Sarpo axona potatoes

[mormor]

Sarpo axona potatoes are supposed to be blight resistant. I have bought some, but now I find that some people don't like them! Are they blight resistant? And do they taste alright?

[mormor]

[Amazingrotavator(Derby)]

Blight resistant, slug resistant and store really well. We are still eating ours. I've ordered the whole sarpo family as you just plant and forget. Everyone has their own taste.

[goodlife]

I suspect this is the variety you are talking about?.. http://www.europotato.org/display_description.php?variety_name=Axona
If so, it looks like it does have good resistance against blight..but..it is just 'resistance'..if we get bad year for the blight..even the resistant varieties will get hit by it..they might just manage to resist against it slightly longer but will eventually be affected. So 'resistance' is only a 'promise' that the disease might not happen.
As for taste..that is personal matter..even the soil and growing conditions have effect. In my soil they might taste rubbish and your's most wonderful spuds.. ::) You only know by trying.
Lot of us trial different varieties every year..just to find that perfect spud that taste and yield best.
I grow charlotta every year as I find it lovely tasting..I like waxy potatoes..and it never fails to crop on my plot anything else are just trials and experiments. This year I've got 20 odd varieties on 'trial'...I'll be gutted if I don't find another 'favourite' to 'must grow again' list.. ::)
Sarpo's have had bit of bad 'press' as they can be bit tricky when cooked. You check the softness when they are cooking and if they are still bit hard..turn around and find them 'disolved' into cooking water.. ::) I've been told they need keeping close eye on when cooking and not left alone.

[Amazingrotavator(Derby)]

I just don't grow sarpo. I start off with swift then Charlotte and International Kidney. The swift is up and running in the lotte greenhouse. Start of May dig up like last year.

[JENIAN]

Sarpo axona potatoes are supposed to be blight resistant. I have bought some, but now I find that some people don't like them! Are they blight resistant? And do they taste alright?

Grew them last year for the first time.  Brilliant blight resistant (surrounded by slightly blighted pots but Axona were not affected).  You have to watch them when boiling for mash (go into water when left too long)  but megga for every other type of cooking. Hope this helps

[realfood]

Yes, they are very blight resistant. See the photo with unblighted Axona with wrecked standard potatoes on either side. http://www.growyourown.info/page146a.html   I have grown them for maybe 10 years since they were introduced and I would not be without them. They are also the best keeping potatoes and will store without sprouting till April.
They are strong earthy tasting tatties, and will cook perfectly PROVIDED you either steam or micro them. Like all floury tatties, they are difficult to boil. I stopped boiling tatties many years ago, as it leaches out the taste and goodness, especially if they have been peeled first.
Most people are so used to buying tasteless white waxy tatties from the shops which they then boil, they do not understand what real potatoes can taste like.

[mormor]

Thanks for all the information. I feel rather more optimistic about them now. But I'll try to remember the advice about boiling. I only boil to mash.

[chriscross1966]

Sarpo Axona (and Mira) aren't all that strongly flavoured compared to some old heritage varieties or things like Lady Christl, but neither are they completely flavourless (and I'm looking at you now Harmony)... THey do bake well if you like a floury jacket with butter or some sort of sauce, adn form the staple of my diet through the winter (along with Mira) due to their storage qualities... I've still got loads left and although they're starting to sprout now I reckon I've got at least another month of eating them fresh. THe warm winter has probably meant they've chitted a bit early.... They roast OK too but you have to be very careful parboiling them (or steam/micro as suggested).

The new  strain Sarpo Kilfi is supposed to have a better flavour.

Both Axona and Mira get dug when the plants are still looking healthy, and it does seem very strange, but not only are they blioght proof but in my experience they tolerate the colder temperatures at the end of the season pretty well too and as a result can still look like they're growing great guns in early November....

[Ellen K]

I am not sure about true blight resistance, it's their massive vigor that gets them through it and it is certainly something worth seeing, as Chris says.  But the spuds aren't particularly good as any one thing - not roasties nor chips nor mash nor boiled.  And you end up with so many of them.

Give them a go if you must but don't plant too many in case you can't abide them.

I grew them in my first year but never again.  UGH.

[realfood]

It is amazing that different people have such completely different experiences with them!!!
I have not tried Lady Christl and have some Harmony to try this year after their write up from JBA potatoes. I will report back in the Autumn as to their taste for me.

[realfood]

Ooops! Meant to say Harlequin, not Harmony.

[mormor]

Wow!  What different idea about them!  I only bought 2.25 kilo - 45 potatoes. And now I am looking forward to the great experience/experiment. I have really enjoyed your comments and feel very interested in the final result. Thanks!

[chriscross1966]

Wow!  What different idea about them!  I only bought 2.25 kilo - 45 potatoes. And now I am looking forward to the great experience/experiment. I have really enjoyed your comments and feel very interested in the final result. Thanks!

45?... that's a third of my crop.... try adn find a potato day next year where you can buy by the tuber.... experiments should be five or six, not 45... I don't grow 45 of the things I consider to be "Must grows" :D

[chriscross1966]

I am not sure about true blight resistance, it's their massive vigor that gets them through it and it is certainly something worth seeing, as Chris says.  But the spuds aren't particularly good as any one thing - not roasties nor chips nor mash nor boiled.  And you end up with so many of them.

I wouldn't bother chipping or mashing them if I had anything esle to hand and their wierd cooking habit when boiled (they are so floury the outside is falling to pieces before the middle is cooked)  makes them just plain hard to prepare..... but they bake nicely when oven-baked for an hour... Not so sure that the vigour can be claimed for the blight-proofedness, I think it's the other way round, they're so resistant to disease and non-attractive to slugs that they alwasy seem vigourous..... If you want vigour you need to see a PFA having a good time.... 5-foot tall, sprawling around like an Oca on steroids and being a generally over-exuberant monster.... Sarpo Axona doesn't get that big... but it's true about the "lots of spuds" ... and they're generally a good size and they're all close to the centre of the plant...

[mormor]

Yes, well. I would love a potato day and buying singly. But I live in Denmark and such things are unknown! You get what you can find and are grateful! Believe me - a small country can have advantages......and disadvantages!  I visited an English independent garden centre last week and was green with envy. Fleece by the yard, every sort of mini tunnel, etc. etc. I'll just have to be inventive with what I've got. Cheaper I suppose. Although we have VAT on seeds! (I bought mine in the Uk last week!)

[green lily]

Trust me not all areas of the uk have garden centres with fleece on the roll. Many of them are now mini department stores and gardening only holds on by a thumbnail.. :(