Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: cornykev on February 10, 2013, 13:16:16
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Hi all, if anyones interested I thought I'd start off the spud challenge again this year
I know the weathers crap but just for a bit of fun I thought we'd give this another go
For those who are new to this it's just a bit of fun trying to get an early crop of spuds by warming/covering the ground
Planting time weekend 23/24 of Feb, warm the ground using fleece, plastic, cloches etc, keep them covered to protect, only use a few spuds that you are prepared to lose, no greenhouses or electric help
Just a bit of fun so don't plant too many
Again I know the weathers crap but I threw a bit of plastic down earlier to try and warm it a bit and its rained non stop since
I don't know if I've mentioned it but just a bit of fun and I'll be putting 3 in the ground and 2 in old toy tubs
All the best Corny. :wave: :coffee2:
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Sounds fun, although I can't see me getting anything in the ground for quite a while - it's more like a swamp with streams flowing through it than a veg plot!
I'll sticky the thread.
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Ok just one more time as I can't stand all the disappointment. Nowt worth mentioning last year and all my love and effort went into it as well.
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Ok, sharpe's express in a tub, I think. I can always cover it with a bit of fleece. We'll be back from Brighton by then :toothy10:
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I'll be using Red Duke Of York this year, I've mixed in some dry compost mounded it up, layered it with plastic bags and weighed down a 3 foot long plastic cloche on top. Thanks for that JayB :wave:
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Pentland Javelin for me. Tried Rocket last year, not impressed.
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Bah Rocket!!!! More a damp squib.
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Rockets always been good for me but have decided only to do the one first early and the RDOY were OK last year so I'm giving them another bash. :toothy10:
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It is so cold it is hard to believe it that is is nearly time to start thinking about potatoes. I think they will have to be in tubs. Reminds me that my order of potatoes has not yet arrived.
What about a rice growing challenge?
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I think most peeps will use tubs Digeroo, the ground will be very wet and cold I'm trying both but guarantee the tubs will be 10 to 14 days ahead of the ground ones. :coffee2:
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I'll give it a go this year. Using casablanca, tried swift last year, will not be bothering with them again.
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I've gone back to Pentland Javelin this year after flirting with loads of different earlies and being disappointed. I've got some chitting and my buckets are ready.....aiming to get them in this week!
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Plinted mine in pots in unheated g/h today. Would it be cheating bringing them indoors onto windowsill? Only in small pots to start and will transfer to bin when it warms up.
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My sharpe's express are in a spud sack, covered with fleece and in a sheltered part of the plot :happy7:
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I'll be putting mine in this weekend, OH has been ill so I didn't get time last weekend, a womens work is never done. :wave:
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I planted x4 RDOY direct into the ground earlier and covered with bubblewrap and a plastic cloche, I also put 1 RDOY into a toy tub and covered. :wave:
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Any other takers for the challenge. :blob7: :wave: :glasses9:
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I have a shoot :blob7:
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Cover it. :coffee2:
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have done, matey and put some fleece in the bag to protect it :toothy10:
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I'll check mine tommorrow because they under plastic and cannot see the soil. :wave:
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One of my challenge spuds is about 6 inches up, I earthed it right up and put some grass cutting on top and covered with a plastic bottle. :toothy10:
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I've earthed up quite a few times and the mound is quite big, the very top of the leaf was slightly scorched but OK apart from that. :wave:
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Just earthed ours up again, think we need to water them, it's been dry here for about 4 weeks :happy7:
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Earthed mine again today, my biggest plant is growing out the side of the mound thats why I've had to earth up so much, I've actually placed a slab on it's side and earthed up inbetween it and the plant. :drunken_smilie:
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When are we supposed to look at them, Kev. I keep forgetiing to water them so I'll uncover them today and let god do the work :toothy10:
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I'm afraid I didn't get around to putting any in for the challenge, just too wet at the time. I've tinges of envy after reading how well yours are doing, I've some in pots/bags but they are in the poly-tunnel so I'm afraid they don't count.
Go guys love reading the updates :icon_cheers: can only dream as my spuds have only just been planted!
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15 weeks from the planting date Manics, my dig up date is 15th June, I think you put yours in the week before me as I was running late. They should still be quicker than the ground ones Jayb, you'll be eating them before you know it. :wave:
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Ok, Kev. Got a few weeks yet then :toothy10:
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They should still be quicker than the ground ones Jayb, you'll be eating them before you know it. :wave:
I hope, my mouth is watering at the thought of a bowl of new pots with a dab of butter :blob3:
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I checked them yesterday and they are flying now after a few good showers and good bit of Sunhine, one of them can't be earthed anymore, so here's hoping for a frost free few weeks, big knobs of butter at the ready. :blob7:
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Just had the first fromthe poly, the RDof york which were planted 2 weeks before the first lot. Hopefully, the challenge ones will look like flowering soon and I can have a furtle/firkle :toothy10:
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Eagerly waiting for the first flowers, the plant and earthing mound look big enough. :toothy10:
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No flowers yet but this weekend is the end date, plants look big enough :toothy10:
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Well done both, looking forward to hearing how they have done and taste :toothy10: Not an easy season to have had them growing outdoors.
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Well, we have hen's egg sied spuds. I haven't emptied it yet as we're having stir fry for tea but, tomorrow, I'm going to empty it and eat them with salmon. They haven't flowered yet :toothy10:
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Well,enough hen size spuds for a meal tonight. I probably would've had bigger/more of them if I'd watered more, still, they taste brilliant and we have a strawberry each for our sweet :happy7:
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Flowers just formed but not opened yet, I put mine in a week after you, I think, so I'll dig a few next weekend. I can almost taste the mint and butter dripping off them now. :tongue3:
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I had a firkle around and found myself 23 fair sized early RDOY's, a thingy of butter and mint sauce and Bob's your uncle. :icon_cheers:
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Good year then, Kev :toothy10:
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We've been scoffing our first batch of 'Rocket' which again were about hens egg sized on average - the yield hasn't been very heavy but frankly I put them in very late and they're doing the job of breaking in new ground on the allotment as well so they haven't been spoiled!
Whatever you think ... there in nothing, nothing as amazing as the taste and texture of early season new potatoes. They're sweet, glassy, earthy and crumbly all at the same time. No supermarket ones will ever come close.
So while the thrifty bloke in me still has a smile at a nice heavy maincrop of potatoes that will last well in to the new year depriving the supermarkets of a little bit of money ... it's "small potatoes" (pun intended) compared to this time of year and proper new earlies.
mmmmmmm
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Well done all :icon_cheers:
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I've just ate my second load of new potatoes. :wave:
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Another lot dug up yesterday, fed us tonight and enough for tommorrow. :blob7:
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Is it too late to be called 'early' yet?
I gave in yesterday and had a ffertle (I thought that, being in Wales I'd give it the extra 'f'.) of some earlies Mrs Nig picked (I've forgotten what they are called. (Rooster?)) and there they were. All red and shiny. Hen's-egg sized.
So, I ffertled, well, dug up, another plant and we have enough for all of us....
Now the gas has run out. :Banghead:
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we've eaten the whole first row of earlies (Rocket)! They were a bit small when we started but by today they were approaching jacket potato sized!
Resolution for next year ... definitiely grow a lot more first and second earlies ... they are probably my favourite crop of the whole year.
I had some left over chitted Sarpo Mira which looked OK so I've thrown those back in the row to see what happens - they're quite nice eaten as late new potatoes so they might be nice late on in the season as they're brilliantly blight resistant.
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My challenge ones were great as were the next 4/5 digs and lottie holders on my site wondered how I got them so early, but as said the ones I'm digging now are getting a lot bigger and haven't quite still got that perfect early taste, first row finished yesterday. :wave:
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I went away in early May and my challenge ones looked very sad when I got back. Some of my direct sown ones were only a few days later. I have a new system now of picking one potato at a time from each plant as required. (Growing in Leaf mould and mulched with straw so easy to shift) I got tired of digging up plants to find myself throwing away large numbers of immature little spuds just waiting to grow bigger.
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Thats what I did Digeroo, just picking 3 or 4 from each plant, or watering a whole plant back in if I dug the whole thing up. :blob7: