Allotments 4 All

This may be a silly question, but my beds are being invaded by potatoes springing up where I have obviously left stray bits from last year. If I leave them to grow will I get a crop of edible potatoes for free ? And will it be too detrimental if they grow in and amongst other crops ? I keep pulling the odd one out but the last few have had tiny spuds on & I reckon free food ?

Yes, it's free food.  You'll get used to it.  ;D ;D

Quote from: asbean on May 11, 2007, 22:33:41
Yes, it's free food.  You'll get used to it.  ;D ;D

doesnt half make a mess of your carrot rows tho :-\

Yep, I've got some pushing up my over-wintered onions- not good! People refer to them as"volunteers"-  I call them a d**m nuisance. I suppose in theory it messes up the rotation plan as well, but I'm ignoring that one!

We had one large bed of potatoes last year, divided into earlies and mains.

Luckily we hadn't planted anything into said bed yet this year, because it's now full of last years earlies and mains.  ::)  Obviously we weren't very efficient in digging them up when we harvested.  What the OH has done is to split the bed and transplant so that they are now all in one half of it.

It does mean we have three beds of potatoes this year.  I think I better pop back down to Poundland and buy some more of those ecobags for storing them in.

Enjoy them!!!

I've got something similiar on my plot this year.   So far I've had two meals from last year's "volunteers".    Tasted right good too.   Whenever I go up now I take a bag just in case any other have popped their head above ground.

CC

It's free food, but it's also a classic source of blight. I get them out ruthlessly.

Like Robert I am thorough when I lift them, and again when I dig the bed in preparation for the following year.

Even then;I still get the odd one popping up which I remove or just hoe the top off if it is detrimental to something else I have sown/planted.

Incidently is anyone still eating last years crop? I reckon I still have around a couple of dozen edible tubers left.

Only fit for chips but to have kept myself in potatoes for eleven months I don't think is bad.

Helps to make it all worth while!

Plus I think my onions, garlic & chillis will go the 12 months this year.

Thats not accounting for the stuff thats in the freezer,yesterday we got out some of last years Tomatoes & Sweet corn.

Lets hope this year is as successful! speaking of which! here are a few pics of the plots I took this morning; http://tinyurl.com/38be4k (details at foot of each picture)

Just dug out half a dozen!
::)

I'm still eating last year's, but we're not getting though many now.

Thanks for all the replies, I will leave them be where I can

That really is something to keep yourself in veg all year. It's an ambition of mine. The only thing I've managed that in is runner beans.

But as well as a big allotment, you'd need quite a lot of storage space as well. Maybe one day...

Another good set of images TeeGee, very neat and tidy

yeah I have a few "free players" coming up all over the place. I have had a few baby potatoes from them and they were lovely. I just let them grow where they were, maybe I will exchange and onion or two for a kilo of spuds, seems like a fair swop to me !  ;D