On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:13:31 +0100, The Reids
wrote:

~The potatoes I grow don't seem to come out very waxy. Waxy
~varieties like Charlotte are so so. Pink Fir works well but
~Kidney (Jersey Royal) have come out "fluffy". Ulster Chieftain
~last year were so fluffy they could only be mashed. Are there
~factors beyond variety that influence waxyness?

I read once that Thomson and Morgan get hundreds of complaints each
year about International Kidney being fluffy and falling: it's due to
the time of digging. They are described variously as first early and
second early depending on potato supplier. If you dig them with first
early timings, they're waxy. If you don't... they get bigger but fall
in the pot.

If they do that to me, I steam them. Works a treat for stopping them
falling and you do retain some waxyness. Also they seem to keep more
flavour.

I've no clue about this year's crops as I was horribly late in
planting so am now conducting controlled experiments on third earlies


(I still have a load I haven't planted! And which I intend to, just to
see if I can get them to Christmas!)


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!