Choose the right potato variety for your garden and table.
When Alan Romans was asked to write an article on potato varieties for the HDRA News (now known as The Organic Way) in winter 1995, he found the task rather difficult - read on to find out why.
After a pleasant hour or two discussing the certified seed potato varieties for Garden Organic's annual potato event in February, Pauline Pears spoiled my day by suggesting (strongly) that it would be a good idea for me to write a balanced, considered article on 'potato varieties' for this newsletter - it must be a slow month. I panicked. The subject is a minefield - opinions for and against different varieties are so strong. Soil conditions, weather, inherent disease susceptibility, etc., etc., can humble even the classic greats. While a dry summer and good organic muck can make even the insipid, tolerable.
The cliché is to say that you should try lots of different varieties to see which suit your conditions and tastes. The truth is that most of us have favourites based on regional prejudices and varieties commonly available when we first started gardening!
A self-sufficient choice
Potatoes come in a huge variety
Anyway here goes. I like Edzell Blue, Golden Wonder, Shetland Black, Belle de Fonteny and Pink Fir Apple. A weird choice according to the dictate which says that people are either floury or waxy in their potato choices, because the first three are ultra floury while the last two are the waxiest around. I also like to be self-sufficient. The effects of eelworm, blight, viral diseases and scab, combined with relatively low yields prevents growing anything but token amounts of these potato greats for special treats. Eelworm resisters from the 1960's with reasonable flavour, Pentland Javlin (early) and Maris Piper (early maincrop), have been the compromise. Pentland Lustre and Antar would be preferred, but tumbling foliage have made these unpopular commercially - therefore they are unavailable. Aminca, Ausonia, Mondial, Morene, Nadine, Navan, Penta, Sante and Stemster are all high yielding modern eelworm resisters which are becoming increasingly available.
Most have mildly pleasant flavours, which is more than can be said for bland Cara and Kingston - the super-yields of the eelworm immune group. I have become very fond of the dry taste of Saturna, an eelworm immune Dutch second early, rescued temporarily (?) by Britain's biggest crisp manufacturer to supply their needs in July, when Record (the top crisper) cannot be persuaded to stay in good condition even in cool storage.
Life without eelworm
If eelworm is not a consideration, life is easier. For earlies choose from Epicure, Duke of York, (the red version is increasingly available), Sharpe's Express, Arran Pilot and Foremost. Avoid Home Guard, Maris Bard or Rocket (unless you know better!) The latter two are incredibly early, but when considering their flavour, the comments of a vegetable grower friend of mine springs to mind. He sums up his job as the production of flavoured water - but in this case only the water part is relevant.
Potatoes in a pot
Second earlies are a good organic strategy because they produce reasonable yields but are usually finished before blight has time to devastate. Maris Peer is pretty and the tubers are pleasant and strongly resist disintegration during cooking. My prejudices are against Wilja and Estima, but some people love them - they certainly give decent yields. Look out for British Queen, Dunbar Rover, Edzell Blue and Catriona for a taste of the past. Like Catriona, modern Kestrel has bonny blue eyes and I keep hearing good things about it.
Maincrops offer an enormous choice. I like Maris Piper but must look for an alternative. Common and powdery scab, plus the discerning keeled slug are making life too hard. Desiree and Romano are decent reds but I find them tiresome after a while. Record was one of Lawrence Hill's favourites, but is low yielding by modern standards, compensated in part by its high food value/dry matter. The main-crop Pentlands (Dell, Squire and Hawk anyway) are honest producers of reasonable big white spuds. Avalanche has surprised me - high yielding and suitable for pre-packs - should be awful but is very tasty.
Late maincrops are often worth waiting for. e.g. Golden Wonder, Kerr's Pink and Arran Victory (blue skins), but cannot be relied upon - they can run out of time or be hit by blight in a poor year. The salad potatoes which resist disintegration are all very good to eat. Belle de Fonteny, BF15, Ratte (Asparages), Charlotte and Nicola are all excellent examples of this category.
Potato breeders have always worked to improve yield, appearance and disease resistance. Sometimes they are rarely concerned with flavour. Drayton was an exception to the rule and it has disappeared. Examples of poor flavour have always occurred. Lumpers (1800), Russet Burbank (1875), Majestic (1911), Pentland Crown (1800) and Kingston (1981) are all potatoes I have tried recently tried which make the point!
King Edward, Record (1925), Maris Piper (1963) and Avalanche (1989) perhaps show that all is not lost.
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