When your potatoes arrive....

Your potatoes will arrive in a brown paper bag. Ideally, you’d chit them when they arrive, but this is not 100% necessary, so don’t worry too much.

To chit your potatoes, place them in a clean egg box or tray with the tiny buds facing upwards. Place in a cool, light place (10-15 degrees) avoiding direct sunlight. The chitted potatoes will become slightly wrinkled as they lose some of their moisture.

After 2-3 weeks or when you have good strong shoots (1.5cm to 2.5cm) growing up from the tuber, they are ready to be planted.

Watch out for....

• Blight
• Scab

They're ready to harvest when....

Earlies are usually ready when the flowers open. Maincrops are ready when the leaves have died. Look for these tell tale signs to know when your spuds are ready, and then double check by carefully scraping away the earth with your hand or a trowel to see that they’re a good size. Be careful when digging them up as you don’t want to spike them with the old garden fork!

Jargon Buster

Earth Up – this basically means covering with a layer of soil – looks a little like a molehill when done!

Tuber – a thick underground part of a stem (e.g. a potato is a tuber) that serves as a food reserve and bearing buds from which new plants arise

First Early – normally new potatoes, this is the group of potatoes that reach maturity fastest, usually 10 weeks. They’ll happily sit in the ground for 3-4 weeks after that. They should be cooked as soon as possible after being harvested.

Second Early – These are another group of early potatoes, usually new potatoes. They take around 12-13 weeks to reach maturity. They can stay in the ground for 3-4 weeks after that and should be cooked as soon as possible after being harvested.

Maincrop – these are bigger potatoes that are generally of the floury texture – good for roasting, mashing & baking.  They take around 20 weeks to grow and once harvested can be stored over the winter.

Recipe Ideas

Coming soon