Time of Maturity
An early potato will produce tubers in a shorter growing period than a main crop potato.
Second earlies and main crop can be stored over the winter.
1. King Edward Potato
King Edward potatoes have a pink blush on their skin. King Edward potatoes are a main-crop potato variety and an excellent choice for growing in the vegetable garden.
King Edward
King Edward potatoes are floury with a drier feel. They are ideal for dishes where you want fluffy potatoes or a mash, but they are a good all rounder and are excellent baked.
2. Pink Fir Apple – a salad potato
This is the photo of Pink Fir Apple potatoes with a round, pink King Edward in the front!
pink-fir-apple
Pink Fir Apple is an ancient variety, resistant to all our diseases, but difficult to scrub before boiling!
Excellent for salads.
Superb keepers.
3. King Harry
“King Harry” potato is just what American organic gardeners, plagued with Colorado potato beetles, have been waiting for.
The King Harry variety of potato has been bred at Cornell University to have millions of tiny, sticky hairs covering each leaf. This creates a very unwelcome surface for landing potato beetles, so the beetles move on to another potato plot which has more beetle-friendly leaves. This characteristic will be of benefit to organic growers.
King Harry is delicious and high yielding.
4. Romano
Romano is a red-skinned variety of potato, which keeps well over the winter.
romano
The potato variety Romano :
The difference between New Potatoes and Main Crop.
New potatoes have loose skins & are the first potatoes to be harvested each year.
Main Crop potatoes provide the main proportion of the potatoes we eat.
Main crop potatoes are left in the ground until they have ‘bulked up’ (grown to a good size).
Main crop potatoes are lifted & stored through the winter, to give a constant supply of potatoes until the following year’s earlies are ready. But the skins must ‘set‘ for the potatoes to store satisfactorily.
The difference between New and Main Crop potatoes is that the skins are “set” on main crop. Sharpes Express, Maris Bard, Rocket, etc. are traditionally grown as New potatoes, but any variety can be defined as New, depending on when it is harvested. King Edwards & Pink Fir Apple, usually grown as main crop, may be lifted before the skins are set, and eaten as new potatoes.
Related articles:
How to Deal with Potatoes that Look Ready.
Potato Skins must Set for Storage.
Look after Potato Ridges.
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