Red, white and blue: how heritage potatoes come in colours
Piece in today’s Guardian in praise of heritage potatoes. We have long been fans of growing more interesting seed varieties and have had some success with Red Duke of York and Roseval among others. But this year’s trip to the London Potato Fair, where we had planned to ruthlessly buy only first earlies to head off blight was undone by the beauty and colour of some of the potatoes featured in today’s article.
I am not sure whether it was the name or the colours (red, white and blue!) that first attracted me to Mr Little’s Yetholm Gypsy, but almost before I knew it, the first earlies I had carefully collected were back in their bins, though I held on to the Arran Pilot to be replaced by the more romantic – and less practical – Highland Burgundy, Skerry Blue, and Bluebell among others.
Although these varieties are slower to mature and give smaller yields, seems to me that if I want quicker spuds I can still buy them in the market but heritage types hold an allure that quicker styles lack. Hope I still think so later in the year and that the rats and the blight leave them alone…
But what potatoes are you going for this year?
