Potatoes.

We have been enjoying our early potatoes since Christmas and there is nothing nicer than digging up a delicious kidney shaped potato and putting it straight into the pot. We camped in our garden for Christmas day and as I hadn’t checked the potatoes I wasn’t sure what to expect.  So on Christmas Eve my father in law, Colin and I went and  put the fork into the ground. Oh what beautiful potatoes we found! So they were on the menu for dinner and breakfast for the next few days. Fried up cooked new potatoes with fresh eggs and bacon for breakfast cooked on the BBQ. Yum.

Sorry to go on, but after my first disappointing foray last year in that garden I was so happy to have them. There’s been talk of a potato shortage (not a famine of course) in this area since before Christmas so I have planted more in early January. Will see how they go. Here in North East Otago we are experiencing very dry conditions so carefully watering and mulching to conserve what we have.

Watched an interesting story on the Jersey Royal potatoes so famously grown on the steep slopes of the Isle of Jersey.  They have actually been growing them in the same place for 120 years!  And they select their own seed. It was Sarah Raven who was fronting the show and she asked why we are encouraged to buy certified seen and yet these farmers can select their own? Well we probably can ourselves if we select good size, clean growing potatoes.  The other points to note are as follows.  As the ground is steep, they can’t get tractors onto it so there is no compaction of soil.  They use a traditional style plow using human guidance but with a tractor at the top of the hill with a winch to help pull the plow up. Then people have to get in there and hand harvest.  They used traditional manuring methods including seaweed from the local beaches. They also practice a form of crop rotation where just before harvest someone walks through and sows a green crop of barley. The act of plowing helps that seed to get into the soil and they use that to rest and improve the soil before the next year.

Of course it has also been the same families’ following tried and true methods for those 120 years. Truly sustainable in the sense that they are mindful of the soil, the plants, the people and still have a premium product.

I have been lucky enough to get some straw to cover my mounded up spuds and have been collecting cow poo to go down the rows in between. (Making sure any fresh poo does not come into contact with the potatoes). If I can get seaweed I put that down the rows as well. So when they are all dug up I can dig those delicious carbon mineral nutritious (delicious) goodies back into the soil ready to bed down for winter. 

Storing.

Eat and enjoy your early potatoes. If it’s not too wet dig them up as you need them.  For your maincrop potatoes such as Agria you need to let them flower and the foliage die down. You want them to “cure’ a bit.  Some people leave them in the ground rather than store them in a sack or a clamp. If you do this you will need to put some kind of waterproof cover over them as moisture is your enemy.  I am going to try that this year.