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.

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?

--
Tim C.

"Tim Challenger" wrote in message
news:1116488094.91436b827674e069b06fef3141fe873a@t eranews...

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.

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?

--
Tim C.

When the flowers have died down I stick my hand down in the soil and feel
around for some nice ones, enough for a couple of meals and then allow the
plants to continue their growth pattern...then repeat the process until I
get tired of that and then go full steam ahead....H

On Thu, 19 May 2005 05:58:03 -0400, Harold Walker wrote:

"Tim Challenger" wrote in message
news:1116488094.91436b827674e069b06fef3141fe873a@t eranews...

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.

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?

--
Tim C.

When the flowers have died down I stick my hand down in the soil and feel
around for some nice ones, enough for a couple of meals and then allow the
plants to continue their growth pattern...then repeat the process until I
get tired of that and then go full steam ahead....H

Seems like a very empirical and practical way. :-)
I suppose if you don't disturb them too much the tubers will continue to
grow?


--
Tim C.

"Harold Walker" wrote in reply to
"Tim Challenger" ...

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.

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?


When the flowers have died down I stick my hand down in the soil and feel
around for some nice ones, enough for a couple of meals and then allow
the plants to continue their growth pattern...then repeat the process
until I get tired of that and then go full steam ahead....H
Well I couldn't push my fingers in our soil, it's clay/silt and it's hard to
push the fork in when the spuds are ready. We just dig one up after 13 weeks
and see and judge the rest from there.
--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

"Tim Challenger" wrote in message
news:1116497377.44311862fbfeadecdaa1bda7dc7a46b5@t eranews...
On Thu, 19 May 2005 05:58:03 -0400, Harold Walker wrote:

"Tim Challenger" wrote in message
news:1116488094.91436b827674e069b06fef3141fe873a@t eranews...

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.

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?

--
Tim C.

When the flowers have died down I stick my hand down in the soil and feel
around for some nice ones, enough for a couple of meals and then allow
the
plants to continue their growth pattern...then repeat the process until I
get tired of that and then go full steam ahead....H

Seems like a very empirical and practical way. :-)
I suppose if you don't disturb them too much the tubers will continue to
grow?

Plus they are always "new" as compared to digging a whole bunch at once and
storing a wee bit....I find a spud two weeks out of the ground not to be as
good as one 'fresh out'............H

--
Tim C.

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.

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.

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?

...
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).
...

Would horse-stable manure/straw be any good? Probably to strong.
Well-rotted would be ok? I'll be trying to get some for the autumn anyway,
so I could get extra and let it mature over winter for next year?


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.

Exactly, spuds are moderately priced around here, but it's that freshness
I'm after.

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.

:-)
Thanks for the tips! I've only been planting potatoes for a couple of years
- any old variety that I can get here, and I have just realised how
ignorant I am.

--
Tim C.

On Sat, 21 May 2005 19:46:07 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message 1116692183.17008b072ab3feb2e28ef6a8eb98a1ef@teran ews
from Tim Challenger contains these words:

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).
...

Would horse-stable manure/straw be any good? Probably to strong.
Well-rotted would be ok?

Well, I wouldn't want to pick my new potatoes out of a horse manure
mulch,

Yet you dont mind covering them in pesticides/herbicides! How daft.

You could always wear rubber gloves, what colour would your prefer do
you think?

On Sat, 21 May 2005 19:46:07 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message 1116692183.17008b072ab3feb2e28ef6a8eb98a1ef@teran ews
from Tim Challenger contains these words:

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).
...

Would horse-stable manure/straw be any good? Probably to strong.
Well-rotted would be ok?

Well, I wouldn't want to pick my new potatoes out of a horse manure
mulch, no. Use that for lining the bottom of a potato trench before
planting; by the time you're lifting the main crop months later it will
have disappeared anyway.

Good point.


I use seaweed, or at my last place, dead bracken . Just pile on a thick
covering (6") after planting the potatoes. No need for earthing-up or
weeding. The haulms will make their own way through, and if there's a
risk of late frost you can just flick a bit of mulch over the leaves and
let them push through it all over again a few days later. Thick straw
would be okay, (but tends to blow around) or spent mushroom compost.

Seaweed is in short supply in northern Austria (where I am) :-(
Straw I can get, but as you say it'd probably blow around, we're in a
pretty windy spot. I think I've got the idea now.
Thanks for your help.

--
Tim C.