And under ‘Potatoes’:
Buy certified virus-free Scottish or Irish seed potatoes in late winter and leave to stand in a cool place in seed trays until healthy sprouts appear. Plant in rows about 6″ deep and 12″ – 18″ apart with the sprouts facing upwards. Give them plenty of compost, they really do benefit. As the shoots (or haulms) grow, earth them up or cover with layers of mulch) to increase yield and suppress weed growth. Water heavily during dry periods, although mulches will help to retain soil moisture.
A selection of first early, second early and maincrop varieties will give you harvests from June to October.
Clean, dry and undamaged potatoes can be stored over winter in large brown paper sacks.
In the smaller garden, potatoes can be grown in compost using old tyres as containers. Simply stack on more tyres and add more compost as they grow up.
