Planting Potatos

Need to know the best time to plant?

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Juliet
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Having returned to the world of full time employment in Feb I am finding it tough balancing work/ home/kids/and my much loved allotment. I know..welcome to the real world Juliet. Yesterday I finally got round to getting my Pink fur apples into the ground..nicely chitted, not all leggy. The question is have I been wasting my time planting them this late or is there still a bit of hope for a worth while harvest?
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oldherbaceous
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Hello Juliet, Pink Fir Apple potatoes need about one of the longest growing seasons of all poatoes. But so saying that if you give them some tender loving care, and we don't get an early frost, or they don't get the blight, you still might get a decent crop.
Try and earth them up when they are about six inches high, and this will help the potatoes form.
And give them a good drink now and again, but not over the leaves as this will encourage the blight.
It's all down to you now, so let us know later on in the year how you faired.
What a lovely name by the way. :D

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Weed
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I was given about ten black Russian potatoes :roll: to try ...I put them in about three weeks ago...with the weather as it is and giving them a drink each evening they are doing fine

Can't wait to try them
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Hi Juliet, it seems to me that you are in line for a lovely crop of Christmas new potatoes. My reading leads me to suggest covering the earthed-up plants with straw as the frosts approach, but I suspect they will be ready by the beginning of December, before such frost becomnes serious.

Good luck

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arthur e
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Well Juliet if my experiment with Pink Fir apple for the first time is anything to go by and if yours has turned out like mine then I would say that it was a complete waste of time . I am thinking of entering my "apples" in the ugly veg hall of fame. they look as if they are aliens from the planet Nobblysods and are impossible to clean and peal, How anyone could produce a product so useless for the potato loving gardener is beyond me.
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sprout
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Oh arthur, that made me laugh so much - the first PFA I dug up was exactly like you described! Growing for the first time this year, so I've left the rest in the ground and hoping that they fatten up, straighten out and slim down into something more like a potato! The taste was wonderful - I'd just like to get more of it per spud. Good luck juliet :wink:
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Chantal
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Arthur, I don't peel my Pink Fir Apples, just eat them as soon as I can when they're out of the ground and give them a once over with the nail brush. Even if they are older potatoes they're a lot easier to peel once cooked. :lol:
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vivie veg
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Has anybody tried Anya instead of PFA?

I have grown them for the first time this year and due to Rotavator breakdown they did not go into the ground until first week of June, so I have left them until yesturday before having a look at them. I lifted out 3 potatoes about 4 inches long by 3/4 inch wide, slightly pink skinned and tasted yummy after a minute in the microwave. I left the skin on, just scubbed with a nail brush. I'll have to lift more this weekend.

Anyas (if my memory is correct) are a cross between PFA and Desiree, so they come out a little larger and not so nobbly.
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Chantal
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I've not tried them but they sound good for next season. :D
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Juliet
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Thanks for all your comments. I bought PFA last year at the farmers market and inspite of the obvious design flaws the flavour was wonderful. I thought I would give them a go - and I am looking forward to them although I may save them for boxing day - too much messing about Christmas day! This is of course pre-supposing there is something happening under all that greenary!
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Chantal
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If you dig them up and there's some small ones, scrub them and then deep fry them as really lush chips. :D
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oldherbaceous
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Juliet don't forget, let them keep growing as long as you can, this could be right into late October, as long as they don't get blight, as these are a very late maincrop variety.
Hope you get a good crop. :wink:

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

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Johnboy
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Hi Juliet,
What I think is basically wrong with PFA is nothing to do with the peeling but it is classified as a 'Salad Variety' when they, as OH says, mature very late outside the main salad season so in order to eat them with your salad you are dealing with very small specimens. Certainly they are almost impossible to peel but Chantal has the perfect answer and if steamed the skins almost fall off.
If they are left to mature they seem to lose some of their wonderful flavour but may well be easier to manage. So really it appears that you have got the choice of using them as a salad variety 'knobs and all' or having them more manageable outside the main salad season and less flavoursome.
For myself I'll put up with the knobbly bits and eat the skins and all. The older man needs the roughage!!
JB.
Juliet
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I am a skins and all kind of person too! and fully prepared to eat salads all year round... out with the sprouter in winter! I am not sure how much longer I can resit digging up one of the PFA to see if there are any tiddlers to eat yet.
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Deb P
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I got a reasonable pot full of Anya the other week, scrubbed them and halved the lot , sprinkled with olive oil, salt pepper and crushed corriander seeds, and roasted in the oven- rather scrumptious! PFA are still in their pot, lush foliage, so I'm leaving them longer;hope this is the right thing to do!?
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