‘It must be potato harvest time’
I have just lifted my first row of potatoes, which yielded 2
crates of spuds and I have another 3 rows to harvest, so I am hoping it has
been a good year for the potato crop.
I was a little concerned that blight had set in and was ready
to immediately chop the stalks right down to the base to prevent the blight
from getting into the potatoes themselves. But after a closer look we established that it was just the
leaves looking a bit rough around the edges because it was time to harvest.
Blight is most common in cool, damp summers – such as the
one we had last year, when it hit our whole allotment. However, because I had been earthing up
and then cut down all the foliage at the very first sign of blight, I still
managed to get a reasonable harvest, which saw us through most of the winter.
If you do get blight, then once you have chopped off the
foliage (which does not go into your compost) you should wait three weeks before
lifting the tubers to allow any spores to die off.
It is important to follow a good crop rotation plan to help prevent
blight, potato eelworm and other pests and diseases. There are also blight resistant varieties including Sante
and Orla.
In general potatoes are an easy crop to grow and are a
staple part of most allotment plots.
They provide good ground cover to prevent too many weeds and I have
found they are great for breaking up the ground – so a good first crop to put
in a newly acquired space, which needs work.
There are dozens of varieties, divided into earlies, second
earlies, early main crops, late main crops and these names refer to the amount
of time they take to mature. You
can also get salad or new potatoes
- 14 – 16 weeks – earlies
- 16 – 17 weeks – second earlies
- 18 – 20 weeks – main crop
Usually you expect to be planting your earlies in early
spring, with the second earlies and main crop going in a bit later. However, like most things this year I delayed the planting, as I waited for the soil to be at least
6oC because the tubers are sensitive to frost. If you have planted your chitted potatoes and are expecting
a late frost it is certainly worth protecting them with horticulture fleece or
cloches.
Potatoes are also a good crop to store – though most earlies
are not suitable for long-term storage.
Cut the top growth off at ground level about two weeks before you are
planning to harvest to toughen up the skins, making them less prone to damage
from lifting and easier to store.
After harvesting the potatoes I leave them out to dry thoroughly,
then brush off the dirt. I think
it is worth checking your potatoes and dividing them into ‘use immediately’ (e.g.
ones you have managed to stab with the fork when lifting them!), ‘use second’
(some signs of damage such as small holes) or ‘use last’ (no signs of holes,
bruising or other damage).
I store my potatoes in hessian sacks in our garage (which is
cool and dark). You can also use
paper sacks, but do not store them in plastic bags.
Check them regular and remove any that are damaged.
This year I grew:
- Orlas (second earlies)
- Robintas (late main crop)
One of my favourite potato recipes, which came from a BBC website,
is:
Potato wedges with rosemary
Potato wedges are the ultimate easy side dish - just slam
them in the oven and forget about them until hunger strikes.
Ingredients
- 1kg/2lb potatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Rosemary, chopped, to taste
- Crushed garlic, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Wash and
dry the potatoes, but don't peel them. Cut the potatoes into large wedges and
place into a bowl.
Add the
remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Tip the potatoes onto a baking
tray.
Transfer
the potatoes to the oven and bake until golden-brown and cooked all the way
through (about 30 minutes).
Serve the
potatoes hot from the oven.
