Potato Day 2018

Saturday 10th February 2018
An early start as I headed for Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire Self-Sufficiency Group's annual Potato Day.
I've helped out for the last three years, each year at a different venue.
This year's venue was the most grandiose by far.

Generally I just help with the heavy duties, lugging sacks of potatoes and laying them out on the tables. I like to make myself scarce before the general public get let in.

For helping out I get first pick of the seed potatoes. I had already planned which varieties I wanted, completing my final research the night before. Priority has to go to slug resistance and blight resistance, for each of these curses is more than capable of taking out half my crop.
Fortunately there are enough suitable varieties left for us to have a good selection of spuds throughout the year.

The advantage of going to a potato day is that you can buy just a few tubers and try lots of different varieties. You get to pick your tubers too. The best are not the largest. I go for the size of a smallish egg.
The CSSG also have onion and shallot sets for sale as well as a very nice refreshments stand and a seed swap.

On my list this year were:
Earlies
- Arran Pilot (actually already got these, as I like to get some going in the polytunnel early)
- Red Duke of York - I've bought these every year since I first started growing them
Second Earlies - many of my absolute favourites belong in this category. In a bad blight year, they have at least grown for long enough to get a decent crop before it hits. The early growth means they beat the worst of the slug season too.
Charlotte - just perfect!
Kestrel - My third year with these, since Blue Kestrel stopped being available on the day. We are still eating these now and they haven't lost a bit of quality.
Maincrop
Desiree - always a reasonable performer, sometimes exceptional. A tasty mainstay.
Cara - an organic grower's favourite. Very good resistance and tasty.
Valor - grown for the first time last year. An offspring of Cara which did very well with wonderfully firm flesh and a great taste.
Pink Fir Apple - an oddity which does very well in my soil. A really good, earthy taste and keeps amazingly well. We've not even touched last year's crop yet.
Setanta - this year's new variety. One of the very blight-resistant types, but will the taste be good?


I don't get in the car these days without compiling an endless list of things to do while I'm in town. The rest of the day saw me stopping off at a health food shop (not many of those in The Fens) for nut supplies, Wickes for roof felt (sheds and chicken coops need constant repairs), The Water Zoo for pond liner (new pond for the ducks so I can have the wildlife pond back).
Then it was on to Lincoln Road where the ethnic food shops are. Corn Meal and Buttermilk haven't yet made it out of the city and into fenland! Spices, pulses and exotic vegetables are easier to find here too and cheaper. There's some wonderful Turkish bread available too and we always treat ourselves to a loaf when we're in Peterborough. Finally Morrison's for frozen ginger (the only place we know to get it).

After my grand tour, I hunted out the old egg boxes in the sheds. They come out every year and are ideal for chitting potatoes in. This is the process where the seed potatoes are set out, eyes up, in a light and moderately warm place so they gradually start throwing out new shoots. This gives them a head start provided you are careful not to knock off the tender shoots when they are eventually planted. They can't just go in the ground outside as a hard frost would destroy them or at least set them back a long way.

Now all we need is a good year. Not too wet, not too dry, not too humid. No slugs or splitting, no scab, no blight.