On Thu, 19 May 2005 17:10:17 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message 1116488094.91436b827674e069b06fef3141fe873a@teran ews
from Tim Challenger contains these words:
I've got Mimi, Nichola and Desiree growing well.
I've grown main crops before and I have them sussed: when the greenery has
dies back.
Waaaaaah...you didn't enjoy some yummy little new potatoes from your
maincrops?
no, it never occurred to me. :-(
The question is, when are first and second earlies ready to lift?
All I can gather is "after the flowers have faded". How long after? Do I
lift the 1st earlies then and just lift the seconds when I've eaten them ?
Any other indicators?
As soon as the plants are in flower, there will be small tubers
forming. They develop so incredibly fast that if you wait till the
flowers have finished, you'll have missed the earliest treats of divine
baby potatoes. Ideally, sow enough seed potatoes that when they come
into flower you can afford to sacrifice some plants for baby potatoes
only. Or, use a loose mulch over the soil surface, so that tubers form
just under the soil surface (but still in the dark from the mulch).
Instead of pulling up a whole plant, you can just fossick about with a
gentle hand, feeling for little tubers and nipping them off the root
without disturbing the plant.. It will grow more tubers to harvest
later.
By growing a succession of first , 2nd, maincrop etc, all you're
really doing is slightly prolonging the availability of gourmet
potatoes to eat freshly lifted, from midsummer day onward. You can't buy
potatoes which have that flavour and texture, so don't miss out on the
baby and young fresh ones from each crop.
I've only been doing spuds for a couple of years and out of ignorance I've
always assumed that the little ones had to be a certain "ripeness" to make
it worthwhile lifting them. Now I know better.
First and 2nd earlies, left in the ground and harvested after the
leaves die off, produce full size spuds which can be stored all winter,
just like "maincrop" varieties.
Janet.
--
Tim C.
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