Anyone grown Foremost Potatoes?

I'll stick my neck out and say my spuds do taste better than shop ones and they're fresher

 

Really? I've only ever seen one named variety, Jersey Royals...(talking earlies here)

 

I've seen charlottes and Pink Fir Apple but have you seen the price.....and you need a club check to buy Jersey royals in season....

 

New Spuds are better than the shop IMHO because - same principle as Sweetcorn - the sugar starts turning to starch from the moment you harvest them, so time (into the pan of boiling water) is of the essence.

Maincrop, I agree with you. No difference between my maincrop and shop-bought, and come January shop-bought (well, "farm gate" bought) is definitely better - the farmers have much better cold-storage to keep the spuds in tip-top condition than my cupboard-under-the-stairs.

We stopped growing maincrop several years ago. They deteriorated in storage (unless you like "fried potato chits" :D ), took a lot of ground-area to grow, and were cheap-as-chip (Sorry!) in the shops. (My Pink Fir Apple seem to keep well, and thus any left over from the growing season, which there usually are, provide for us well into Winter).

However ...

I recently had cause to think about usage of chemicals such as Gramoxone (now banned in EU) which were used to desiccate the haulms of Spuds before harvest - making mechanical harvesting "easier" I assume. I think that Gramoxone is similar to Paraquat?? In the UK farmers now use Acid to do that job, which is probably not so worrying as a complex herbicide chemical like Gramoxone.

Anyways, Gramoxone is not banned much in the rest of the world (AFAIK), and thus if I happen to buy spuds that have been imported there is every chance they have been treated with Gramoxone, or something else that I might similarly object to.

So Mrs K and I are now, much MUCH more so than before, on a "provenance must be known" tack, and growing our own simply makes it much easier to achieve that.

 

Oh well, I thought you lot might disagree.
Perhaps its because I'm not a great fan of so called "new potatoes" anyway, and as for Jersey Royals, I think they are grossly overated.
Especially those little tiny ones they sell at stupid prices, later in the season when they reach a decent size they are more edible.
I grow Pink Fir Apples because I've only rarely seen them available in the shops and they last all winter.
I normally eat a whole plate of these smothered in butter, at various times during the winter.

 

Hi Loli

"Winston" is much better to grow than "Formost" my opinion and I have grown both several times and each time would choose "Winston" , better flavor and less scab does get a little but not as much as "Formost", if you are after a 1st early to plant, plus you can harvest early for new potatoes and leave some in for later in the year.

 

I think its very subjective - and soil & husbandry will come into it. I don't think I've ever found anyone who agrees wholeheartedly with my spud choices (although I've never had any complaints when I serve them cooked!!). My advice to to try as many varieties as you can in the first year or two, and choose from that what does well, that you like the flavour of.

 

@Kristen ....that's what i'm going to try this year now....a few different varieties instead of just going for a set two....i haven't much space but i'll make the most of it ....the last couple of years i've sort of 'rested' the soil of spuds and gone the container route which doesn't really work for me....they need to be in the ground IMO....

 

Loli they have a good article in "The Gardener" best varieties to grow in bags and how to feed them as they done a trial last year at Wisley very interesting

 

I have no room to grow tatties but nearby is Romney Marsh where potatoes are grown for local outlets ( not Supermarkets - just Farmshops) and you can go out there to the shed where they bag them up and buy a paper bagfull of "just dugs" and take them home . I can eat them with just butter. Isn't that taste wonderful?
I love potatoes - especially a plate of fresh creamy, buttery mash. I think if could live off them if I had to,
Jenny

 

I think I read somewhere that man can live off potato skins alone - they have all required nutrients and vitamins ... so chuck the middles away, and you'll be fine

 

I grew these last yr and today when i looked in on them i still had looooooooots,so ive bagged the best/widest ones up and dropped some of them off with neighbours,great yield and brilliant for storing...just a bit too nobbly for me x

 

Anya might be worth a try. Bit less nobbly, nice flavour though.