Topic: Which potato varieties will you growing in 2010 and why

[plainleaf2]

Which potato varieties will you growing in 2010 and why

[jimtheworzel]

HI...CHARLOTTE AND MARRIS PEER BOTH GOOD CROPPERS AND ALLWAYS DO WELL ON MY SOIL.  WHAT WILL YOU GROW

JIMTHEWORZEL

[grawrc]

Lady Christl, Kestrel and Belle de Fontenay. They all seem pretty disease and pest proof and have great flavours. i've grown them all before.

[Emagggie]

Kestrel for sure, still on the lookout for a waxy early with that earthy flavour though.

[grannyjanny]

Swift. They just melted in the mouth & Vivaldi, the dieters friend.

[Emagggie]

Vivaldi, the dieters friend.

Tell me more GJ.. ;D

[grannyjanny]

 Just googled them to make sue Maggie. At least 1/3 fewer calories & 26% less carbs & I like the taste too. Creamy mash without all the fat. I pour Good Oil (hemp)over my potatoes & veg if not having gravy.

[InfraDig]

I grew Swift in pots. When boiled ( for 15 mins or so) they just fell apart. Are they just good for mash, or did I do something wrong? I too am looking for a good early waxy salad potato.

[saddad]

Epicure, Red Dukes, Aura
Picasso, Anya, Desiree... and lots of others in small quantities
 :)

[earlypea]

While we're here.  Does anyone know any good online sources for buying in tiny quantities - even one or two tubers? I have one place in my bookmarks, any others?  Thanks..

[grannyjanny]

Earlypea, usually in Spring there is a special offer on one of the seed sites for free seed potatoes. Last year it was Hunter & Vivaldi. Some of the garden centres sell them seperately at so much per container then you could mix & match. A bit like Woolies Pick & Mix.  IYSWIM.

[1066]

Earlypea - which one do you have bookmarked? I've found T&M do a 5 tuber pack - bit on the pricey side but good if you only want to try a few or have limited space. Not an on line resource but there are potato days across the country where you can buy in small quantities - haven't been to one yet but will try and get to the Brighton one this year

I'm going to try Lady Chrystl as per recommendations on here  ;D

[earlypea]

I picked this address up from a thread on www.chat.allotment.org.uk

Brookside Nurseries
http://angelicgroup.com/catalog/

but their spuds aren't up yet.

I saw the five packs, but it worked out at about the same price to buy a whole pack from Alanromans. Quite a rip-off!

Nearest potato day - too far.  Garden centres near me - rubbish.  Freebies no good because there are particular varieties I want.

Also, I did come across a supplier a couple of weeks ago offering singles for 50p each, but for the life of me I can't locate it again.  If anyone knows I'd be most grateful  :)

Last year I ended up with an embarrassment of seed potatoes, enough for a small farm.  It wasn't actually that expensive but the waste annoyed me.

[InfraDig]

Earlypea - I see Suttons do a Patio Potato refill pack, 5 tubers each of Rocket, Vivaldi and Charlotte for £4.95. Shame about postage, £3.95! Don't know if it can be bought in any garden centres.

[asbean]

Earlypea - I don't know where you are, but there are a lot of potato days all over the country in January/February, where there is an enormous choice and you can buy one or as many as you like.  There is just the entrance (about £1-2) and no postage costs, they sell other stuff too, seeds, seed swaps, plants, etc etc so is a good day out as well.

Here is the link to ours - we've make it a date every year http://www.potatoday.org/

[Sparkly]

Kestrel - always a heavy cropper for us, a few arran pilot, international kidney (jersey royal) - these were brilliant for us this year. We had a huge crop and they still tasted good when they got bigger, anya and finally rooster.

[Baccy Man]

I picked this address up from a thread on www.chat.allotment.org.uk

Brookside Nurseries
http://angelicgroup.com/catalog/

but their spuds aren't up yet.

Clearly it's a poorly maintained site as there are ads for prescription medication inserted into some descriptions such as the one on the main seed page.

Looking at their site more closely you can still view the list of 85 Varieties they offered last year @ £1.25 per kg with postage costs of:
£4.99 for any quantity up to 2kg;
£6.99 for any quantity up to 4kg;
£7.99 for any quantity up to 30kg
http://www.brooksidenurseries.co.uk/print.php

You can also see a copy of the pre-order form which is obviously from the end of the season as it only lists a handful of those varieties.
http://www.brooksidenurseries.co.uk/spw.php?unit=singles
It seems you pre-order the potatoes you want (they put the order forms up in November ish & continue selling until March or whenever they sell out) then they contact you  from January onwards to sort out the payment & delivery. If you order individual tubers they weigh them & charge you £1.25 per kg + P+P.
Irrespective of the poor maintenance it does look like an interesting site for seed potatoes, it's a shame there isn't more places that sell them like that.

Also, I did come across a supplier a couple of weeks ago offering singles for 50p each, but for the life of me I can't locate it again.  If anyone knows I'd be most grateful  :)

You may be thinking of http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/vegetable_seeds/ (at the bottom of the page) the prices are misleading though as you have to purchase in multiples of 5 with a minimum order of 10 of each variety you buy.

[earlypea]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Seem to have hijacked the thread there  :-\  oops, sorry.

Thanks Baccyman, I couldn't find last year's stock, but the viagra worried me too.  And you were right it was Victoriannursery for what I thought was 50p a spud, not much variety though.

Just to say - Since posting I got myself a personal A4A shopper  :D  so hijack over.  Back to spuds.  

[Psi (Pronounced 'Si'!)]

I will not be growing any potatoes this year  ;D

[lewic]

Me neither. Unless I can find some self-earthing self-cleaning varieties!