Weed-stifling potatoes are great for beginners
Home-grown potatoes are one of my favourite allotment crops. In the 18th century, they were embraced as a cheap, easy to grow, nutritious food crop. Today they are the third most important human food crop in the world. There was a time when varieties were limited. Today hundreds of different varieties are available, ranging from tasty first earlies such as Rocket through main crop ones to that knobbly favourite of mine, the Pink Fir Apple. Different ones thrive in different parts of the country. Drought used to be the main enemy of a successful potato crop but these days it is damp Scottish summers that can wreck the crop when potato blight takes a hold.
Most plotholders start off their potatoes by setting them in trays to begin sprouting. According to potato expert Alan Romans this process, known as chitting, is not essential. He reckons that soil temperature at planting time can make more of a difference than chitting to the eventual success of the crop. If the soil still feels cold when I want to plant them, I warm it up with a layer of horticultural fleece or black polythene for a few days beforehand. Later on, I keep the fleece handy to fling over the emerging shoots as a touch of late frost can cause a setback.
Potatoes are the ideal crop for a newcomer to an allotment. For someone taking on an overgrown plot, it is depressing to watch weeds re-emerging on freshly-cleared ground. It’s better by far to buy a bit of extra time by planting some potatoes in each vacant piece of ground. Within weeks the foliage will have grown enough to begin stifling weeds.
Some allotments have communal plots for use by schools. I recommend potatoes as an ideal crop. There is something magical about planting one potato and, within ten to 12 weeks, digging up enough fully grown tubers for several meals. Gardening with school groups is often fraught with difficulty if the chosen vegetables are ones which need attention during the school summer holidays. It can be depressing for everyone to return after the break to a forest of weeds and neglected crops. Potatoes have the great advantage that if they are planted at the beginning of the summer term, it’s possible for the children to have all the excitement of digging them up before the end of that same term.
Drought used to be the main enemy of a successful potato crop but these days it is damp Scottish summers that can wreck the crop