Potatoes

[watervole]

Planted the early potatoes today.  We've had some clear plastic sheeting over the ground for a couple of weeks to warm the soil, and we'll leave it there until the shoots emerge.

The early varieties we're trying this year are: Epicure and Foremost.

Next year, I may try and grow 'Sante'.  We got some from Riverford, our organic veg box supplier, and they had a lovely flavour.

Mind you, you can grow pretty much anything.  My mother-in-law gets excellent results from her seed potatoes.  The 'variety'?  Tesco Value!

Also went down the riding stables and carted away more sackloads of manure.  They love us - I've discovered why now.  It costs an absolute fortune if they have to pay someone to remove it.  If you have a local riding stable, ask if they'd like you to help yourself to manure - they may well say 'Yes please!".

Comments

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

So good season for your allotment! "Sante" is good, we used to grow this kind.
And yes, it is true bout growing anything - one can find a surprise in the garden! :-)

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

Our potatoes are still chitting on the shelves outside the kitchen. But the time when we start to get stuff in the ground -- it was so warm at the allotment this afternoon that I could work in shorts and t-shirt -- is surely fast approaching. I imagine that most of our Easter break will be spent doing gardening of some sort....

We get manure delivered to our allotment about twice a year, from a riding stables in Enfield. Consignments of 100 to 150 bags are common, and are dead cheap -- about £2.50 for an 80 litre bag. Way cool, as I believe they might say in California....

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of using supermarket potatoes this year, as we're only planning to grow them in an old (leaky) water butt, so there's no point in buying a bag full!

Would probably nab some manure too, if I had any means of carrying it without wrecking the back of the car :))

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Put down a plastic sheet or a layer of bin bags. Shovel the manure into bin bags and put the bin bags on top of your layer of plastic.

I can show you at least one stable in Corfe Mullen where you can turn up any time and help yourself.

[decemberleaf.livejournal.com]

"We've had some clear plastic sheeting over the ground for a couple of weeks to warm the soil": I'm going to try this on our still-frozen soil.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

We did this last year and the difference in growth between the spuds under the sheet and those outside it was impressive. The plants were weeks ahead.