My spuds have had their chips!

[Potstubsdustbins]

Bill,

First earlies like Swift can be harvested in as little as 8 to 9 weeks in a good year 10 to 12 weeks in a bad one.

I didn't bother with Swift this year and grew Red Duke of York for the first time instead. They take slightly longer in the ground but IMO they are more tasty.

Another thing you might consider is Lady Christl these are a first early but I leave some of mine in ground for about 18 weeks. They continue to grow and make great chippers and bakers, lovely taste to.

If you suffer with blight the less time the plants are exposed whilst growing the better.

Potty

[Yasai]

Gosh! That must be gutting

So much effort and then to come to nought. I have to say, though, that it's one of the things I love and loathe about gardening. It's teaching me to let things go and also building my resilience. When I've inadvertently killed off plants or gone outside to find my plants transformed into makeshift doilies or no sign of my plants at all for that matter, I've been tempted to just forget the whole thing and head off to the supermarket.... but only momentarily. And when I've reminded myself that it's not personal and there's only so much left of the growing season, I pick my bottom lip off the ground and get back on with it. This time of year is particularly vexing though. Glad to hear you had good yields of other stuff, anyway.

I haven't tried spuds yet but I too was thinking of starting off with earlies for that exact reason. I waited for seemingly ever for my Alicante tomatoes to ripen and came out one day to find them and the previously flourishing tomato plant next to it covered in an awful looking fungus. Had to chop the whole lot down. Oh well... maybe next year. Think I'll stick to early everything next year...

[Pies]

A couple of videos from Dan, just remember spuds in pots must be well watered

Allotment Diary : How to Plant / Grow potatoes in containers - YouTube


Harvesting the first Sarpo Mira Blight Resistant Potatoes : Huge crop of spuds - YouTube

[Bill HH]

Gosh! That must be gutting

So much effort and then to come to nought. I have to say, though, that it's one of the things I love and loathe about gardening. It's teaching me to let things go and also building my resilience. When I've inadvertently killed off plants or gone outside to find my plants transformed into makeshift doilies or no sign of my plants at all for that matter, I've been tempted to just forget the whole thing and head off to the supermarket.... but only momentarily. And when I've reminded myself that it's not personal and there's only so much left of the growing season, I pick my bottom lip off the ground and get back on with it. This time of year is particularly vexing though. Glad to hear you had good yields of other stuff, anyway.

I haven't tried spuds yet but I too was thinking of starting off with earlies for that exact reason. I waited for seemingly ever for my Alicante tomatoes to ripen and came out one day to find them and the previously flourishing tomato plant next to it covered in an awful looking fungus. Had to chop the whole lot down. Oh well... maybe next year. Think I'll stick to early everything next year...

Yes I agree, the other thing about earlies is that potatoes are more expensive at that time of year which makes it more worthwhile.
Ive been thinking about how i felt when first seeing the blight on my spuds, months of almost nightly watering, the earthing up, tieing up wayward stems etc, but then I thought how an Irish farmer must have felt in the potatoe famine, it was tantermount to a death sentence for him and his family! For me it really only means a trip to sainsburys.

[Bill HH]

A couple of videos from Dan, just remember spuds in pots must be well watered

Allotment Diary : How to Plant / Grow potatoes in containers - YouTube


Harvesting the first Sarpo Mira Blight Resistant Potatoes : Huge crop of spuds - YouTube

I am a Dan subscriber and have watched his potatoes with interest, he got blight in some of his but at least they were near to maturity, mine needed another month. The moral is "The early bird catches the worm"

[Yasai]

but then I thought how an Irish farmer must have felt in the potatoe famine, it was tantermount to a death sentence for him and his family! For me it really only means a trip to sainsburys.

Yes, quite. That certainly puts it in to perspective.