A mixed potato year here too. Maris Bard in potato bags were excellent.
Kestrel, a smaller number than usual, but they were all huge.
Sarpo Blue Danube were very disappointing compared with previous years. Smaller, badly affected by scab (dry weather I think) and a few slugged.
Ratte, which I have never grown before were a big surprise. The foliage didn't grow very tall and succumbed to blight in the end. I whipped the tops off pronto and waited a couple of weeks before harvesting. An amazing crop of very lovely potatoes.
My Pink Fir Apple, this year from Mr Fothergills grew much more this year like Ratte as I said above. Not quite as pink as they have been in the past.
Do find also that the foliage is the first to die down and it did grow as tall as all the other maincrop foliage. The leaves run out of flowering and steam mid August, compared to early September for my other maincrop. Except Sarpo Mira that never dies down.
I always cut down my foliage when it is just starting to die and leave the crop for a few weeks to a month or so before picking the maincrop. I leave my Sarpo Mira till last and pick when the foliage is still very green, will be next week or so I expect. The bags are bulging with tohse enormous potatoes they produce, so are ready.
I do not store my Pink fir apple, like I do for all the other maincrop. Just get my hands in and pull out a good few handfuls a few times a week for a meal from mid August and will be doing so for the rest of September I expect.
Shame about your Blue Danube. I've only grown them the last four years but found them to be a fairly consistent size maincrop and a tasty one too, with only a couple of smaller sized ones per bag.
Only thing though, have found they do not store as well as a lot of other maincrops and do start to go soft with a slight sprout around March after the Autumn picking, whereas all my other maincrop of Sarpo, Desiree, Mozart and in the past Rooster have all stored well into early Summer. Just in time for eating the first and second earlies instead
I've just started to store my potatoes for this year and did the Blue Danube yesterday. Had four bags, two bags had 17lb and 18lb and the other two were 20lb. So a good crop as ever and all mostly a good similar size.
I also grew Stemster this year, once again from Mr fothergills. It is exactly like a Desiree and be honest not sure I could tell them part. Very consistent in size too.
I picked and stored them too over the weekend and each of my four bags produced 17lb per bag.
Took a pic of a few Stemster from my store this morning that I shall be using this week and cut it open to show the inside. Not sure whether to go back to Desiree or use the Stemster next year. Will probably return to my garden centre supplier, so expect Stemster will not be there.
Also in pic some Pink fir apple I just scraped up from within a bag. Always laugh at their shapes.