Volunteers (pots!) - bonus or bad news?

[Mike J]

Spent half an hour this morning digging up (and binning in the compost heap) sprouting 'volunteer' potatoes from last year. They looked in great condition, despite no work by me, and looked likely to produce a bonus crop (why buy new seed potatoes each year?). Anyway, they were in the wrong place and would interfere with my planned crop - sweetcorn - so they had to go. Shame, what are your views on this? (Have heard that they could be carrying blight, though I didn't have any last year). What do you all do about them?

[Mike J]

[pigeonseed]

Yes I've heard the same about blight. I definitely ate all mine last year!

[jimtheworzel]

i dig em up, and make a big pan of chips. waste not want not.......BONUS

JTW

[Robert_Brenchley]

Dig them up, eat them if they're not rotting, but get rid of them. We've had early blight outbreaks three years running, and last year it came like lightning as soon as we had the right conditions. No farmers this side of Wolverhampton were reporting the disease, and overall there were very few reports at the time. The only plausible source was accidentals, on the site.

[antipodes]

I admit to being wicked and leaving the volunteers (no blight last year so...) - I only dig them up at the last minute, or just plant around them if I can. I always get loads of spuds from them too!

[cornykev]

I tried my darnest to dig up all my spuds last year, but the buggers are coming up in between my onions, so I have to prize them out gently, but don't always find the seed .  :(         ;D ;D ;D

[star]

I found some too. Even after digging over the plot diligently my volunteers were big uns! How did I miss them?? Anyways....good eating ;D

[carrot-cruncher]

Any volunteers I found were dug up and eaten.  If I couldn't eat them all in one go I usually boil and mash them before portioning them up and freezing them.   I don't like to leave volunteers in the ground because I heard they can cause blight.

CC

[Alimo]

I seem to have a complete row coming up - how did that happen ??? ???

I thought I'd leave them (they're first early anyway) and dig them up just before putting the sweetcorn and squash in - a bonus crop I was hoping .

Alison

[greensausage]

Only found the one - so far  :o