Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: gavinjconway on December 26, 2011, 22:17:40
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Hi All - I am looking of info on PFA potatoes.. I like the sound of them and want to grow them. Are they a late or early crop and when to plant? I await all the good info flooding in as always.
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I like the taste of PFA's but hate the knobbles on them so I prefer to grow Anya. Anya is a cross between PFA and Desiree. Its looks and tastes like PFA but has a smoother Skin.
PFA are main crop .....Anya is a second early.
duke
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PFA is a very old variety... pre 1850... and is a LATE Main... it is not adapted to growing in the UK. It produces huge haulms (top growth) seven foot not being unusual and only starts to produce tubers in October as the days shorten... In a bad year the blight will kill all the tops, before any tubers are formed... but in a good year you will get masses. I think it is the best potato available but is a pig to grow... Anya crops before the blight... :-X
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just found out in usa pink fir apple is known as rose fin apple.
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they are delicious,pick them early when they are the size of your little finger, no need to peel them a good wash boil them and melt a thingy of butter over the top,great on salads, or chop some bacon into small pieces fry it then add the boiled spuds.i still have some from early on any they keep fine .
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They are very late. Personally prefer Anya.
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Not convinced that Rose Finn Apple are the same.
http://oregonstate.edu/potatoes/variety-L_files/Rose%20Finn%20Apple%20Fingerling.pdf
These are described as finger shaped. I would never describe Pink Fir Apple as finger shaped they are knobbly very very knobbly.
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Fo some strange reason these always have grown well for me :)
I have decided I dislike them as their texture is too hard.
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the picture and description are dead on match even the german name for them is same
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I grew Harlequin, this year, which is a cross between PFA and Charlotte - delicious!
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In France and Belgium they are called corne de gatte. I grew them once, a few years ago when I happened on some tubers to grow and they were delicious but I don't see them very often. Not that I look that hard.
It seems to me potatoes take up a great deal of space and then need more space to be stored well so I'd rather grow crops I can't find in the shops so easily or which taste best freshly picked - interesting salads, fennel, curly kale, cavolo nero, oriental greens and so on - and soft fruits such as blueberries and raspberries which cost a fortune in shops.
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Last year, others were moaning how bad their PFA were, all full of holes, hardly any that were good enough to keep.
Despite this, I gave them a go for the first time this year, but just 5 tubers planted.
I had a fantastic crop, half a sack from 5 plants and not a hole in sight, but I did find it hard to dig them up without breaking them in half.
I did give them a long season, they were the first to go in and the last to come out, don't know if that is why they did well, or if I was just lucky, I'll have to see what 2012 brings.
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I grow them and they are my favourite - no holes, good size, great taste! I suppose it's down to what you like from a spud really! Ialso grow international kidney (Jerseys) as I love a firm potato. I don't bother with big floury ones for mashing - I buy those - they always seem to get slugged on my plot somehow!
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We picked ours a little early this year, in July. We'd planted our tatties in a plot we'd just taken over, and quickly realised we had a problem with wireworm which was eating it's way through our earlies, so picked all our mains including PFA a bit early - but they werestill a decent enough size. PFA makes a really good salad potato - not much good for roasting or mashing though.
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Not convinced that Rose Finn Apple are the same.
http://oregonstate.edu/potatoes/variety-L_files/Rose%20Finn%20Apple%20Fingerling.pdf
These are described as finger shaped. I would never describe Pink Fir Apple as finger shaped they are knobbly very very knobbly.
The less stress, the fewer knobbles. I've had years where my PFA were, indeed, quite smooth and finger shaped. In years where I'm less attentive to watering, they have been knobblier.
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Dig young? And waste their potential?
Prefer Anya - but they don't store till February?
Too hard? They ARE a salad potato.
Knobbly? Not necessarily. And if - just rub the knobbles off? And no need to peel until cooked.
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I grew Pink Fir Apple in a different garden about 30 years ago and loved them. When I moved here I grew them again and they were nowhere near as good. I have a theory that the type of soil affects not only the yield, but flavour and eating qualities as well
I have tried them several times since then just in case I had a bad batch, but never really enjoy them so won't bother again in this garden
Ratte is quite good for me but Harlequin is the best, though it is always hard to get seed for this. I find it is a heavy cropper, not too badly affected by blight and slugs aren't a total disaster
As I say I am sure it is the soil, I have always had a poor crop from Kestrel which is supposed to be easy and reliable.
Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to All
Sue
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I planted some runts from last years PFAs in a raised bed but dug them before I went on holiday early Sept. I had been fighting blight before then. I had a magnificent crop of huge spuds which we've just started eating on Christmas day. ;D ;D ;D
Mind you I prepare the ground well with my own 'secret ingredients'.
I'm loath to keep my own tubers for 2 years at risk of nasties but
I might even risk growing my own tubers again because they were healthy and fine...
PFAs are delicious and although 3ft. tall haulms I've never seen 7 ft.
I've saved some TPS but don't yet know if its viable because of the blight and early harvest. I shall give it a go shortly.
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Thanks everyone for the great advice and replies.. I will plant some and also try some harlequin..
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very 1st season to grow them gavin and had a crackin haul,a mixed batch of different sizes and after a good scrub are ideal for "penny sized" cross cut chips roasted with spanish Paprika or cut lengthways for triffic fat chips.
A deffo on our growing list next season..... ;)
GazNjude
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They sound really good... cant wait to try them..
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I grow a few of these every year. I think the flavour is fantastic although I have heard a few people say they dont like them.
The thing I like most about them is that they are like a really good new potato, but late on in the year.
Pete
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My favourite potato, but folks aren't joking about being late.... October is the earliest you want to be taking them out, early November even better.... I always grow quite a few because as well as being delicious (they keep the taste in storage too) they store really well (indeed it's a pain getting them to chit).... there are other things you can grow, but I find Anya doesn't keep (it's a second early, why should it?) Ratte doesn't seem to yield as well for me, the obvious comparison is Congo... very similar in a lot of ways except it#'s a deep purplish-black....
I find decently sized PFA's bake perfectly well (and quite quickly) and they do roast, but give them a shake after parboiling..... never bother peeling them, life's too short... scrub them, cut out dirt if it's stuck in grooves around knobbly bits and let the kids help you harvest, they'll enjoy some of the mad shapes they'll find...
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Thanks for that info Chrisx.... I am really looking forward to them..
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I love PFA as well. They've always grown well for me - and yes they do store very well. This year I've had some bacterial rot on them in one bed :( and it turns them to mush. But where I found it on a potato, if I cut off the squidgy bit, the healthy section still kept very well - just dried over and healed a bit and still sitting happily. They are potatoes with the constitution of an ox. :)
They make slightly leathery chips, but still taste nice. And we had them as roast potatoes at Christmas and they were lovely. Now when we eat 'ordinary' potatoes they seem to taste of nothing.
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Gordon Ramsay uses them for mash. I have too and they do make excellent mashed potato.
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I've used them for rustic mash 9ie with the skin left on and just beaten up in the pan) but hesitated to recommend it simply cos it's an ugly looking mess.... tastes great though... THe only time I've had them go soft was when an early frost caught them (same problem dogs COngo which is if anythign even later....)... we had a bit of a debate about the roasties at Christmas.... I offered (and offered to prep) some PFA but my brother was dead-set on King Eds so he ended up buying some.....
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Thanks Gazza... I cant wait to try them.. actually everything this year is going to be special as it is my first year on the lottie..