Apache potatoes

 

This was originally entered in January 2013.

 

We harvested these Apache variety 2nd early potatoes today, 17th January. They survived frosts and rain. They were sown last September for use at Christmas, and would have been used had events not disrupted our plans. Firstly there was a delay re-fuelling the jet at Nassau as so many people had to wait, and even when re-fuelled we had to wait for take off clearance as "celebrities" took precedence so they could take off for their Christmas holidays in other parts of the Caribbean. Secondly, the engineers failed to fix the central heating in our chalet in Chamonix. And every time we went out more "celebrities" were doing their best to be noticed.

 

When we returned to London we put the jet on the stand and headed to the exit only to wait in a queue with yet another group of "celebrities". Then, when we managed to get to a restaurant, you've guessed it, more "celebrities" being noticed by each other and paparazzi outside.

 

But what of the potatoes?  They were bred by hobbyist Mrs Doig as a main crop, in Scotland, in 2010. They loose colour when cooked but have a good aroma. And though reported to have poor resistance to pests and disease we did not experience any. They look good when brought into the kitchen and make an excellent topic for conversation.

Potato . . . varieties Elizabeth and Red Robin

 

The variety Elisabeth

The variety Red Robin

 

 

The variety Elisabeth, spelt with an S and not a Z, is a salad potato developed in Holland in 2004. It is a second early. It is heralded as a large cropper but we did not find this to be so. Notice the green one on the right of the plate. Elisabeth are prone to greening if not fully earthed up.

Red Robin, if you can obtain the seed, had good flavour but, as one can see, were susceptible to a great variation in size. It is not grown commercially. I am certain that some growers would achieve a consistency in size.

Not shown here is a variety called Heather, the seed of which is exceedingly difficult to find and it is not grown commercially. We found it to be a bad cropper, not wonderful in flavour, and, indeed, not worth growing. However, if you can obtain the seed and have space, and like a challenge, it is worth giving it a go, for it may make you appreciate fully other varieties.


 

Next month, January, gardeners will be deciding which potatoes to grow and visiting potato fairs up and down the country. These are two further varieties that we have grown and that have a distinct difference in size.  It may be that they were subjected to too much sun and insufficient water. And though both were of good flavour, it is unlikely that we will choose to grow them again. I believe that our failure with them should not deter from others from growing them.
 

December, and the last of our greenhouse tomatoes.

 

 

Nearly the middle of December and these are the last of our greenhouse tomatoes.

 

The olives grew to a good size but fell well before they should have been picked. Thankfully we did not have the problems with worm etc.. that harmed the Toscana crop.

Casablanca - Potatoes

Casablanca Potatoes

 

 

This is the first time we have grown this variety which was developed in Scotland in 2009.  It is a first early that we planted in April and harvested 23 September. Yield, in weight terms was just over 3lb per plant. What do they taste like? We will try them firstly as gnocchi which is  challenging.

 

If you grow any of the varieties mentioned in this record you may be considerably more successful than us.  

 

This has been an exceptionally good year for us. We had so many Victoria plums that we bottled, jammed and froze leaving many to decay on the tree. Broad beans and peas were plentiful, however, the French climbing beans we not so good. Rhubarb, herbs, and onions have been excellent. We have been picking raspberries almost daily since June.

 

Accent Potatoes

 

These are Accent potatoes. They are properly known as First Early but we let them grow, harversting them in mid August.  The yield has been good. This variety is resistant to drought, scab and sprang. they make good potatoes for  mashing, boiling, shipping and roast.

 

Wilson writes that they have poor resistance to tuber blight and blackleg and this has reduced it popularity.  For us, it had been a success.

 

We have had them roasted, with pan fried duck,  plum sauce made with an abundant supply of Victoria plums, and French beans.

 

Red Duke of York . . .

 

These are some our first Red Duke of York potatoes of this season. They are First Earlies and not to be confused with the white Duke of York. Best for roasting, however, we are having them sautéed to accompany an Arabian scrag end of mutton dish. For the first course we will have mussels.

Piccolo, the potato

A face?

A face?

 

 

It is too easy to think that Matisse and Picasso paintings, among others, as discovered in Munich, are the only thing that matters in the art world. And it is great fun to consider who these paintings had belonged to, and query the claims of ownership made by some. I have written elsewhere about the Jew who stitched diamonds into the seams of his clothes and used them to pay for his escape from the Nazis. He was pleased to tell me that when he arrived in the safe haven of . . . no-one wanted buy his diamonds for the price he was asking, so he was effectively  penniless and unable to start the good life he had dreamt of. He told me about individuals who had paid for the right to escape with paintings and antiques, he also knew of others, Christians, who, during the 1930's pawned paintings, due to the high inflation that raged through Germany at the time.

 

This variety potato did not exist during the war, but would have been welcome in the Warsaw ghetto for example, however deformed they appear. They are the variety Piccolo Star, a second early, that was introduced in 2010, though Alan Wilson writes that it was 2008.They are best used as salad and boiling potatoes.  Their parentage is Ausonia x VE74120,  (they have Wilja in them) and they are resistant to Blackleg.

 

We grew them in good loam, believing the marketing data that they were of high yield and even size.

We have found that the yield is high but the size is anything but even. Perhaps we would have had more evenness in size had we grown them in Holland where they were originally raised. Even Mr Wilson writes that they have a consistent round shape.

 

Second earlie's harvested in November and they look fun!

 

Picasso was an artist and is now a potato, so next year we may try them. They were developed in Holland as an early main-crop in 1992. Perhaps in the future someone will develop a Henri Matisse, or  van Gogh variety to accompany the Rembrandt that we may try next season.