Sunday 16 June 2013

Proudly posting Potatoes!!! (spuds)

So as you have probably realised i didn't manage a post a day but it's only been a couple of days since my last post and I have managed to keep up with everyone else so i think I am doing quite well.

Today has been dry but I have been doing some much needed cleaning so haven't been out in the garden or allotment. Yesterday and Friday were again a mixture of sun and heavy downloads but I managed to get some things done so do have some things to tell you.

You have probably already guessed that today my potatoes are going to be the star of the show!!


King Edward main crop potatoes
King Edward main crop potatoes.
So above are my Main crop potatoes of choice and as is usual for me they are King Edwards. They are by far my favourite potato to eat and this is the reason I choose to grow them. I have four rows in and these have already been earthed up. I'm not sure that earthing up helps much with the yield. I didn't see much difference last year but then again it wasn't a great year. The main benefit I find from earthing up is that if the tops die off before you manage to get them all harvested then you still know where to dig so I have decided that for the little effort it takes it is a good thing to do. Another thing I have noticed and you can look at the difference between the two photos...there are far less weeds in the 'hilled' potatoes.

I bought some new potatoes to plant this year too. My readers of old will remember the extensive research I put into growing my new potatoes last year but for any newcomers if you want to check out the post you can find it here.

oes 'Nicola' and some french variety, oh and a few swift and charlotte
New Potatoes..'Nicola'.
So with all that research this year I have planted 'Nicola' for my New potatoes and those were the two varieties that I bought. However the allotment being as it is people have spares and things get passed around and I hate to see anything g to waste so I also have a French variety of new potato in that were given to me by allotment neighbours, I have no idea what the variety is but they have a purplish skin. Then I also have just a few tubers of Swift and Charlotte in as another plot holder had a few too many and I had about half a row to fill. If the yield isn't great I won't mind as they were free. The fact that there aren't too many means that if they aren't my favourite texture wise I won't mind that either.

I did manage to get the new potatoes 'hilled' up over the weekend so they are now all good to go!!

Also a few points about potatoes I think I need to write to give myself some reminders of the 'what not to do's' in the future, and maybe stop any of you making the same mistakes I did!!

You may recall that I didn't get all the potatoes dug up last year. Due to weather the main crop wasn't great and I just left them in the ground. Probably pure laziness on my part more than anything but the decision was made. I then thought I would dig them early this year...but the day's ran into weeks and before I knew what was happening the potatoes were staring to grow again for a second year. 

I seriously thought about leaving them there...but this was not the potatoes bed this year but the root bed and I needed the room so I bit the bullet and started to dig. 

Well what do you suppose I found??

Potatoes..and plenty of them!! Despite my few plants I dug last year that were very poor and slug damaged it is now obvious to me that this was not the case on all of the potatoes. The problem was that as they had started to grow again and were no good for eating. Plus by digging them up I know that so many potatoes so close together would not have given me good crops at all.

So ...lesson learnt. Make sure I dig my potatoes  up all the way along and don't be presumptuous!!
.

13 comments:

  1. You're going to be rolling in mountains of spuds before long! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the idea Tanya...It is such a versatile vegetable I like to have plenty!!

      Delete
  2. at least you've learned something new with every crop. You do way better than I ever could growing things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet it you put your mind to it you would be a great gardener Ann!!

      Delete
  3. They are looking lovely & healthy, not long now for harvesting the new ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know and I can't wait...you can't beat going and digging a few spuds just in time for cooking.

      Delete
  4. I think another advantage of earthing is to give some protection to the tubers if the tops become blighted and also to make sure there are no tubers exposed to daylight which will turn them green and poisonous

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is true Sue, it's because of possibly late frosts that I like to earth up as they come through, so many people earth theirs up straight away on the allotment and then end up with frost damage. hadn't thought about stopping the 'greenies' but yes it certainly works for that too.

      Delete
  5. Your spuds look to be growing well. I've only got about ten tubers in the allotment, just trying some desiree out as I've heard they may not get bad slug damage, something I always suffer with at the plot. The rest of my potatoes are in containers and are just starting to flower, so it won't be long until they're ready to eat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am just getting a few flowers to Jo...soon we'll all be eating delicious potatoes!!

      Delete
  6. We're growing lots more potatoes (Desiree) this year, for our own use and also for our daughter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I grow them for myself and family...I always like being able to share what I have produced with my family, My Mum grows flowers so we have a good deal going between us!!

      Delete
  7. Dear Tanya, I don't have the room in my yard for crops such as these, but they look so beautiful and professional.
    You really are good at growing these beautiful crops.
    I am hoping for some good tomatoes and herbs though.
    You are doing wonderful with all that is in your schedule.
    Blessings dear friend. Catherine xo

    ReplyDelete

keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!