First Spuds Lifted

This year we planted 3 seed potatoes in a potato barrel in the greenhouse on the 4th April. This was an attempt to get an earlier crop. Today we harvested to see if our experiment had worked. The potato barrel contained 1kg of new potatoes. Not a huge crop. Last year we had double the weight from the same barrel. Many variables different here though - different variety (arran pilot versus red duke of york), probably much less water (obviously there is no rain in the greenhouse!)and I used 3 seed potatoes rather than 5. Worth it for the earlier crop though in my opinion. These were harvested 3 weeks earlier than last years efforts. We have another potato barrel that should be ready in a few weeks. The first of the allotment grown spuds should be ready starting mid-june and from then they should be coming thick and thin.

May Bank Holiday Update

A mixture of warm sunshine and heavy rain has created the ideal conditions for fast and healthy growth at Lottie Plot Four. Over the last few days we have started to plant out bedding plants and annual veg plants that we have been growing from seed in the greenhouse. Yesterday we planted out 40 sweetcorn plants in a block. Sweetcorn must be planted in this pattern to allow for pollentation by wind. The potatoes are doing well and the first earlies are just starting to flower. Hopefully this is a sign that it will not be long before we are eating tasty new potatoes.