[ranat22]

just been talking to the woman who runs the local allotment society..they have jersey royals for the first time....anyone got any tips or hints about growing them?..£3.20 for half a stone.....i would like to know about crop...potatoe size and if the plant has a high yield....thanx....ray

[DD.]

Have a look at this recent thread and it's links.

The Jersey Royal is only truly grown in Jersey.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=88401.0

[ranat22]

cheers for that........i think i'll stick to my charlottes...was looking to try something else this year as i lost a lot of my earlies last year.....my charlottes had been eaten by slugs or summit...loads of holes in them 

[DD.]

They may have International Kidney, but they should not be selling them as Jersey Royals.

Charlotte is a wise choice!

[Salmo]

International kidney is also a good choice.

Probably the potatoes  grown in Jersey are not actually Jersey Royals until they are lifted. I wonder where the seed is grown? Jersey will not be aphid and virus free so my guess is they are grown in Scotland. Some go to back to Jersey to produce Jersey Royals but most end up in our allotments as International Kidney.

Note I say probably. Does anyone know the truth.

[DD.]

A lot of people on the forum have grown I.K. and been disappointed.

I grew them once and once only, but tastes do vary.

[JayG]

I thought Jersey Royals were nothing more than the variety Internation Kidney grown in Jersey, one of the reasons for their popularity being that they arrive considerably earlier than most other new potatoes, and the characteristic flavour which comes from the practice of using vraic (seaweed) to fertilise the soil.

Might be a bit heretical to say it but I don't think that Jersey's always taste as good as they used to - could it be that the vraic tradition isn't as widespread as it used to be? 

[DD.]

This should explain some of the loss of taste, it's not just the vraic, but where & how the spuds are now grown:

http://www.slowfood.org.uk/traditionally-grown-jersey-royal-potatoes

And if the ones coming from Jersey are losing their flavour, we don't stand much chance growing tasty ones here!