First early potatoes

We had a good session on the allotment yesterday planting out two rows of First early potatoes. The variety was “Rocket”. First earlies are the best choice if you have trouble with potato blight. They are usually harvested before blight becomes a serious problem. Luckily we managed to avoid blight on the potatoes last year, despite the wet weather. Unfortunately we lost 12 tomato plants to the same disease.

The weather has been fairly dry over the last couple of weeks so we were able to get a good start preparing the ground. Our soil is very light, which makes it easy to work. However, despite years of adding compost to the soil it’s still very stony. Where do all the stones come from? They are never ending.

I also planted three tubers in a large pot which I’ve put in the greenhouse for now. I’ll lift it outside once the weather gets warmer. To tell you the truth I’ve never had much success with this method but it’s still worth another try. You need a large pot at least 30cm wide with drainage (put crocks in the bottom). Put in 4 inches of compost then 2-3 tubers and top up with another 6 inches of compost. Don’t fill to the top of the pot.

Once the foliage is about 6 inches tall top up with more compost, leaving just a few leaves showing. Keep doing this till the pot is full. This method increases the yield as the potatoes gradually continue to develop further up the plant where it’s covered with compost. Once the plants start flowering gently feel below the compost to see if the potatoes are big enough. If not keep checking till they are. With luck you’ll get an early crop of very clean potatoes.