Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[Guest]

harvested our first proper crop of fully grown spuds today (had smaller ones a cple of months ago).

 

I can't believe you get all this from ONE potatoe!

 

Making scouse now with some of them, just wish the carrots were ready as having to use tinned carrots!

 

[Couperwife]

wow

 

sounds like tea at yours tonight then - ive just got my coat, wont be long

 

cathy

x

[Guest]

 

how's the lottie going by the way? Have you harvested anything yet? Got any recent pics? How many more questions can I ask in one thread?

[Tiggy]

I know im biased but don't your own spuds taste so much better, well done Poet

[Couperwife]

well, last night we had (are you ready )

 

our spuds

 

our lettuce

 

our carrots

 

our eggs

 

but we had to out source ham, feta cheese and peppers (our peppers are doing pants

 

but apart from that the lottie is doing fab

 

I'll go down today with the camera and take photos (may have to take the hoe to clear the weeds first though )

 

but we are really loving the allotment, its fab

 

(did you know that super choir girl charlotte church wants an allotment? - interesting fact for the day )

 

cathy

x

[chickencam]

What variety are they Poet? They look lovely

[Guest]

I know im biased but don't your own spuds taste so much better, well done Poet

 

As that rather annoying pooch that advertises insurance on TV says, "ooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh YES!"

 

[Guest]

cathy, relly looking forward to seeing your pics, wish you'd keep your blog updated!

 

liz-they're kestrel, a good all rounder, suitable for beginners like us!

[Mrs Frugal]

We grew Kestrel last year and were really disappointed. The yield was much lower than Accent which we used as our first early potato. This year, we've grown Accent as both first and second earlies and they're cropping magnificently.

[Guest]

thanks for the tip, might try those next year

[Mrs Frugal]

They were recommended to me by my Gardening Guru, "Somerset Lad" over on River Cottage a few years ago and we've grown them successfully ever since . Fab potatoes - tasty, easy to grow and very good yield. No pests or problems with them either.

[Guest]

Kate, can you explain to me what first and second earlies mean please? I find all that a bit confusing, Ian's tried to explain it but it's a bit like the offside rule where I'm concerned, it doesn't compute

[Mrs Frugal]

Basically the potatoes are grouped according to when they will be ready to harvest and at their best.

 

You'll see the seed potatoes bagged up as First Earlies/Second Earlies/Maincrop.

 

First earlies are the earliest seed potato you can plant and are usually ready in June. We plant ours out on or as near to St George's Day as we can then we dig them up just as my Grandad used to do them on my Mum's birthday 22nd June. Accent is our top first/second early potato.

 

Second Earlies are ready a few weeks afterwards and we put ours into the ground around Easter Sunday/mid-April. (Saints Days etc are easy to remember from year to year for ease of planting!)

 

Maincrops can stay in the ground for much longer. They go into the ground around the end of April and can be harvested as late as September/October and store well. Desiree is a good maincropper. Nice red skin and tasty flesh plus a good yield.

 

Hope this helps .

[Guest]

how can the same type of potatoe be a 1st and 2nd early though, you said accent was both, that's the bit that's confuddling me?

[Mrs Frugal]

Accent IS a first early potato but we think it's so good and so reliable that we bought 2 bags of seed potatoes and planted one a couple of weeks later than the other. We chit and plant one batch a few weeks later than the other so we can harvest it and use it as a delicious new potato a few weeks after the first earlies are all eaten up. So really we're using Accent as a first and a second early .

 

It's only down to when the potato is planted as some varieties grow more quickly than others and are therefore ready to harvest sooner - first earlies - while some take a little longer to flower but are still sooner earlier than maincrops . We've found Accent do well planted early AND then more a couple of weeks later .

[Guest]

do you think we should try accent and desiree then next year Kate?

[chickencam]

Desiree are very reliable, good croppers and keepers and pretty disease resistant

[Mrs Frugal]

do you think we should try accent and desiree then next year Kate?

 

Definitely Accent !! We're growing a different maincrop this year for a change from Desiree but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called without nipping to the lottie and looking on the stake but Desiree are excellent and I'd always recommend them. I like the red skinned, waxy potatoes and Desiree is a good all rounder for mashing, baking, roasting, boiling.

[Guest]

great, thanks for the advice

[Cinnamon]

My Desirees were fab last year & I wish I had planted them this year too.

I will certainly look out for Accent in the future as well.

I love Charlotte for a salad spud too - lovely waxy flesh

[SharonX]

Our potatoes at the lottie are rubbish this year. I don't know what they are as the father-in-law did them for us but they didn't grow very big and the plant itself went very straw like quite early on. The charlotte potatoes are good though.

So what I want to know is when can we next plant another lot to try again?

We have had out allottment for the second year but I have started to take a keen interest this year as I was a bit fed up that no winter veg was planted,so I have taken over a little, but I am still a little lost as to what gets planted when. Also what is chitting???

Thanks

Sharon

[chickencam]

You can plant seed potatoes around now i think for new potatoes around Christmas time.

 

I am about to plant some spring green and other spring cabbage and some oriental veg like pak choi for the autumn.

 

You can also sow carrots, turnips and spinach at this time of year and various winter salad crops but they will need some protection later on.

 

If you are sowing in August it is best to do it when it has recently rained and keep things well watered if nature doesn't oblige.

[Mrs Frugal]

Also what is chitting???

 

Here you go, chitting potatoes - this explains it nicely . I chit my seed potatoes in egg boxes on a shelf in the conservatory as it's cool but light in spring. I start a couple of weeks before they are due to go in the ground and by the time they are ready for planting, they've got nice strong shoots.