Start your children on the road to growing
your family's own fresh produce, with the easiest and most versatile vegetable
on the planet - the potato!
Easy for little fingers to handle,
gloriously messy and fun to ‘earth up' - children can be involved at all stages
from ‘chitting' right through to harvesting, cooking and eating. Spuds are such fun to grow and thrilling to
dig up - you won't be able to resist them yourself!
The humble potato plant is actually an
herbaceous annual, growing up to 100cm (40") tall, from a starch-filled rounded
tuber called a ‘potato'. Due to their
high starch content, spuds rank fourth amongst the world's most important crops
as a primary food source, after maize, wheat and rice.
Potatoes belong to the
Solanaceae -
or "nightshade" family of flowering and fruiting plants, which includes the
tomato and eggplant,
Aubergine. Potatoes were first cultivated in the Andes some 8,000 years ago, but have largely spread to consume
more than 75,000 square miles of land worldwide.
Reputedly, to the Peruvians, the potato was
such an important crop that time was measured not in minutes, but in how long
it took to cook a pot of spuds! Today,
almost 315 million tonnes of tubers are produced annually - with over half being
harvested in developing countries.
Surprisingly, one medium sized potato
contains about half of our recommended daily intake of vitamin C. Low in fat and calories (less than pasta or
rice), potatoes are an important source of energy, fibre, vitamins and minerals
- and they taste fantastic!
Happily, potatoes are one of the easiest
vegetables to grow at home, producing a rewarding crop from every ‘mother' seed
tuber. There are literally dozens of
different varieties to choose from, called ‘early', ‘second early', ‘maincrop'
or ‘salads', depending on their cropping time and uses. The new ‘Have a Grow' range of trail sized
bags highlights 12 of the best for new and experienced gardeners alike. Each variety has been carefully selected for
flavour, growing performance and sheer popularity of name - guaranteed to give you
a rewarding taster of new potatoes at their most delicious.
All potatoes love a rich soil, with plenty
of well-rotted manure and compost added.
Growing tubers ‘in the bag' using vegetable growing compost is a quick
and simple way of harvesting a fresh, tasty home grown crop from the smallest of
patches. Specially designed ‘Potato Grow
Bags' produce a healthy crop of nutritious new spuds year after year from a bag
that is large enough to accommodate three to five seed potatoes from planting
until harvest.
‘Chitting' Seed Potatoes
For optimum results, seed potatoes require
‘chitting' to encourage sprouts to form before planting. Unpack and lay tubers in a single layer on an
empty egg box or seed tray, sitting ‘rose' end uppermost. The most eyes or buds will arise from these,
forming sturdy top-growth. Place trays
in a cool, moderately lit place and protect from frost - beneath greenhouse
staging, in a potting shed or garage with window is ideal.
Shoots form within a couple of weeks,
making tubers ready for planting out.
However, planting should be delayed until weather conditions allow -
from early March or April, by which time shoots should be 2.5cm long and
dark/purple green in colour.
Plant tubers 7.5-13cm (3-5") deep depending
on variety, spacing 30cm (12") apart in a sunny part of the vegetable garden
allowing 40-50cm (16-20") between rows.
Protect emerging growth from frost with horticultural fleece and
regularly ‘earth up' by drawing soil over the shoots, to prevent unpalatable greening
of the tubers.
Choose a deep tub or purpose-made ‘Potato
Bag' with several drainage holes in the bottom.
Fill to the quarter mark with homemade compost, vegetable growing
compost or good garden soil, spacing your chitted potatoes evenly on the
surface and covering with more compost.
Keep frost-free and place the pot in a warm position for an early crop. As shoots begin to emerge through the
compost, ‘earth up' by adding more compost, making sure plants receive plenty
of moisture during dry spells and protection from midday sun. After 4 to 6 weeks, feed with a balanced
fertiliser, until the plants start to flower - usually between 9 to 12 weeks
after planting. Finally, carefully
remove the whole plant to harvest your new potatoes.
Cream of the Crop
First Earlies:-
Epicure - High yields with very good frost recovery, distinctive flavour good
for boiling, mashing and salads.
Swift - NEW - The earliest ‘Early' producing waxy white, tasty new boiled
potatoes.
Vale
Emerald - NEW - Perfect for potato grow bags, a
robust variety that produces excellent baby new potatoes.
Second Earlies:-
Aphrodite - NEW - A high yielding variety with excellent flavour, good for
baking, boiling and chipping.
Edzell
Blue - A very old variety with distinctive
blue/purple skin and floury flesh, ideal for mashing, chipping and steaming.
Smile - NEW - High yielding with great disease resistance, this variety
has attractive red skins and broad white ‘eyes' resembling a smile!
Maincrop:-
Organic
Lady Balfour - NEW - Great disease resistance to
blight, scab and eelworm. Ideal for
boiling and roasting.
Majestic - The most widely grown potato in the UK!
Robust, drought tolerant and will thrive in any soil. An excellent roaster.
Mayan
Gold - NEW - The gourmet potato popular with chefs
due to its unique nutty flavour.
Excellent for chips!
Salads:-
Organic
Bambino - NEW - Excellent flavour and quick
maturing, perfect for a potato grow bag.
Anya - NEW - Superb flavour and texture for salads, sautéed or roasted.
International
Kidney - Classic ‘Jersey Royals' famous for their famous
flavour in early summer salads.
IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK...
- Wigwam cane grips turn 7+ bamboo canes into a strong, sturdy
wigwam climbing support - ideal for sweet peas and runner beans.
- Using raised beds is one of the easiest ways of growing veg at
home. The RHS have proved that an
area measuring just 3m x 3m can produce enough vegetables to meet the
average family's needs throughout the year, using this simple, yet
intensive cropping system.
- Float ‘Enviromesh' over rocket, carrots, brassica's and other
salad crops to act as a physical barrier against most garden pests. The fine mesh allows light, air and
water to freely circulate, ensuring healthy plant growth.
- Clip over ivy grown on walls and fences, shearing off leaves
and wayward shoots with garden shears.
Brush down with a stiff broom to remove dead leaves, dirt etc -
plants look bare at first, but will quickly flush with fresh foliageand
vigour after their spring clean.
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