After such a terribly wet autumn lots farmers across the country weren’t able to lift their seed potatoes and many fields were left sitting under water. When we finally got round to ordering our seed potatoes, at the beginning of the year, we got a shock with the price dramatically increasing due to a scarcity of seed. Our Maris Piper seed cost us £300 a ton in 2023 and this year the same amount cost £560. Needless to say it is really important we get a good crop of potatoes this year.
After such a terribly wet winter, we were thankful to get on to the land and get our first early potatoes in the ground. Luckily Ardross is on sandy land and in normal years it drains well. Therefore we are able to do things people on heavier land would struggle with. With the land hard from relentless rain it was a hard job, however after a couple of days we managed to get our earliest potatoes in the ground and under fleece. For our first early we chose a heritage variety called Foremost. This is mostly grown for its delicious flavour and ability to stay together when boiled. It’s the first time we’ve grown this variety so we’re excited to see how it does.
We normally harvest our potatoes by hand. It’s back breaking work but for the quantities we need for the shop it doesn’t make sense to bring in a big potato harvester. However, one of the men on the farm remembered that we had an old tattie spinner. A small machine that would fit on the back of our trusty 135 tractor and lift the potatoes in small quantities every day. This has revolutionised the veg teams lives. No longer working for hours in the field to get barely a mornings worth of potatoes, everything is a lot quicker.
We’re delighted with the heritage Foremost potatoes. They are pale white, absolutely delicious and hold their shape when boiling. We would recommend steaming or boiling and then adding butter and mint. Alternatively they make excellent potato salad.
Foremost potatoes are in the shop now. Enjoy!
