One for spud gurus Iain et al

Hi Iain,

You seem to be the spud guru around here so I'd like your opinion on varieties.

I only plant first earlies on my small patch so I can get them out of the ground and use the space for my leeks in July. I'm actually not a fan of 'new potatoes' and much prefer do dig them up and store them for a few days before I eat them (so that they develop a bit more of a 'starchy' flavour/texture) . I'm also happy to let them sit in the ground for a little longer and have a larger, more mature spud (although it's important that I can start cropping in time for my early June birthday), and am keen to have something that will store for a few weeks/couple of months after harvest.

Last year I grew Presto, Allians, and Rocket on well manured, fertilized, clay soil with improved drainage. Didn't really like the slightly watery texture/white flesh of the Rocket so have struck that off my list for this year. Much preferred the Presto and Allians (not much to choose between them in terms of flavour), with Presto giving slightly better yields and larger tubers.

Your views as to what you would you plant if you were in my position are kindly sought.

I've put this on the forum rather than PM because I'm sure that there'll be quite a number of opinions (and disbelief that I'm not a fan of new potatoes).

Regards,

SS

One of my favourites would be Dunluce which produce large early crops of tasty potatoes. You can lift them early or leave them to grow as they seem to have good resistance to splitting. Dunluce is a first early.
Have you ever tried Epicure? They are also called Ayrshires and are a very popular early potato that you eat without peeling. They have a good frost resistance so you could plant them early and let them grow large before harvesting.
Charlotte are a very early second early and they have a waxy texture which you might like.
The choice at the end of the day is yours but if I was doing what you want to do then these are the tatties I would use.

I don't believe it!

What? 

I just love the starchy 'mealy-ness' of the non-sweet alternatives. I'm not saying that I don't like really 'new' new potatoes, it's just that I don't see what all of the fuss is about.

Maybe we've got similar tastes (apart from the peas of course)!  I'm not bowled over by new potatoes either, but some second earlies, nutty (Anya?) and for 'mealy, nutty' the new Mayans (Mayan Twilight) eaten younger than should be and Vitelotte from the Andes in full maturity might cut it.  Perhaps Latin America is the place to look for you.
I dislike sweet sweetcorn, but I can't find a reliable starchy one.  Do you know of one that does well here?

I don't like potatos at all!