On Saturday we had intended to make an overdue visit to the plot but instead we filled our day with other garden related activities.
The morning was spent at a local garden centre's mini potato day. Martyn has posted a video here.
Each year we choose half a dozen varieties of potatoes that we haven't grown before as a trial. To be honest we didn't expect there to be many new varieties to try out but we were wrong.
The six new varieties that we chose were Jazzy, Elfe, Carlingford, Mayan Gold, Carolus and Apache. We bought four seed potatoes of each.
We then added bags of the potatoes that we wanted to grow in larger quantities. These were based on varieties that had impressed us in previous years, some of which were from last year's trial. We chose seven varieties for our main potato crop Casablanca, Rooster, Vivaldi, Osprey, Cara, Kestrel and Nadine.
In the afternoon Martyn tidied up and cleaned out the summer house and set out the potatoes to chit.
I tidied up a couple of perennial borders in the back garden.
It was mainly a case of cutting back the dead growth from the perennials.
We now have several bags of debris to transport to the compost bins at the allotment.
We were intended a plot visit today but guess what - it's raining!
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All over the country, seed-potatoes are relaxing in egg-boxes and quietly chitting... :)
ReplyDeleteOr in our case some are in seed trays, Mark :-)
DeleteI miss going to Potato Day, so I'll have to enjoy it via your blog instead :) Casablanca is one of my favourite taties too.
ReplyDeleteCasablance scores in several counts Julieanne, taste, yield and being mainly disease and pest free. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the last thing - tempting fate?
DeleteIt's always good to trial new types of potatoes, those beds are looking good.xxx
ReplyDeleteIt is, Dina new varieties are being produced all the time and it would be a shame to miss out by sticking yo the old varieties.
DeleteWe hope to try Jazzy too. We're seriously holding back on the numbers as we are finding we don't eat as many spuds as we used to and can't store them. Shame as they look so lovely growing
ReplyDeleteWe go through quite a lot of potatoes Belinda and they seem to store OK in our garage. Have you grown Jazzy before?
DeleteWe are lucky to find 3 or 4 potato varieties to choose from, and they are pretty standard types. There are usually more sweet potatoes to choose from, which might be because they tend to be easier to grow here.
ReplyDeleteIt's completely he opposite way round with us, Dave. The varieties available at our garden centre are just a drop in the ocean. We are lucky if we can find sweet potatoes and when we have tried have had little success with them. Last year we bought a couple of sweet potato plants in pots but they didn't produce anything. WE'd love to grow sweet potatoes. Do you plant the whole tuber as for our potatoes? I've only seen things called slips on offer.
DeleteI set the tuber in water or soil and when the shoots/slips get tall enough I break them off and plant them. So no, you don't plant the whole tuber. One tuber can make a dozen or so slips.
DeleteThanks, Dave
DeleteWe don't have much choice when it comes to potatoes, although a local store, Canadian Tire, does offer at least 6 or so varieties each spring, but they are all in 5 lb. bags and I do enjoy growing a few different varieties. We do have one grower out west that sells dozens of varieties but their cost to ship went through the roof last year so I'm no longer purchasing from them.
ReplyDeleteUsually ours are in that sized bags, Margaret but at the beginning of the season our local garden centre offers the individual tubers. At least you will have less of a decision to make over choice.
DeleteI admire your commitment to growing new potatoes !! I'm sure that it will be a great experience for you !!
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Hope so Ela
DeleteI love to trial new varieties of any plants and vegetables Sue. This year it's Patty pan squash. Hopefully your experiment will be successful.
ReplyDeleteWe do too Nadezda - good luck with the Patty Pans
DeleteThat time of year again! Oh I have the empty egg boxes Sue but no potatoes yet. When do you hope to put your potatoes in the ground?
ReplyDeleteLast year it was 3 April, Anna with some popped in bags at the end of March. No choice but to buy them now as there would be less choice later and no individual tubers on offer.
DeleteThe only way to find that big of a selection of potatoes here is to buy them mail order. That's not a big deal to me because I only grow them occasionally, I just don't have enough space for them.
ReplyDeleteThe ones we grow last us most of the year, Michelle.
DeleteJeepers! We just don't have that sort of selection here, well not that I can find! There used to be a cool garden centre where you could pick out individual potatoes to try out. Now we are down to small bags or large bags of just a few varieties. Arrghh, my wee country needs to get with the times :) Good luck with all of them. YOu do grow a lot of spuds - an Irish girl should be proud but I don't eat them often at all!
ReplyDeleteThat surprises me Carrie, I thought you would have lots of choice. As for not eating potatoes it's a bit like me, an English girl that doesn't drink tea!
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