TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs

February 16, 2010

Vales Emerald Potato Variety

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , , — TopVeg @ 11:00 pm
Vales Emerald is a popular, high yielding, first early potato variety which tastes good. 

Vales Emerald :

  • produces a large number of new potatoes
  • matures quickly , making it a very early potato
  • is a Maris Peer x Charlotte cross
  • has red violet flowers

 

vales emerald

vales emerald potato seed

Vales Emerald potato tubers are:

  • round to oval
  • white skinned
  • cream fleshed
  • shallow eyed
  • firm & waxy
  • great tasting

 

Uses of Vales Emerald:

  • boil or steam
  • serve hot or cold
  • ideal salad potato

 

Click this link to buy some seed of the first early variety of potatoes  Vales Emerald 

 

 

January 24, 2010

Is it necessary to chit potatoes?

Filed under: Uncategorized, potato — Tags: , , , , , — TopVeg @ 8:49 am

It is not necessary to chit potato seed. 

chitting-in-egg-box

chitting-in-egg-box

But chitting does bring an earlier crop because chitting starts the growing process. 

  • This is particularly important for new or early potatoes, as the growing season is short & every day counts!
  • Many people do not chit maincrop poatoes because the potatoes seem to catch up over the long season.

Chitting does act as an insurance.  If the planting season is delayed because of bad weather, or family duties, the potatoes have actually started growing so will not be quite so delayed.

Chitting is not necessary, but it does start the shoots growing on the seed potatoes, so chitting is popular with early potato growers.

January 19, 2010

Charlotte – early potato variety

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , , — TopVeg @ 9:44 am

Charlotte is a variety of potato which may be harvested early in the season.

charlotte potato

charlotte potato

Charlotte:

  • is a second early  – planted between February and May and harvested from July to October
  • has moderate yields
  • has uniform, pear shaped potatoes
  • are smooth, yellow skinned potatoes
  • has a high resistance to foliage and tuber blight
  • is susceptible to potato cyst nematode
  • has medium dry matter
  • has yellow flesh
  • is waxy when cooked
  • is a good salad potato
  • may be eaten hot or cold
  • is suitable for growing in containers

Click this link to buy the early potato variety Charlotte.

January 3, 2010

Early Potato Seed FAQ

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , — TopVeg @ 11:27 am

New gardeners, thinking about growing potato seed,find the associated jargon a bit confusing, so here are some Frequently Asked Questions.
1. What is chitting?

  • chitting early potatoes means allowing the potatoes to open their eyes and start to grow the small shoots (from the eyes) which are called chits.
  • click this link for more information on how to chit potatoes.

potato-chit-day20
potato-chit-day20


2. Can we put seed potatoes straight in the soil now?

  • wait until the soil warms up.
  • the soil & weather conditions in the garden determine when the seed can be planted. These conditions do not usually occur until March.
  • your soil is ready when it has dried out so that it does not stick to your hands when you run your fingers  through it.
  • if the soil is cold and wet, your potatoes are better chitting on the window sill!

3.  Will potatoes grow anywhere?

  • potatoes can be grown in the vegetable garden, in raised beds, pots or in containers.
  • potatoes should not be grown in the same soil year after year.  It is best to leave a 7 year gap before growing potatoes in the same soil again.

4. Are there any good types of potatoes that we should look out for?

  • different potato varieties cook in different ways and mature at different times.
  • early potato varieties are the new potatoes that are usually boiled with mint and served hot with butter or eaten cold.
  • early potatoes are the first potatoes to be harvested, usually in early June.
  • click this link for a short list of early potato varieties.

Please fill in the comments section below if you have any potato seed questions to add to our list of FAQ.

December 27, 2009

New Potatoes at Christmas – Who Wants Them?

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , , — TopVeg @ 12:07 pm

Who wants new potatoes at Christmas?

Christmas-new-potatoes

Christmas-new-potatoes

In our house it is the gardener – but when the gardener becomes the head of the table, he wants roast potatoes around the turkey and mashed potatoes with his gravy.  The subtle flavour of freshly dug new potatoes, cooked with carefully preserved mint, is not appreciated.

This is the first year we have successfully grown new potatoes and harvested them on Christmas day.  The seed potato varieties Carlingford and Vivaldi were planted in late July, under a polytunnel, and we have been enjoying them since November.

The polytunnel reduces the risk of frost, but in severe frosty weather the soil would have to be covered (eg with fleece) so that the soil & potatoes do not freeze.

Christmas-dug-potatoes

Christmas-dug-potatoes

When we dug the new potatoes on Christmas morning, they had bulked up considerably, and were so big that they had to be cut in half before cooking.  This was in spite of a severe attack of potato blight early on.  Late sown potatoes are more vulnerable to blight at a very early stage, because as soon as they come out, and the first leaves emerge, they are likely to be in a blight period.

So, because the new potatoes are quite large we will probably plant some in August next year.  But a few will be planted in July, just in case blight catches the August lot.

Click the link to buy some Carlingford or Vivaldi seed potatoes to grow new potatoes for Christmas.

The challenge of extending the potato season and harvesting new potatoes at Christmas is still there, but who really wants them with a traditional Christmas dinner?

December 13, 2009

New Early Potato Varieties

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , , — TopVeg @ 3:47 pm

Early (or new) potato varieties are planted from January to March and are ready for digging from May-July.
Second earlies are planted between February and May and harvested from July to October.

Examples of early potato varieties are:
Ultra-Early Potato – Lady Christl

LadyChrstll-new-potatoes

LadyChrstll-new-potatoes

* high yielding
* numerous uniform attractive tubers
* good all round disease resistance, although it is slightly susceptible to Foliage Blight
* excellent cooking qualities & great flavour

Extra Early Salad Potato – Rocket

rocket-potatoes

rocket-potatoes

* firm, waxy texture tubers
* good for chipping
* responds well under polythene
* best under long day length conditions of Northern Europe

Very early – Winston

* good yields
* bold white tubers
* a very short growing season
* good drought and heat tolerance
* powdery scab resistance
* masher, chips,bake,roast

First Early Potato – Sharpes Express

* low resistance to dry rot, late blight on foliage and late blight on tubers

First Early Potato – Red Duke of York

* low resistance to late blight on foliage, late blight on tubers, common scab, potato leafroll virus and potato virus Yo .

First Early Potato – Maris Bard

Maris-Bard-new-potatoes

Maris-Bard-new-potatoes

TopVeg favourite!

* high yielding and early bulking
* good resistance to potato virus Y, gangrene, potato leaf roll virus, drought, damage and bruising
* moderately susceptible to spraing, powdery scab
* susceptible to potato cyst nematode
* medium dry matter with good boiling and frying quality
* good all round cooker

Second Early Potato – British Queen

* round tubers
* white skin

Second Early Potato – Charlotte

* moderate yields
* uniform, smooth skinned tubers
* high resistance to foliage and tuber blight
* susceptible to potato cyst nematode
* medium dry matter
* waxy cooked texture
* salad potato

Second Early Potato – Kestrel

* good yields of very attractive, long oval, coloured tubers
* good all round cooking quality
* good chipping potential, particularly early in the season

Second Early Potato – Edzell Blue

* heritage variety
* very floury texture
* mashes & bakes well, though difficult to boil
* best known blue- skinned variety

New (early) potato varieties can be ordered now so that they will be sent out in time to start chitting.

November 24, 2009

Baby new potato collection

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , , , — TopVeg @ 11:17 pm
LadyChrstll-new-potatoes

LadyChrstll-new-potatoes

Thompson and Morgan have got a baby new potato collection on special offer for £10.99.

The baby potato collection comprises:

  • Lady Cristl
  • Mimi
  • Orla
  • Rocket
  • Swift
  • Vivaldi

Click here to buy the Thompson & Morgan baby new potato collection.

This is a great way to start growing your own potatoes. They can be grown in a small patch of garden or in containers on a sunny patio, concrete backyard or balcony.

This baby potato collection will make a great gift or Christmas present for someone keen to grow their own potatoes.  Click here to buy the Thompson & Morgan baby new potato collection.

October 22, 2009

Carlingford new potato

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , — TopVeg @ 5:47 pm

We had some new potatoes – variety Carlingford – tonight which were planted at the end of July. Cooked with the last of the mint- they were fantastic! They are slightly waxy, which is good for a new potato.
The skins scraped just like earlies.

Carlingford-(scrapped)

Carlingford-(scraped)

Very exciting when you can extend the growing season!

The Carlingford seed potatoes were planted in the potato bed when the early Bard potatoes had been lifted. So the same piece of ground has grown two crops of potatoes in one year. But it will not grow potatoes for another seven years, as we rotate them around the garden to reduce the risk of eelworm and other pests.

The Carlingford new potatoes have yielded well and taste fantastic.

October 10, 2009

Second Crop of Maris Bard Potatoes

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , — TopVeg @ 5:20 pm

The second crop of Maris Bard potatoes are quite large.

second-crop-Bard-potato

second-crop-Bard-potato

These potatoes were grown on the same site that the early Maris Bard potatoes were grown this year.  The seed potatoes were planted as the first new potatoes were lifted.

The second crop of Maris Bard potatoes has given us a continuous supply of new potatoes though late summer and autumn.

July 21, 2009

Early Potato Varieties in France?

Filed under: potato — Tags: , , , — TopVeg @ 7:05 pm

Roger has asked for advice on which early potato varieties are grown in France.

Roger says:

“We have planted Charlotte, belle de fontain, and a couple of others non of which were First early’ s.  First Earlies ’s  have a very distinctive taste.”  But he cannot find any first early potato seed in France.

Have any vegetable gardeners in France been able to source early potato seed?

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