black plastic bin bags sounds ingenious JayCee. I remember Bob Flowerdew growing potatoes in soil filled tyres placed on top of each other. I have read though that tyres contain Cadmium, so I am not so sure. I have seen old potato lifting forks. They look like a garden fork but they have round metal blobs on the bottom of the forks to stop you sticking a spike through the potatoes. I also grow them in large plant pots in the po,tunnel.

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    1. If you use the black plastic bag inside the tower of tyres, it prevents cadmium from entering the soil . You still get the support and extra insulation of the tires and protection from 'greening' .

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    2. Thanks for the information Kathy. I remember Bob Flowerdew growing potatoes in tyres in his "Muck and Magic" excellent gardening programme on Channel 4.

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  7. I used to mince the sea weed up with an old mincer, it took time but was easier to rot down. I can still remember us staggering up the beach with heavy bags of seaweed, lol. No wonder I've got a dodgy hip. lol
    Briony
    x

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  8. I live very close to a beach Briony. I was taking my rucksack and filling a plastic back full of seaweed when I go walking. I suppose I could start spreading it over the veg plot and the rains will wash the salt off it? It's free and on the doorstep. Thanks.

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  9. I was thinking of taking my rucksack..

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  10. We'll plant the same old sturdy russets we plant every year. Last year we waited too long and seed potatoes were hard to come by. We ended up with some french fingerlings. Majorly disappointed in those.

    I have a question though, about blight. So when you see signs of blight on the leaves, you just cut the tops off? And then what happens? Things regrow and they don't have blight? Or you've lost your potato crop for the year?

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  11. Hi Debby. Hopefully cutting and removing the stalks and leaves. The blight won't travel down to the tubers. We only grow early potatoes and hopefully they are ready before the blight arrives. Hopefully we won't get a humid and warm summer. Which are perfect conditions for potato blight.

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  12. I have never heard of this. I've fallen into another google rabbit hole and learning about potato blight.

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  13. Gosh. A good book recommendation Debby: The Potato. Larry Zuckerman. It's excellent and follows the potatoes origin in the Andes, the failed potato crop and famine in Ireland and much,much more.

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