Potato Growing 2023

Will you be putting fleece over them.
I may start a few in bags on Saturday, perhaps

 

That sounds a good set up.
Lets hope we all have a good season to enjoy new Pots with Butter.

 

We've got a -3c forecast for Sunday night so I'll wait till next week to put in the potatoes. I'm sure they would be ok with the earth and fleece over them but I can be lazy instead

 

Planted Casablanca First Earlies on St Patricks Day in a frame like contraption
Holding back with remainder of seed potatoes until 1st April

 

Swift going into 30 ltr tubs on Tuesday. Too cold this weekend. Charlottes in April, then early maincrop Marvel.

As compost is rubbish and too expensive now being forced to use only homemade stuff that smells good but is lumpy and twiggy. Hopefully adding bfb and growmore will help get a decent crop.

 

Charlottes and Maris Peer planted a week apart, Charlottes are just starting the move the surface soil.

 

My epicure first earlies are just showing leaves, will have to cover them as we have a couple of potential frosts forecast

 

Casablanca coming on well --

 

The farmers are sowing tatties round here, mostly Roosters for the super markets.

 

Albert Bartlett have huge warehouses round here, I think Brechin is the head quarters locally, the local coastal sandy soil is ideal for tatties, carrots and barley it seems. The hills have a few cattle and sheep. but most of the coastal land round here is crop growing. A few grow organic Swedes under fleece too, there are a few fields where the ground is heavier, they tend to have brassicas and rape seed in them, all grow crops on a rotational cycle, that I copy in my garden, if it works for the professionals.

 

Couldn't save the foliage from last night's frost, at least it had only just broken ground, should recover.

 

If you are able to water lightly with a watering can, most of the foliage should be alright, an allotmenteer told me 40 years ago, he thought the sun was magnified by the ice crystals and that did more damage than the frost it self, now I never did any tests to prove this or otherwise, but it seemed to work.

 

I've heard that but I think it might be a slightly skewed version of where they spray tender crops with water over night to keep off slight late frost .

I have tried the watering can trick but cant really remember if it made much difference.