George Bray30/4/04 10:55
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
The correct name of "Jersey Royals" is "International Kidney", they only
become "Jersey Royals" when grown on Jersey.
You will find "International Kidney" seed potatoes easy to come by so why
bother to try to save bought ones for a year?
What you need to get them to taste right is lots of compost made with
seaweed, without it they will just taste like any other new potato.
Thank you for this info, which I was aware of, but hadn't found
anywhere that sold International Kidney seed potatoes, hence my
decision to buy ordinary spuds from shops. Following your comment,
I'll have another look.
Still waiting to hear for my farmer friend, I found this on the official
Jersey Royal site:
"In 1878, a major development in the Jersey potato industry took place, the
discovery of a new variety of potato, later christened the Jersey Royal
Fluke.
Until the discovery of the Royal, a variety of potatoes had been grown on
the island. Then one day a Jersey farmer, Hugh de la Haye, spotted two
enormous potatoes displayed on the counter in a local store. Hugh de la Haye
purchased them and took them home. That evening he invited some friends over
for dinner. After the meal he showed them the two huge potatoes, one of
which had 15 Œeyes¹ (from which new plants sprout).
The friends cut this particular potato into sixteen pieces which they took
and planted on a Œcôtil¹ above Bellozanne valley (a côtil in Jersey is a
steeply sloping field, often overlooking the sea.).
The following spring, they produced a large and early crop. Strangely,
though the parent potatoes and most of the new crop were round one plant
produced nothing but uniquely kidney-shaped potatoes. The Jersey Royal was
born! It was carefully nurtured and developed to produce the later varieties
of Jersey Royals which now account for almost half of Jersey¹s income from
all agricultural products.
So what became of Hugh de La Haye? He was later honoured by islanders at a
formal gathering with a testimonial and a purse of gold sovereigns. "
And depending on climate during the growing season, which is January to
March, the crop can be from 36,000 to 50,000 tonnes per year.
http://www.jerseyroyals.co.uk/
--
Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)