Harvesting of my very first potato crop in the walled garden began in mid June with the first of the first-earlies, and ended with the last maincrops in late september/early october. Most varieties had a good yield, and while blight was limited in many cases, it was ultimately inevitable for some, especially given the wet August conditions and the notoriety of its presence in this area.
Oddly enough, the variety that was most susceptible to blight was the famously “blight resistant” Sarpo Mira, whereas the most resistant were Maris Piper (growing immediately next to Sarpo Mira) and Blue Anneliese (also growing next to Sarpo Mira!). Java maincrop (a hybrid between Sarpo Mira and Valor) also did well, and will probably be the only red skinned variety that I’ll grow next year.
Of the first and second earlies, I was initially suspicious of Rocket, as leaves seemed to exhibit blotches reminiscent of early blight, but blight never seemed to take hold, and the crop was ultimately healthy. A few blotches appeared on other varieties, but ultimately didn’t amount to much, partly because of being overly vigilant and cutting away anything that looked remotely diseased away as soon as possible. Hence kestrel also did well, but was perhaps not quite my favourite to eat. Casablanca was far tastier, and seemed familiar in its flavour, possibly because it’s such a commonly used variety for new potatoes around Britain. My smallest yield was probably with Bambino, which was a tasty second early that I had over zealously divided the seed potatoes of, giving me only a few viable plants. Pink Fir Apple was a generally very successful and tasty variety, but which started to succumb to blight at the very end, but still provided a decent crop, able to produce decent yields starting early and ending late. Sarpo Axona was another variety limited in quantity, which seemed to behave similarly to Sarpo Mira, though perhaps not quite as blight prone.
My favourite? Probably has to be Blue Anneliese (pictured above), due to its beautiful colour both before and after cooking, as well as its blight resistance, and slightly unusual flavour, possibly due to the extra antioxidants linked to its colour. Rocket, which is seen by some as flavourless, works very well with lots of herbs and olive oil/garlic. Bambino and Casablanca are my favourites for early potatoes with instant flavour. Pink Fir Apple, as mentioned previously, both look and taste delicious. But a shout-out must go to the classic Maris Piper, which is just a great all rounder. And Java seemed to also taste better than the other Sarpo variants. So I’ll probably continue with these next year, whilst replacing the others with different varieties.
I shall also have to change the location of growing potatoes to help limit the build-up of blight. So some rotation will occur, using other veg beds, and some brand new areas up on “tattie mountain” in the rough ground area of the garden. In terms of techniques, I’m happy with everything tried – planted in the ground, planted above cardboard in no-dig beds, planted under plastic sheets with holes, planted in containers, and even planted in the ground within the polytunnel, which produced the most gargantuan sized plants of all.
The Bamff Walled Garden. 