Thompson & Morgan have over 14 delicious potato varieties to choose from, starting at just £2.99 for 20 tubers. If you have never grown your own potatoes before, it’s really easy to do – check out the potatoes on offer by clicking this link.
START DATE: Now
END DATE for the GYO potatoes offer is Midnight Wednesday 29th February 2012 (subject to availability)
Once potatoes are peeled, dark coloured spots (often black) may be seen.
These black spots result from tissue damage which causes a discolouration reaction. The black spots are only visible after peeling as they are below the surface.
Factors involved in the development of black spots:
How black spots develop:
Once the potato is damaged, biochemical reactions occur in the cells, which include a colour reaction. It takes 10 – 20 hours for the black spots to start to appear, and several days for them to fully develop.
But this colour reaction can be slowed by:
a. cooling the potato down – as the enzymes work quicker at high temperatures & are inactivated at low temperatures
b. high humidity – this minimises water loss from the potatoes and reduces black spots
To reduce the occurrence of black spots:
Bruises in potatoes are like those in apples, they are only in the damaged cells. The bruise does not spread. But stored potatoes with very high dry matter can develop black spots during storage, especially if they are allowed to dry out.
Black spots on potatoes are unsightly so it is worth trying to prevent them.
Thompson & Morgan are offering a fabulous Potato KIT FREE* for every visitor – worth £15.00!
What you get in the kit:
5 x tubers of Potato ‘Vales Emerald’ - A Maris Peer/ Charlotte cross with an RHS Award of Garden Merit that is proving to be very popular. Potato ‘Vales Emerald’ produces generous yields of oval, cream-skinned and pale fleshed tubers. Perfect for your first potatoes of the year, and a simply delicious as a salad potato. Height and spread: 60cm (24″).
vales emerald
1 x potato planter – Holds approximately 40 litres of multipurpose compost (sufficient to plant 3 or 4 tubers).
5 x packets of vegetable seed – Receive 5 packets of quality vegetable seeds.
*Just pay £4.95 postage
Enter Offer Code: AF11109
Enter code in the box labelled “Enter catalogue or newspaper code:”
T&Cs: Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer code and is only valid with orders placed online at www.thompson-morgan.com.
START DATE: NOW
END DATE: Midnight Sunday 27th November 2011
Click this link for more details about the free Potato KIT .
SuperRedskinsRule has made a comment on TopVeg’s YouTube video Check if potatoes are ready to dig:
Great video and advice! This is the way to go… never mind the EU and their poisonous plans! My Granddad grew all his own grub and lived to 90! He’d pick his potatoes in October and they’d last right through until April! The rubbish in the supermarket lasts about a week! I’ve grown some potatoes in plastic bags this year, for the first time. They’re looking good! I planted them on first April – I reckon they will be ready in the next week or two.I shall now check them as you suggest! Thanks!
This must be a record for our first new potatoes! Luck has been with us and we have had quite warm soil temperatures.
new-potatoes-15-May
With fingers crossed, we planted these Maris Bard on 12th February, very early because Mike was away for the following 3 weeks. The seed potatoes were particularly big, which helped to give us a head start.
Even though the potatoes were covered with polythene we had a scare last week when we had a ground frost early in the morning. Leaping out of bed at first light, we rushed out to sprinkle the potatoes (& strawberries) with water – a trick to keep the frost off.
Other than the frost protection, we have not watered these potatoes at all since they were planted- and we only had 9.5ml rain in March and none in April!
The soil is now very dry, so it is easy to dig the new potatoes out with your hands.
digging-new-potatoes
The soil is full of the potato roots – which have helped the potato plants to grow so well.
roots+new-potatoes
The first new potatoes were quite delicious!
Our Maris Bard potatoes are showing the benefits of planting early under polythene.
maris-bard-9wks-after-plant
new-potato-developing
Maris Bard Potatoes
The potatoes are covered over if there is a chance of frost. The leaves can be severely damaged or killed by frost, which would reduce the benefits achieved of early planting under polythene.
It must be time to plant potatoes!
Folk lore dictates that potatoes are planted on Good Friday. Good Friday was the first day the working man would have off between Christmas and Easter. He was keen to plant potatoes at the first opportunity because they were a staple food for his family.
plant-potato-with-chits-upwards
Folk law also states that
plant-potato-in-hole
So, it is up to you to choose which bit of folk lore you are going to follow when it comes to planting potatoes!
The Maris Bard potatoes planted in February are growing well. The early planting gamble has paid off, so far!
Bard-17-april-2011
A polytunnel was placed over the potatoes as soon as they were planted, and they were planted in a dip, which will have sheltered them further.
MarisBardApril17
Click this link to buy some Maris Bard potatoes.
The Maris Bard Potato variety are growing well in the vegetable garden.
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