It's a Potato!

I defy anyone who was a child in the '80's to dig up a potato and not say "It's a potato!" softly to themselves every time they find one. (Here' the explanation for those who weren't) And while I'm on the subject, can I add to my list of life's small disappointments: thinking you've found a potato but it turns out to be a smooth stone. Bitter disappointment of this nature can crush your soul.

I've now sampled 2 kinds of new potatoes, my much sought after Ulster Sceptre and the more common place Aron Pilot. My Ulster Sceptre did give me a few childhood memory flashbacks. The taste, if I'm honest, is just potatoy, but the texture, smell and colour of the skin took my right back to those sweaty little 5lb bags we used to get from the shops.

What I did really appreciate was the floury texture. The Aron Pilot are far more waxy and not really very good for roasting or mashing but the Ulster Sceptre are a much more dual purpose potato - which explains why they were so popular in the chippies back home. The only downside is the yield, it was OK but the Aron Pilot are much more abundant.

I've not tried my Nadine yet but they're next.

In the meantime, if anyone would care to share their recommendations for floury tasting early potatoes with a high yield, I'd love to hear them.

Well Hello 2011

If it's OK with you, would you mind being a tad warmer than 2010? Oh, and please, please kick off spring on time, I'd very much appreciate a growing season of the standard length. And please don't tell anyone about the exciting, tentative, top secret empire expanding plans. Many Thanks.

It's hard to believe that my allotment career is not yet a year old. This time last year I had nothing doing in the garden (other than that pesky cat problem) but now I'm the proud owner of two whole plots and the luxury of plenty of time to plan, plant, chit and sow, unlike last year's March start.

So far I have my Autumn fruiting raspberries which need planting now the ground has de-frosted as well as my potted Tayberries.

Next on the list is my desire to re-create the potatoes of my childhood (yes, really!) Anyone from the NorthWest will be aware of the revered Cheshire potato, sung out from luminous banners in Chippy windows in early summer. A little bit of internet research tells me that Cheshires aren't actually a variety but just the name given to Ulster Sceptre potatoes bestowed with a unique flavour by the supposedly salty Cheshire soil. So next week I'm off to try and source some Ulster Sceptre seed potatoes. Maybe I'm on a hiding to nothing, maybe it's true about the soil, maybe Norfolk mud's just not the same but the beauty of an allotment is that I can give it a go.

Talking of those luminous food signs, anyone remember the Tasty Toaster? I just fancy a slice now ......

The Vegetable Headlines today are ......

Rabe Broccoli: Was very nice but isn't really broccoli like at all. Everything is eaten, the leaves, stalks and florets. The bottom 6cm or so of the stalks are really very fiberous so they're best cut off, the leaves wilt right down like spinach (and also has a similar minerally taste) which is a relief on the emergency chomping front as I've not got the mountain of veg I first imagined. The recipe I tried was lovely, highly recommended.

Broad Beans: Having pinched the tops out I decided to keep the pinchings (not sure that's an actual technical term) to cook at home. I arrived back from the allotment with a carrier bag bulging with beans tops, Raab Broccoli and Radishes which I left in the hallway when I came in. About half an hour later I went back to it to find an army of winged creatures teeming out of the bag and making their way determinedly up my walls. I would have screamed and flung the bag outside if I hadn't remembered that not only am I gardener but am northern to boot and therefore made of sterner stuff, so I placed the bag outside in a calm and seemly fashion. Now I just have to come up with a way to use up a carrier bag full of bean tops.

Potatoes: I began to worry about my potatoes at home after seeing several plots at the allotment had flowering potatoes already whereas mine are showing no signs of doing so, yet were planted out much earlier. I rummaged around in the bags and was horrified to discover the soil at the bottom of the bags was bone dry, despite several days of heavy rain here. I didn't realise that the bags seem to be in the rain shadow on the fence. I've obviously given them a good watering so it's now a matter of keeping my fingers crossed and see what happens.

Courgettes: I've got my first courgette flowers! I initially bought 3 courgette plants, planted 1 at home and 2 on the allotment. The one at home has gone from strength to strength in the shelter of our high fences but the allotment courgettes struggled in their exposed position in the cold snap we had (despite cloches). In a panic I planted a few more courgette seeds as I couldn't face a second courgette-less year after the 2009 Mosaic virus incident so I now also have 3 baby courgette seedlings planted out on the plot. Some may call it disorganised - I call it succession planting!

Manna from Heaven.

At last, a decent amount of rain. Last night it bucketed down but today when I went down to the allotment to plant the new pear tree the top 3" or so of soil were still dry as dust. The rain has started again now and more is forecast over the weekend so fingers crossed we get a good soaking. Then I only have to worry about getting stuck in the mud again ......

Our little plot is shaping up nicely. As you can see in the photo, we've now put up shade/shelter netting to protect us from the biting winds bowling over the open countryside we're surrounded by. I'd be interested in opinions anyone may have re carrot fly, will the shelter netting give us any protection or should I still put fleece around the carrot bed?

The fruit section is now well populated with strawberries, raspberries, red currants, 1 plum tree, 2 pear trees and 2 dwarf apple trees are due to arrive immanently. Carrot and broccoli seeds are just beginning to join the broad beans above the soil and runner beans, borlotti beans, sweetcorn and pumpkin are sprouting co-operatively at home.

We've had our first crop from the allotment already - but I have to confess it's not something we grew. I picked some nettles from the trackway around the plot and have brewed some nettle beer. Not tasted it yet but will blog the recipe if it's any good.

The salad potatoes at home are proving to be more expensive than I thought. As mentioned previously, I'm not growing main crop potatoes as I can get them really cheaply at a local farm shop. I thought that growing the higher value salad potatoes made more sense. I looked at the price of salad potatoes in the shops versus the cost of seed potatoes and bags to grow them in and decided they were cheaper to grow than buy. What I failed to factor in though, is the cost of the compost. I'm going through sacks and sacks of the stuff in the earthing up process so next year they'll be definite candidates for the allotment instead.

I've never grown potatoes before so I'm really, really hoping the taste of freshly dug spuds makes up for the cost!

The Garden is Officially open for the 2010 season.

Today was the beginning of the real hard work of 2010. As I'm signing up for the allotment tomorrow I thought I'd make a start on the garden before it gets abandoned in my new found allotment enthusiasm.

I kicked off by 'just' pegging the washing out - a sure sign that spring has arrived. I was soon plunged into some sort of surreal farce when the weather beaten, elderly washing line snapped, leaving me to play the human clothes prop with the surprisingly heavy, fully laden line while simultaneously trying to rescue the clean washing from the mud. So that was 45 mins of fun.

Next up was basic tidying, digging grass out of the cracks in the patio, washing the playhouse etc and then started planting. Of course the allotment has thrown my carefully laid plans into disarray, I was unsure whether to go ahead with my 'potatoes in a bag' plan or to plant the spuds on the allotment instead. I eventually decided to stick with the potato bags because it may take a week or two to finalise the allotment plans and in the meantime I want to move the chitting potatoes off the playroom windowsill so that we can plant the dwarf peas on there instead. Also, I think there's a danger of my whole veg growing enterprise becoming paralysed with indecision at this stage so it's important to plough on (s'cuse the pun)

The Radish skyscraper has been re-sown and the pea trough is filled with soil and waiting for the children to get in from school so that we can plant the peas. All in all a very productive day though my muscles seem to have been taken by surprise and are making gentle protest.