Although I promised to give my Potatoes another week before I started to dig them.. I gave into temptation and ended up digging 4 plants to use for sunday dinner...Is my first real taste of my labours and what a difference in taste! Am I ever going to be able to eat Potatoes bought from a supermarket again?
Had they not been nice, it would not necessarily have been your fault. We have ditched most of a row of Red Duke of York as being sub-standard. = Tim
Thats a real shame! I must say that I was slightly dissapointed with the amount of Potatoes for each plant... Not really sure what I expected.! The taste did make up for it though.
Tim, I must admit that I have been dissapointed with our Red Duke of York. They look stunning but they don't seem to cook so well, I think they'll only be good for mash really. The tops have gone over as well, I don't think that they really came back after the wind the other week. Are they generally a tasty potato? I hope so as I have a late crop coming along in pots.
The Nicola are much better, they are an improvement on the shop bought.
Adam, how many are you feeding? 1 plant is sufficient for 3 of us.
Jeremy
My Red DoY (from Tim :-*) were delicious. The tastiest potatoes I have ever eaten (my first ever homegrown ones). All 3onces of them, that is!
DB - yes - &, like so many reds, pest resistant. But NOT blight resistant!! Forgot to repeat that we had already taken the haulms off the RDY because of early blight. Like 2 June!! = Tim
Jeremy,
I would say that one plant is not really enough for 2 people...Although I was told to wait until the flowers have died until I dig them. So maybe a week or so will see a larger tuber..
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Our RDoY are a bit piddly, so I stopped digging them and started on the Catriona, now they are a good cropper and mightly tasty! Some did go a bit flourery in boiling, but the majority stayed firm and creamy and there was more than enough for 4 of us from one plant! Guess I should see what the RDoY are doing - they are all still growing well, even though I haven't watered at all!
I haven't had any flowers off my RDoY, just buds, which have been there time enough for the other varieties to bud and flower.
I dug my first ones too early and was dissappointed with the quantitiy, waited a few weeks and there are lots now. I planted at the end of March (probably ???) and have only been digging the last 3 weeks or so.
Jeremy
Flowers??
They really don't seem to tell you anything about earlies. If you look back on my 'what do you expect' thing, there was hardly a flower in sight.
What I want to know is - how do the things grow at all when the soil is like this a spit down?? We should really be more amazed that we get anything? = Tim
Tim - think yourself lucky - mine is worse than that from the top. That's why I'm so very grateful for Mr Aqui and his strong digging arms!
Didn't say what I meant - that is the top lot!!
But, since some say that they get moisture from a spit down, I checked.
Just like this lot. Except for one end where it is solid yellow clay. = Tim.
My RDoY went to my mother's - didn't get a chance to taste, but think she was happy with them.
Finished all the first earlies now. Going to wait a week or so before starting on the second earlies.
Don't they go quickly?? = Tim
My first earlies have all been eaten - delicious. I generously gave a goodly amount to son and wife. His wife was amazed that I could pull spuds up! Also surprised that they were dirty. She's from Seoul (Korea) and is not a country girl! She came round yesterday and dug up her own dinner - probably amazing her relatives with the story!!! Apparently, some Koreans believe that spuds grow on trees.
Ha ha... I wonder how many kids nowadays actually know where most Veg come from.! I am sure my kids think meat is grown in Cellophane Wrap.
Chuckle - try some of the housing estates in Leeds!
Walking down the road with a barrowload of new potatoes - and had a furious argument with neighbours' kids. They would NOT believe that I'd dug the potatoes out of the ground.
My one mistake - making them taste some of the other veg in the barrow-load. For months afterwards, they'd hang around on a Sunday afternoon, and "hijack" whatever else I was bringing home!
All best - Gavin
I dug about 7 plants of each and this is what I turned out.
(http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0PgAAAEcSWDaRMsC12JoQcXIjC4*wWO06a*W!8KjAyDtcaBrVAOr9mxQV8nBmyEa95X4dgIp2kQwOUJaZvQ20cPoNbgRdS3Qs/spuds0.jpg?dc=4675479849693078255)
Shan't bother with RDoY next year - very low yeild compared to the catriona next to it, and the Pentland Javelin, well, I would say almost 4 times as many as that whole tray in a similar area !
all of my seed potatoes (about 5 varieties in all) got mixed up by my son so I just chucked them into the ground. I have no idea what are earlies or mains etc. but I have now started to dig them up working down the rows and so far they are gorgeous although I only get one meal from each plant.
Does anyone know if this is a problem - can mains be eaten as new potatoes? Storing is not going to be a problem as I only have 3 rows so they will all be eaten long before the winter!
Hi everyone,got my catrionas out of the soil and they look great,have 25 kg so that must be enough for the moment.Now i have towait for my arran victory,pink fir and violett noir.I cant wait till they are ready especially violett noir that is a dark pink almost black potato and strange enough the inside of the potato is also pinkish,must be a strange side on your plate.
For Emma-Jane - that's a pity about your Red Duke of York! They were beautiful potatoes - far and away one of my favourites on our old plot; but soils, and micro-climates, and all.
I actually bought Jersey Royal new pots - several times in the last month. Eeeeeh - it did me good to hear the kids slag them off, as tasteless, watery monsters, compared to the RDoY we grew ourselves!
Never mind - lots more to try!
All best - Gavin
Have just started digging up my spuds ( my first ever crop of my first ever attempt at growing stuff) and what a difference in taste to the spuds out the supermarket.
mine may not have been perfect shape & size (some were really tiddly!!) but they were absolutely gorgeous flavour!!! Now the only problem I have is trying not to raid the lottie on a daily basis for the spuds.
as a side benefit of the spuds they ain't half helped clear their area of weeds (especially bind weed) so next year I plan on planting a larger area with spuds