Allotments 4 All

.. ..thought that this was a Christmas present.  'Spose you could see it that way?

That's the lot - just 4 varieties.

What's in the box then Tim? Which Varieties?
???

Colleen, Milva, Sarpo Mira & PFA.

Nearly ready for a new start and a new year Tim. Shortest day today so on the way up from now on.

What do you think of the Sarpo Mira? I've heard about them but not grown any!
:-\

My wife and I once made a Christmas present of 2 stone of potatoes, to her sister and husband. It was during a potato famine (about 1980?), the spuds were wrapped in newspaper in a large flat cardboard box, so it kept flopping about, and we told them it was 'fragile', hee hee. Being spudaholics, they loved them.

I find Sarpo Mira to be excellent spuds. These were mine back in October, about a week before the first frost:
.
Everything else had been long cut back because of the blight which hit rapidly in mid-September. The Sarpos just carried on growing.

They grow huge, oddly-shaped tubers - I had several looking like skittles. 1.5 bucketsful from 12 seed spuds in manured chalky ground (ie not ideal conditions). They are floury and not terribly tasty, but great for mash with added butter and for roasties.

ah I do have a piccy of the results...


moonbells

Might see if I can pick up just a dozen at Potato day then!
;D

But blight reistant??

I'd second Moonbells' opinion.  Our Sarpo spuds gave the best result by far in terms of yield, in what was a generally poor year.

But to be honest, the flavour was so bland that I'm still not sure they're worth it.

Edit: I've just looked up the diary, and ours were Sarpo Axona, not Sarpo Mira.

Dug up a row of Axona today. Huge crop, no blight of course but also not even one slug hole!!  Amazing considering all the slug damage that some adjoining rows of salad potatoes had suffered. No eelworm damage either.Very few smaller potatoes for saving as seed for next year.

Didn't realise you could leave potatoes in the ground that long- sooner I read that Alan Romans  potato book I got for Christmas, the better!

Dug mine up ages ago, advised against leaving them in, so there you go. :D :D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :-*

I usually leave a half row in the ground till March or April, with an extra 20cms of soil on top, covered with same black polythene, against frost. My aim is to be still able to eat real potatoes, rather than the awful ones at the supermarket.

Why don't you dig them up & store them? Do you have problems with slugs?

Dug mine up in fear of slugs, put them in hessian sacks in the shed, one big problem.   :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :'( :'( :'( :'(

What happened Kev? I have to put down mouse traps, caught 20 of the little blighters so far!
::)

No not mice Saddad I've nearly finished them all.   :'( :'( ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Yes, I do store most of them, but I find that by March, those in storage start to sprout and go flabby. The ones still in the ground are firm and are only thinking about sprouting. And our slugs are vicious!

Is your soil well drained? Ours is heavy clay and I'm sure they would rot in the ground..
:o