Kitchen Garden Forum

For several years now, one of my favourite potatoes to grow has been Charlotte.

The thing is, all the info on this second early variety seems to suggest that, while it continues to grow well if not harvested at the 'new' stage, it will not keep more than a month or so after harvesting.
I find this strange, because over those years I have deliberately been growing many of them to maturity and storing for winter use with no storage problems whatsoever (beyond the tendency to sprout quickly if the weather is still warm, but many maincrop varieties do that!)

Am I the only person who does this, and have I been 'lucky' that they have stored well, or is the info basically wrong?

I regularly keep them until Christmas but if I have a good crop they sprout too much after that. I don't understand growing 'late' early varieties for Christmas when you can have Charlotte.

We've eaten all ours...…………………..

Charlotte potatoes will keep for many months as a mature spud. Whoever tells you different is just trying to sell you another bag of spuds. It is true that they will start sprout just after Christmas; but if you keep on top of that by rubbing the sprouts off regularly they will keep in good condition until Late February to early March. As a mature spud they make the most fantastic roasters and I always grow more than I can use as a "new/salad" potato just so I can have them as roasters. Those and my sausage stuffing balls are the only two things that make Christmas dinner endurable. They are very good for rostii and bubble and squeak as well. Useless for mashing.
I even try to make sure they grow larger on the rows that I know I will be keeping; I do this by rubbing off most of the sprouts except 2-3 when planting and planting at about a foot apart in the row.
Gosh I'm drooling now.
Regards Sally Wright.

I'm glad it's not just me then who likes to keep them for things like rosti.
It's a shame more people don't realize how versatile they are, as they are missing a treat.