POTATOES
Potatoes originally came from Chile, high in the Andes round Lake Titicaca. As most of the nutrients are in or just under the skin, just scrub the skin and remove blemishes, including green bits, for the most food value. The poisonous green bits will give you stomach upsets, and are caused by light reaching the potato for a long time. Select varieties of potatoes to have potatoes for as long a period as possible, and for different uses. For the earliest potatoes, try planting a 1st early variety in a large container in the greenhouse or cold frame in February, covered in fleece to prevent frost damage, for eating in early June. Then follow with 1st and second early varieties outdoors, and then finally main crop varieties. Time to harvest is about four months.
The different uses are for Salads (small and waxy), floury for roasting and chips, waxy for general use, and the heritage ones with coloured flesh, for novelty (microwave or steam to retain the colour).
Chitting of the tubers is recommended to get the potatoes off to a flying start. Place the tubers upright in old egg boxes or trays in a cool, light, frost-free place until the shoots are about 1 cm long.
Plant the tubers in fertile soil about 20 cm deep, about 40 cm apart, with the rows about 60 cm apart. Earth up the potatoes when they are about 10 cm high. Alternatively, if planting through fabric, see Organisation Outdoors.
The taste of individual varieties of potatoes is very subjective to the individual person and the way that the potatoes have been cooked, as well as the age of the potatoes. Boiling potatoes leaches out a lot of the flavour, colour and vitamins. Just try boiling Highland Red or Salad Blue potatoes and watch the colour leach out. Micro wave cooking gives the best results to my taste buds and gives superb results for floury potatoes. When potatoes are picked while they are immature, i.e., the skins can be rubbed off easily with a finger, the taste can be quite sweet. Later, when more mature, i.e., the skin is rough and firm, potatoes become more earthy in taste. After several months storage in a cool, dark place, the taste can become more intense, as some of the moisture will have evaporated away. Charlotte, a salad potato, regularly comes top of the published independent taste tests.
The long term storage of potatoes, say to March and April, is difficult for the amateur. Commercially, special temperature and humidity controlled storage is used, or horror of horrors, they are sprayed with a chemical after they have been lifted, to prevent the potato sprouting! Storage is easier if the potato variety has a long period of dormancy, i.e., is naturally slow to start sprouting, like Axona. Generally, you should eat the earlies first, and the others before they start sprouting.
Try leaving some potatoes in the ground with an extra 300 mm of soil placed on top, for digging up in March and April when the Supermarket ones are poor.
At the first sign of Blight, cut off the affected foliage or spray with fungicide. The new Sarpo Hungarian varieties have better Blight resistance. Try Axona or Mira.
Potatoes with coloured skin generally have thicker skins giving better slug resistance. The colour is contained in an extra layer of skin. Axona is also proving to be slug resistant.
Saving your own seed potatoes is not recommended, unless you know what you are
Potatoes originally came from Chile, high in the Andes round Lake Titicaca. As most of the nutrients are in or just under the skin, just scrub the skin and remove blemishes, including green bits, for the most food value. The poisonous green bits will give you stomach upsets, and are caused by light reaching the potato for a long time. Select varieties of potatoes to have potatoes for as long a period as possible, and for different uses. For the earliest potatoes, try planting a 1st early variety in a large container in the greenhouse or cold frame in February, covered in fleece to prevent frost damage, for eating in early June. Then follow with 1st and second early varieties outdoors, and then finally main crop varieties. Time to harvest is about four months.
The different uses are for Salads (small and waxy), floury for roasting and chips, waxy for general use, and the heritage ones with coloured flesh, for novelty (microwave or steam to retain the colour).
Chitting of the tubers is recommended to get the potatoes off to a flying start. Place the tubers upright in old egg boxes or trays in a cool, light, frost-
Plant the tubers in fertile soil about 20 cm deep, about 40 cm apart, with the rows about 60 cm apart. Earth up the potatoes when they are about 10 cm high. Alternatively, if planting through fabric, see Organisation Outdoors.
The taste of individual varieties of potatoes is very subjective to the individual person and the way that the potatoes have been cooked, as well as the age of the potatoes. Boiling potatoes leaches out a lot of the flavour, colour and vitamins. Just try boiling Highland Red or Salad Blue potatoes and watch the colour leach out. Micro wave cooking gives the best results to my taste buds and gives superb results for floury potatoes. When potatoes are picked while they are immature, i.e., the skins can be rubbed off easily with a finger, the taste can be quite sweet. Later, when more mature, i.e., the skin is rough and firm, potatoes become more earthy in taste. After several months storage in a cool, dark place, the taste can become more intense, as some of the moisture will have evaporated away. Charlotte, a salad potato, regularly comes top of the published independent taste tests.
The long term storage of potatoes, say to March and April, is difficult for the amateur. Commercially, special temperature and humidity controlled storage is used, or horror of horrors, they are sprayed with a chemical after they have been lifted, to prevent the potato sprouting! Storage is easier if the potato variety has a long period of dormancy, i.e., is naturally slow to start sprouting, like Axona. Generally, you should eat the earlies first, and the others before they start sprouting.
Try leaving some potatoes in the ground with an extra 300 mm of soil placed on top, for digging up in March and April when the Supermarket ones are poor.
At the first sign of Blight, cut off the affected foliage or spray with fungicide. The new Sarpo Hungarian varieties have better Blight resistance. Try Axona or Mira.
Potatoes with coloured skin generally have thicker skins giving better slug resistance. The colour is contained in an extra layer of skin. Axona is also proving to be slug resistant.
Saving your own seed potatoes is not recommended, unless you know what you are
Axona untouched by Blight.
Adjacent potatoes wrecked.
Early Potatoes in a box
In Cold Greenhouse
Chitting tubers in egg box
