Potato growing 2022

Charlotte for me, ever reliable second early that can grow a bit bigger and stores pretty well. I don't grow much though, a couple of square metres.

 

I couldn't get any international kidney seed so going to try Jazzy. I've also ordered King Edward seed. Apart from that will try some more Shetland Black, Mayan Gold and Yetholm Gypsies I've kept back from last year for seed. I think I'm going to struggle for space.

 

Last year I grew Albert Bartlett Rooster and Cara. Neither I was really happy with so this year I'm trying King Edward and Pentland Dell.

 

Charlotte for me too. Do i go to JBA or Wilkos for them ?

Might try some supermarket bought Saxon too.

Edit.
Picked up Charlotte from Wilko today . Early but everything seems to be hard to get hold of thesedays, so just just in case.

 

Seeking potato advice! I hope the collective wisdom here can provide a bit of guidance for a newbie.

I've rescued a sizeable polytunnel in a semi-rural location in the northwest. It's a bit in the shade from overgrowing trees and the soil has been disused for years. My thinking is to use it exclusively for potatoes. The goal is to grow familiar potatoes to donate to a local food bank.

But here's the thing: the potato crop needs to be extremely low maintenance, as I can only visit a two or three times a week. Ideally, it would be great to just throw the seed potatoes into trenches and water them a few days a week with zero maintenance, only to dig up a vast amount of huge tasty potatoes. (I know, wishful thinking...)

My current thinking, from doing a bit of research, is to split the polytunnel in half: one half in earlies and the other half maincrop. I'll start chitting in the polytunnel in March as the frost risk is reduced by then.

Can anyone recommend a variety (or varieties) of low maintenance, high yield, non-exotic, shade happy, polytunnel friendly, disease resistant, low cost, seed potatoes for the earlies and maincrop?

 

That's really helpful. One of the problems I have in the garden is there's no way to take precautions. Many random people wander in and out of it that I can't control. I'm also a vector as I travel between two big gardens, one of which was hit badly by late blight last year. So the potatoes need to be as disease resistant as possible.

Another factor is how acceptable the potatoes are to people who use food banks. I've been told by the food bank manager that the supermarkets drop off lots of 'expired sell by date' exotic veg that food bank users won't take. Most food bank users don't have kitchens or equipment for more involved cooking. They may have access to a microwave and that's about it. So, the suggestion is to donate simple familiar veg (in this case potatoes) that people unfamiliar with gardening will accept and use. If I donate an exotic potato with an unfamiliar colour, size or texture, I'm worried it won't be used. So, boring and disease resistant is what I'm aiming for.

 

Im thinking that these potatoes will be needing a lot of watering in a pollytunnel .
If blight gets in there it will run riot. Your ventilation will have to be very good and managed.
To be honest it sounds like a good cause but will there really be a demand for such low value crop.
As said above most food banks get their veg from supermarkets. People are used to washed packaged potatoes now also.

Setting up a communal garden scheme may work out better as folk are walking through it anyway ?

 

The garden projects are two-fold: the people working the garden are from trouble backgrounds. Often, this is the first time they've ever encountered growing plants, or more importantly, exercised empathy and compassion to help others in the wider community. The garden builds a connection of expending effort voluntarily to help others less fortunate than themselves which creates a sense of belonging and purposeful activity. So, while getting a good harvest is important, it's only part of the story. And the produce itself will most likely be used mostly by people associated with the garden with only surplus handed over to food banks or social enterprises.
The potato polytunnel can be fully opened for ventilation and we're looking into diy automated watering systems. There's been no history of blight in this particular garden so I'm keeping my fingers crossed there. It's all a bit of an experiment. But the garden has been disused for many years so any attempt at vegetables is at least a step in the right direction.

 

@Frazzled , having just read your last post , l think your working with troubled souls is inspiring.
Many years ago l was fortunate to be involved as a mentor with a group of young offenders on a commercial nursery and seeing them get involved and then get enthusiastic about plants was amazing. The power of plants !