Fave spuds?

[francesbean]

ooh i like the idea of the harlequin Sarzwiz - think i'll look out for that.

[SarzWix]

I'm pretty sure JBA Seed Potatoes are the only supplier of it this year francesbean; you can get it from them online, and also from whichever garden centres and Potato Days supply their seed potatoes.

[arpoet]

2011 Potato Days

Just a note to say that today Sat 29th, jan, is Chesterfield Potato Day.
I shall be going to get a few more unusual varieties to try in small quantities.
Got my main supply from tattiman 2 weeks ago.

[selfraising]

I only grow earlies to avoid blight. My favourites are:
Pentland Javelin
Anya
International Kidney, which can be left to grow on as a maincrop.

[rana]

As an alternative to Charlotte Nicola perform well and are now readily available.
For taste I like Pink Fir Apple and for blight resistance the Sarpo varieties are very robust.

[Ouya Mellsa]

Can you buy the Sarpos in shops, or are they only available online?

[Kristen]

I get my seed potatoes from JBA - but they look like they are out of stock of Sarpos at the moment

Sarpo Mira | Blight Resistant Sarpo Mira | Seed Potato Catalogue

[SarzWix]

Thompson & Morgan are the main suppliers of Sarpo potatoes although they are starting to filter out into the wider market now. There's a 10% off offer for Thompson and Morgan at the top of the page, so that would help to mitigate the postage costs...

[gan heather]

Thompson & Morgan are the main suppliers of Sarpo potatoes although they are starting to filter out into the wider market now. There's a 10% off offer for Thompson and Morgan at the top of the page, so that would help to mitigate the postage costs...

I posted this already in the Top Tips section, but thought I'd do so again here. T&M are offering free P&P till midnight, January 31st, so if there's a particular potato that you wanted from them, now would be a good time to order it.

[Alison]

My favourite earlies by a mile are Ulster Classic, really really tasty and very versitile. Not really found a second early I'm that happy with although grow a few International Kidney and harvest over roughly those timescales. Have tried Charlotte on other people's recommendations and found them rubbish in the ground and only holding together if steamed rather than boiled and difficult even then. Main crop, I vary. Always grow some PFA (MUCH nicer than Anya and keep all winter) but keep trying others for general spuds. Had a good crop from Onya (early main crop that's pretty blight resistant) and Romano were a nice red skinned type (later main crop but quite blight resistant again). I have tried the Sarpo ones once but won't again as I really didn't like them much, they just didn't seem to taste or feel like real potatoes. Don't really know how to explain what I mean but just not quite right. Prefer to pick a range of varieties, as many of possible or which have natural resistant qualities.

[Kristen]

Have tried Charlotte on other people's recommendations and found them rubbish in the ground and only holding together if steamed rather than boiled and difficult even then.

I have read of people recommending that if a potato (particularly First or Second Early) falls to bits, or doesn't have expected flavour, it is worth storing them (out of the ground) for a few days before cooking them.

[Alison]

I have read of people recommending that if a potato (particularly First or Second Early) falls to bits, or doesn't have expected flavour, it is worth storing them (out of the ground) for a few days before cooking them.

I've heard that too but the whole point of earlies / second earlies is to enjoy the superior taste you get by getting them to the table within a few hours of digging up. They seem to lose that lovely fresh flavour if you leave them until the next day.

[Kristen]

Yup, I'm with you there! We love Charlotte spuds though. Its very subjective, and often heated!, topic of course, and I expect the growing media / conditions has something to do with it, let alone personal preference.

[Alison]

Defo agree on the growing conditions etc, must make a real difference.

[Scarlet]

I would like to find a good variety for Baking, if anyone has suggestions?

I read that if you cut out most of the eyes of your seed potato, you get larger spuds though much fewer of them. I tried it with King Edwards last year and a had a reasonable baker.