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GROW YOUR OWN: Choose from the startling selection of potatoes available and enjoy their fantastic flavours
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The humble potato can be a tasty treat

By James Ashford
January 26, 2010

If ever there was a vegetable which was taken for granted it is the humble spud.

They say that familiarity breeds contempt and all too often we don’t give our potatoes a second thought.

We pick up a bag of ‘white’ potatoes or ‘baking’ potatoes or ‘new’ potatoes in the supermarket without even checking to see which variety they are.

And it is a terrible shame because a really good potato is a wonderful treat.

Supermarkets want profit and they want reliability so they stock the spuds which can be picked by machines.

They stock the spuds which travel well and which store. They don’t very often stock the ones which taste like manna from heaven.

At Go Organic we want everyone to try growing their own veg this year, even if it is just a window box of herbs.

If you are lucky enough to have a bit of garden, even if it is just a patio then you can have a go at growing your own potatoes.

Potatoes are simple enough to grow organically. All they need is good soil, water and sunlight.

The secret to growing the really tasty ones is choosing the right variety.

This is a good time of year to buy your seed potatoes. The better garden centres will be stocking them around now and many now sell them on a kind of pick and mix arrangement so you can try growing just a few.

They tend to be classified by their harvest time – earlies, second earlies, main crop and so on – but if you are new to growing then start with one or two salad varieties. These are often the tastiest spuds and are also easy to grow.

If you really want to be adventurous (and you’ve got the space) you can try growing a whole range of potatoes to see you right through the year.

The Victorians were masters of this and many of our finest spuds were developed by their patient work.

Next Sunday is Potato Day at Ryton Organic Gardens near Coventry which will have more than one hundred different varieties on sale.

Visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk or call 024 7630 8202 for details.

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Igrow my own earlies [new potatoes] and they are the best spuds better than jersey royals. The really small ones i save and put them in the compost heap so i can have new potatoes on xmas day. I never buy washed potatoes as they dont taste very nice. I always buy 4 stone bags of mucky spuds as they always taste better [roast,chips,boiled and jacket] and workout cheaper.I do not buy seeds i save my small mucky spuds for earlies Mrs D