Favourite first earlies?

[OllieC]

First time for me too; we grew Amorosa which gave a good variety of sizes, were very versatile (boiled, roasted, salad, potato & pea curry from an Indian friend - best of all yum yum). Quite nutty, not that far away from Fir Apples, with enough character to still have their own taste even in the curry. Between 7 & 8 pounds from a 8ish foot row. One (single spud) had scabs on it, absolutely no other probs.

I think we only got them because some of the more popular ones had run out but I will look for these again next year I think.

[OllieC]

[Robert_Brenchley]

I dug one of my DOY this evening; I might as well not have bothered. They need some good solid rain and time. Maybe the end of next month. Or maybe it's a sign that dukes, lords, royalty, and all that stuff have all passed their sell-by date?

[redimp]

 ;D
Hopefully my King Eds will be alright though.  Can't help it being one of my favourites.

[markyb23]

Hi everyone,
                     I dug a few potatoes at the weekend.To be honest, mine need a few more weeks yet. What struck me was just how dry the soil was and, there didn't seem to be any slug damage.It's probably wishful thinking,but I'm hoping that all this dry weather is keeping the slug population down.
I still think It's worth growing Red Duke Of York for the colour alone.I grew a few white D.O.Y last year and they were a total waste of space for me too.
  That's one of the reasons I love growing spuds.There are so many to choose from and you never really know what you're going to get until you dig them up.
     All The Best-Marky :)

[Rhys]

I have grown Aaron Pilot for the second year running, which we like very much.

Have tried Foremost and Pentland Javelin for the first time this year - Foremost has excellent taste, texture but Pentland Javelin has not been so good on taste.

[Rosyred]

First time growing potatoes first earlies Pentland Javelin and I was disappointed potatoes all different sizes and they broke up a little when cooking. Taste wise nothing to boost about growing your own. Hoping my salad and 2nd earlies will be better.

[robkb]

First time growing potatoes first earlies Pentland Javelin and I was disappointed potatoes all different sizes and they broke up a little when cooking. Taste wise nothing to boost about growing your own. Hoping my salad and 2nd earlies will be better.

I grew Pentland Javelin as well. I agree about the different sizes (everything from marble to cricket ball) but I thought the texture was great - quite firm - and the taste was lovely. Mind you, this is the first time I've ever grown my own spuds so maybe I'm not the most objective person to ask...

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[tomatoada]

I am  following this thread as I am also looking for the best tasting spuds.  The quantity does not matter to me so much as taste.  I have just started harvesting my pentland  javelin and I have to agree the taste is not good.  Very bland and pale looking.  I have pentlland crown as main crop and I hope they taste better.

[Trixiebelle]

I had first earlies, second earlies, late earlies, mid-crop, early mid-crop, late mid-crop, early lates, mid-lates, late- lates and a 'surprise' batch of 'guess the season spuds'!

I was chitting them in the greenhouse and then it fell down. Potatoes all OVER the place so we chucked them in anyway  ;D

I quite like taking a risk and digging under a tatty plant  ;D It's one of my favourite harvesting jobs!

This last week I've had the equivalent of 30 cat-testicle- sized tubers and about 40 sized according to the nuts of a bovine .

Trixie  ;) XX

[Tin Shed]

Just dug up and cooked the first  lot of Premier - reasonable crop, mixed sizes, not much taste and they boiled away a bit, but will probably steam well and make excellent fried potatoes.

[Jockthebear.]

Rocket: Tasteless. Good crop. Won't grow again.
Swift: taste not much better than Rocket. Slightly lower yield. W.G.A.
Lady Christl: 7out of 10 for flavour. Nice mashed with butter. Yield slightly less.
Sharpe's Express: Maybe slightly less tasty than Lady C. but floury. Decent yield.

Still to try: Red Duke, Foremost, Maris Bard, Anya, Carlingford, Maris Piper, PFA.