End of Year Report - Plot C (potatoes)

And now for a phenomenal success – the potatoes! As this was the roots plot last year, it took a bit of juggling to get the last of the parsnips out, & the plot manured before it was time to put in the first potatoes, but it all worked out in the end.

It was very worthwhile going to the potato day at Ryton in February – there was a really useful sheet with allsorts of information about the various varieties & their characteristics, then all the potatoes were sold loose at about 18p a spud.

The first earlies were both good (lady cristl & maris bard) with the lady cristl edging ahead on taste, so that’s one for next year. The second earlies were charlotte (excellent waxy spud) & blue edzul, which were lookers, but did have a tendency to disintegrate on cooking. Even steaming them didn’t seem to solve that.

The main crops were really good – HUGE tubers! The damp summer helped – although this ultimately led to the onset of blight, but the potatoes were ready to dig up by then anyway. Both the varieties were a real success (pentland dell & picasso) & make brilliant mash & jacket potatoes (although you’d be exceptionally greedy to have a whole one).

After the first earlies were dug up, the plan was to plant out leeks for the winter. I think that the timing of this may have gone a bit awry in that the leeks are still really weedy & not really up to the mark, & now is the time that I would like to be digging them up & eating them. Perhaps they will perk up at the onset of spring to fill that hungry gap.

The rest of the plot has been sown with grazing rye green manure – however the germination has been very poor indeed – so it’s back to the drawing board for that one. Never mind, I have two whacking great sacks of spuds in the garage which will keep me going for ages – brilliant!