tastiest new potato

[Alice]

Last year I would have voted for Charlotte. This year Cherie has it for flavour.
Good looking too.

[shirlthegirl43]

I've got Duke of York and International Kidney...............both taste really good, but the Duke is a much heavier cropper! I think International Kidney are a maincrop that are lifted early, so if I leave some to maturity the yields should improve considerably, I hope!

I didn't get much of a crop sadly. They were planted on 4th April and lifted yesterday - flaming June - so soggy here the blight got them!

[Grovsey]

I had Arran Pilot as first earlies - really tasty will deffo grow again.

My second earlies are Marfona - not as impressed although they are scarily heavy croppers and good for mash....but you always seem to get one absolutely HUGE potato off every tuber...weird....I mean really HUGE...as in triple normal baking size.

Got Desiree as my main crop which I think are probably ready now....

[scallops]

Alice,those spuds look amazing.
Great replies,this will all help towards next years selection.

[sewer rat]

I had a root around my Lady Christl this afternoon and took some home for the family tonight. Seriously tasty - Iona thought they were the best potatoes she has ever ever ever ever tasted even the OH said that if all my spuds taste like that I'll have no probs selling them -which is praise indeed.

[Sue]

Sewer Rat,
Thanks for the tip on steaming the British Queen potatoes, def not nice boiled.
And also lifted some more International Kidney yesterday, they were obviously much bigger than the ones I cropped too early but that extra special taste was much more elusive, so it seems you get more potatoes and less taste or less potatoes and keep the taste.
This has been a really helpful post, I think I'll stick with the International Kidney and lift early when they're still tiny and go for a different second early, plenty of tasty suggestions here to follow up.
best wishes
Sue

[wellie]

I share the sentiment, I'm just loving this thread! It is so interesting to know what varieties other Grapes are growing, and how they compare in your own personal 'taste test', because the names of varieties that 'keep cropping up' as favourites, would surely be a proper benchmark of the best tasting overall amongst us all? And I'm talking taste here, not yield. Please let's not go for yield?

I'd like to see similar threads started for every crop that we all grow, not just an overall 'Gold Standards' (no disrespect Piglet) so that each crop, say Dwarf French Beans, Greenhouse Cordon Tomatoes, Winter Squash, Sweetcorn, etc. get discussed properly as a separate thread in order to inform us all of performance, and taste, and only latterly is the yield was exceptional.

So, hats off here for, in my humble opinion, starting a thread of real use to everyone, and let's start some more, shall we?!

Scallops, truly brilliant, thank you......

Incidentally, Hazel, I share your personal 'taste-test' findings.
Out of the four I grew, Roosevaal was outstandingly tasty, red skinned and waxy. Parboiled then sauteed or oven-roasted it was 'dreamy'.

[Alice]

Yes I agree it's a great thread. I'm not interested in mass crops - can buy them in the supermarket. What I'm interested in is does one variety do better than another in terms of flavour- or in a particular area.
With respect Wellie, I think this is where Piglet was going with his gold standard thread.
Lets keep this up. It's information you can't buy in books.

[wellie]

And I'm in no doubt that you are right Alice. Piglet is a 'quality' appreciator, which is why he started that particular thread.
So, let's do some quality talking about our veg, and find out just which varieties of everything we think are the most gorgeous.

At some stage, we may find our recommendations in a copy of the magazine, to help sort the choice out for other growers new to growing their own.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Quite agree, girls - when there are just so many varieties to choose from - and new ones and heritage varieties to consider too - it is just so difficult try to make an objective choice!

All the seed catalogues make the different seed sound so yummy! As a newbie, I've been surprised just how much differnce in taste there is between different varieties so I'm all for a thread for each veg!

Just wish you'd thought of this at the beginning of the season!

[wellie]

No, the timing is brilliant for me. I'm going to have all of your expertise from now until it's time to plant the first earlies next year. Lots of learning between now and then, and lots of planning.

[Alice]

There are great tips for different varieties of veg all over the place on the Vine, and I've been scribbling furiously to make notes for next year. It would be great to have all this info in one place. I think L J would have her 19th nervous breakdown if we asked for another board for this. Any suggestions as to how we could put this all together in one place.

[Flummery]

Mine are Lady Chrystl and Arron Pilot. I also like Charlotte.

[pigletwillie]

Alice, I will next week put a thread in the "growing techniques" board. Everybody can add to it but nothing will show until its moderated and condensed. That way we can have a "Gold standard" list of all of the crops for taste first, followed by quality and yield.

The info gleaned will be put into a format that is easy to read, with a list of contributors at the bottom. From this we can sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Coo - that's clever PW!