Potato Carry On

[Sue]

Hi
I've now seen two offers for buying seed potatoes NOW! and I can enjoy home grown on Christmas Day.
Some questions on this.
What about the Verity potatoes I planted last (in big 50L containers) how long will they last in their pots? Would they last to Christmas Day if I didn't dig them up before then?
And, if I do fall for these offers and plant spuds NOW! for Christmas Day, what about a non-Christmas day in say, February, would I be able to eat them then, if they'd been kept frost-free?

Sue

[valmarg]

Sue, I can remember years ago (more than I care to remember) but probably about 25, my dad grew some 'shop bought' potatoes in tubs for Christmas. I think it was late July/early August that he planted them.

It was really nice to have something, out of season, that tasted really great, and that hadn't been flown halfway round the planet.

I think the seed companies are jumping on the bandwagon. There's a market out there, and they are trying to fill it with expensive products.

Going slightly off thread, another thing dad did was to preserve runner beans by salting them. Has anyone else done this? We had them on Christmas Day, and they tasted as good as if we had gone into the garden and picked them that day.

[Cutecumber]

Maincrop potatoes will last a fair time in the soil - longer than earlies, certainly. The difficulties at the end of the season come with disease (even in a pot, late blight can destroy your crop) and temperature (a frost can easily kill potatoes).

So, that's why maincrops are usually harvested late summer and early autumn, dried off, and stored in the cool and dark. They can then be eaten whenever we like.

Earlies planted in August, to be eaten "fresh" for Christmas, need to be carefully protected as the autumn comes.

The thing I would say, having tried to grow later in the year, is that it is a risk. It is not as foolproof as the seed companies would have you believe.

Do try it, but don't be complacent about the potential problems.

[Sue]

Cutecumber
Oh, it's the blight that's the problem, I wondered if there was something. I've got enough growing already and did manage to keep eating them last year through to December when they got a bit wizened.
Valmarg, interested in the runner beans, hope someone's got an answer to this!
best wishes
Sue