[JohnB47]

Is it just my imagination or are my Picasso spuds really not falling apart like they did when I first started cooking them?

Initially I had to boil them really gently and keep a constant eye for when they were just done. Now it doesn't seem to be a big problem.

[DD.]

I reckon you're right there, John.

[JayG]

I don't grow spuds for storing (I am presuming John is referring to stored spuds) but I've certainly found that new potatoes (Charlotte in particular) are far less likely to break up when very new than when harvested later.

I would imagine that stored spuds will have lost some of their water content and therefore be less fragile when boiled (?  )

[Trillium]

Spuds become more starchy/floury with age and therefore need progressively more cooking time. Unlike new spuds which are quite watery and quick to cook.

[JohnB47]

Thanks for the comments folks.

JayG - so you don't store any spuds? You just grow a few, eat em up and then buy from the shops? Just interested why - no storage room maybe?

[arugula]

Or maybe not enough growing space? Its why I have to buy for some of the year.

[Kristen]

I'm in two minds about growing Main Crop for storage.

Mine are all sprouting like billy-oh and are already a bit soft when I try to peel them (definitely not frost damage, but they have been keep cold, so should not be sprouting).  It must be me as last year the stored Pink Fir Apples sprouted massively, this year they are OK and its the King Edwards that are sprouting

Also, its cheap to buy large sacks of spuds from the farm shop - I don't think they taste any different to the ones that I grow & store, and they are in better shape as the farm has proper cool-storage for them.

Can't beat a new potato for flavour though (I've read that storing them for a few days improves flavour - worth doing if initial tasting of freshly lifted new potatoes is disappointing)

[JayG]

JayG - so you don't store any spuds? You just grow a few, eat em up and then buy from the shops? Just interested why - no storage room maybe?

Lack of growing space, lack of storage space (especially now we seem to be getting "real" winters again  ), but never forgetting the thought that very new early potatoes are a delicacy too good to miss! 
 
I also have to contend with eelworm on my main growing area so finding a maincrop variety which is both eelworm and blight resistant is just a bit too much for my poor little brain! 

[JohnB47]

JayG - so you don't store any spuds? You just grow a few, eat em up and then buy from the shops? Just interested why - no storage room maybe?

Lack of growing space, lack of storage space (especially now we seem to be getting "real" winters again  ), but never forgetting the thought that very new early potatoes are a delicacy too good to miss! 
 
I also have to contend with eelworm on my main growing area so finding a maincrop variety which is both eelworm and blight resistant is just a bit too much for my poor little brain! 

OK, Fair enough.

Actually I grew too many spuds last year - I was late starting the previous year so I went a bit overboard in my first full year. My King Edwards are sprouting now but the Picasso are still OK. Will grow slightly more earlies this year but must cut down on the mains.

[Kristen]

Will grow slightly more earlies this year but must cut down on the mains.

My suggestion would be to grow Earlies using successional planting.  That way you have two batches, two weeks apart say, or three batches if you like, so you can be harvesting "new potatoes" over a longer period.

The other thing I want to do this year is to plant the Pink Fir Apple really early ... they need a long growing season, and I like them fresh, more than I do "stored" (although they taste like new potatoes even from storage), but if they don't mature until the end of August most of the "friends are coming round, anything in the veg patch?" opportunity is lost.

Just looking at JBA's site on Pink Fir Apple it says "A top tip for growing Pink Fir Apple or any other late maincrop is to buy these potatoes early in the year and put them into some small pots with some good general purpose compost. This will allow the late maincrops to get off to a flying start and then you can simply transplant them outside later on."

I need to try that (I wonder what sort of pots Iain means - maybe it is those poly bags he often talks about ...)

[TheSpartacat]

I also have to contend with eelworm on my main growing area so finding a maincrop variety which is both eelworm and blight resistant is just a bit too much for my poor little brain! 

I've read that Pomeroy is blight and eelworm resistent (as well as scab)- and its a maincrop?

There's something on Alan Romans site called Foil-sis that claims to trick eelworm into hatching- and when they do there's nothing for them to feed on, so they die...
Has anyone tried it?

It means skipping growing potatoes for a year I believe, and growing it instead?

[JohnB47]

Quote from Kristen:

My suggestion would be to grow Earlies using successional planting.  That way you have two batches, two weeks apart say, or three batches if you like, so you can be harvesting "new potatoes" over a longer period.

Thanks. That sound a really good idea.

Combine that with the fact that spuds like Kestrel store in the ground quite well and I think you're onto something there.