Topic: Good year for spuds !!!

[GRACELAND]

Good year for spuds !!!   

In fact  things were not to bad on my plot this year (although it needs manuring this year)
Runner beans were  slow getting going  but the last 4 weeks there doing well .
French beans and flat pod beans good as in other years .
Beetroot Great no complaints .
Peas  waste of time !
Carrots  small.
Courgettes loads to start but went over fast as did marrows ,
Apples Small this year but lots -Pears As norm
Good size onion crop though  And Broad beans
Cues   enough on 3 plants and tomatoes  good amount  too
How was everyone else's yr ?

[strawberry1]

yes charlottes were really good, only me and 14 plants so I cut the haulms off 2 months ago and left the spuds in the ground, removing as needed. Not done this before, the spuds are in excellent condition

[okra]

Potatoes good crop, runners very slow and a moderate crop but have had more french beans than normal, toms and cues good crop and toms are now starting to ripen, cauli was waste of time, my apples were also very small. Good cabbages, not much of a carrot crop but marrows have done well and have one very good sized pumpkin and some smaller ones. Butternut squashes just starting to change colour. All in all was a strange year, with a warm start and a partial drought followed by a very wet August.

[Marlborough]

Potatoes awful, tomatoes great, corn so so and brassicas not good. I think this was due tow cool damp summer in the north west.

[Deb P]

Dug up a bed of 8 harmony plants this afternoon, admittedly on poorish soil no manure and only got a tray full of tubers but most of bakers size.  Just ate some for tea, not much flavour having them baked so not likely to have impressed me enough to grow again. Kestrel and International kidney to follow.....

[Tee Gee]

Potatoes awful, tomatoes great, corn so so and brassicas not good. I think this was due tow cool damp summer in the north west.

Although I would agree that the weather has been a bit mixed up this year I wouldn't necessarily agree this was the entire reason for your poor crops.

I garden on the other side of the hills from you and I have had a pretty good year.

OK I have had better years.

What variety of potatoes and brassicas did you grow?

I think this might be more of a reason for your problems rather than the weather alone.

Then there is your growing methods is your pH right, what type of soil do you have and how often do you manure it?

[Marlborough]

Tried Albert Bartlett instead of desserie this year, these where not to bad. My Maris Piper where devoured by slugs. To be honest this is the first year I have had a disaster spud wise. My summer cabbage despite being covered by Debris  netting suffered slug damage, even with plenty of pellets bing used.

[Tee Gee]

I spoke too soon!!!!!!!!!

Went down to plots and found that a family of Badgers which have been troubling our site this year and found that they had dug up most of my second earlies to get to what ever they were seeking to eat.

They also had burrowed under under my protective netting and dug up my recently planted winter/ spring greens.

I have been thinking all year about giving up my allotments for various reasons so after this I will be doing some very serious thinking between now and the end of the year.

What with lousy compost,seeds becoming more expensive and the crazy mixed up weather  over the last few years  I am finding cultivating my allotments is more of a chore rather than a pleasure hence my recent thoughts.

Now badgers! That could be the last straw.

[squeezyjohn]

Again I would put the case for planting and harvesting potatoes early - it's been a godsend to my potato crop for two years now ... it's all too easy to blame all kinds of external factors (I think that's just human nature -- but we should try to fight it!)

I'm really sorry the badgers got your potatoes - I thought they were a pretty vermin-free crop.

What I'm trying to say is that I hope you don't give up ... you're quite clearly an exceptional gardener ... and your presence online is invaluable for people starting off.  I see so many people in my life who are poorer for not growing their own food - I think you'd really be missing out if you really did give up TeeGee!

[Tee Gee]

What I'm trying to say is that I hope you don't give up ... you're quite clearly an exceptional gardener ... and your presence online is invaluable for people starting off.  I see so many people in my life who are poorer for not growing their own food - I think you'd really be missing out if you really did give up TeeGee!

Thanks for your concern John

Again I would put the case for planting and harvesting potatoes early - it's been a godsend to my potato crop for two years now ... it's all too easy to blame all kinds of external factors (I think that's just human nature -- but we should try to fight it!)

I'm really sorry the badgers got your potatoes - I thought they were a pretty vermin-free crop.

The Potatoes are OK, that is the badgers did not damage them, its just that they were scattered all over the place in their haste to get at the invertebrates that they were after.

I have noticed that all the plots on the site  that are well cultivated and manured are the only ones that are being damaged / got at.

The plots that are not as well kept seem to be getting away scot free, presumably there is less badger foodstuff around in these.

As I see it his does not bode well for the winter months, I hope I am wrong!

I have been on these plots for 25+ years now and we have never had trouble with badgers before,

We are on the edge of a Council park that has been allowed to deteriorate so a group of people who call themselves "The Friends of the Park" are upgrading it.

Since they have taken over a couple of years ago we have had bits of trouble such as the time they dammed a water course and it caused flooding on our site.

Access is better for visitors to the park so we have had visitors trespassing on the site.

After we spoke to them they were quite nice about and it seems they were not aware of the problems their renovation work was doing, and they have taken steps to rectify these problems.

In regards to the Badgers, I feel that the FOTP have unwittingly disturbed a sett and the badgers have moved to pastures new, which must be in the vicinity of our plots.

The Badgers will not be complaining, they will think they have gone to 'Badger Heaven' what with this abundance of easy to get at food.

So as I said previously I am not looking forward to the winter months, they have already had a go at the bed my spring veg are in and it is not even winter yet!!!

One guy has already fenced his spring veg bed, something I have been thinking about.

But it is a lot of hassle what with nets to keep the birds and butterflies off, various methods of slug/snail control (although I am hoping the Badgers will improve this problem) adding fencing I think will be the last straw.

Its going to cost more for plant defence than the crops are worth if I have to go to these lengths!


As I said I have a lot of thinking to do and my first thoughts are to give up one of my plots and cut my losses.

I grow too much stuff as it is, and I guess I must give something like half of my stuff away, so growing less should help in every respect.

I will wait till winter is through and see what damage the badgers do before I decide on what I am finally going to do.


So once again thanks for your concern...Tg






 

[BarriedaleNick]

I had al lovely crop of PFA spuds, 16lbs or so.  The desiree yield isn't brilliant but they are pretty clean and mainly big so the usable yield is good.  As for the rest of it has been a mixed bag but certainly not the worst year ever. 

[chriscross1966]

Dug up a bed of 8 harmony plants this afternoon, admittedly on poorish soil no manure and only got a tray full of tubers but most of bakers size.  Just ate some for tea, not much flavour having them baked so not likely to have impressed me enough to grow again. Kestrel and International kidney to follow.....

I think that's the nail on the head for Harmony, produces bakers, but they are dreadfully bland... what I think of as a cheap supermarket potato (along with Saxon).... Kestrel's are nice for some early bakers, as is Cara, Sarpo Mira is excellent but takes a slightly longer cooking time than some spuds, if you like the "irish" style potatoes then both Setanta and Kerr's Pink are superb, with Setanta having the advantage of blight resistance...

[GRACELAND]

ok Spud growers  Question  Best Blight resistant And Slug resistant ??

[Deb P]

Blight resistance, the Mayan Gold were the last to succumb on my plot the last time I had awful blight, probably in the genes.....I don't think any variety is blight proof, some seems to hold it off a bit later at best.

Slug resistant.......I only grow earliest and second earliest, they are out of the ground before the blight and the longer they stay in the ground the greater the risk of slug damage.

I only bought the Harmony tubers on a whim.....that'll teach me! Kerr's pink sound promising, must make some room for them next year.......

[galina]

Another vote for Setanta.  However Saxon grown on our soil is particularly well flavoured.  S Mira not so much.  It varies such a lot from place to place.  Harlequin is one of our faves and has performed extremely well. 

Charlotte is usually good but very disappointing this year.  Not sure why apart from getting them from a different supplier.  I was wondering whether they were indeed the same potato - that probably rings a bell with a couple of people on the forum. 

Still got some in the ground and growing.  Looking forward to dig up more nice spuds in a while.

[Tee Gee]

My vote goes to Kestrel,Charlotte and PFA

[BarriedaleNick]

ok Spud growers  Question  Best Blight resistant And Slug resistant ??

My sarpo mira have stood really well over the last few years against blight - also very surprised this year that there is very little slug damage to them and the desiree.

[Jayb]

For me the most Late Blight resistant commercial varieties this year are Sarpo Mira and Carolus. Sarpo Mira wins on resistance but Carolus is not far behind and is the better tasting of the two. I'll be growing both again next year.

Slugs are less of an issue here as Late blight is so prolific.