Gardening

SPUD Love

WORDS LYNDA HALLINAN | IMAGE EMMA GALLOWAY

Spuds are in my blood – and not just because my farming forebears hailed from the Emerald Isle. I suspect I inherited my passion for growing potatoes from my Waikato grandparents, all four of whom measured the seasonal success of their vegetable gardens in a sack count of homegrown spuds.

According to his farm diaries, my maternal grandfather Albert bedded in Government-certified seed potatoes on the first day of spring every year. That September, planting of waxy Arran Banner or Sutton Supreme would be followed up in November by rows of King Edward, a dependable main crop variety still grown to this day. My paternal grandparents, Percy and Patricia, were too skint to shell out on seed potatoes for their Huntly plot. They simply saved a few of their best spuds from the previous year's crop to replant, cutting the tubers into one-eyed chunks that were dusted with sulphur prior to bedding in. All going to plan, they'd harvest enough spuds to feed seven mouths for 12 months of the year, with the last floury stored potatoes being eaten just as the first new season's potatoes were dug up. Although you can plant sprouted old spuds, it’s preferable to buy seed potatoes from garden centres; you'll get more consistent results without the risk of accidentally infecting your soil with blights and viruses. In frost-free areas, potatoes can be grown year-round, but if Jack Frost is a frequent visitor to your garden, timing is everything. Wait until the risk of late freezes has largely passed, keeping in mind that the plants will take a couple of weeks to raise their heads from the soil, and keep a roll of frost cloth handy, just in case. I grow oodles of my own potatoes, but I'm also not immune to the profligate pleasure of buying boxes of baby potatoes when they're shipped up from Oamaru in early spring. My grandparents would turn in their graves at the prices, but I think new season potatoes, steamed and slathered in butter, are worth every buck. One last hint for spring shoppers: there's a world of difference between “newly dug” and truly “new” potatoes. While the former may have spent the winter biding their time in the soil, awaiting harvest, only the latter have skins as delicate as tissue paper, requiring only a gentle scrub or scrape before they're popped into the pot.

GROW YOUR OWN POTATOES

• Jersey Benne hogs all the publicity but the highest-yielding – and fastest – early varieties for this region are Rocket (round, white flesh) and Swift (oval, golden flesh). Both varieties mature within 70–90 days and are perfect for smaller gardens, as they only require spacing 40–50cm apart (half that of Agria). • For early crops, always mound up, rather than digging down. Burying seed potatoes in deep, cold trenches slows their sprouting and leaves them vulnerable to rotting in wet conditions. • To prepare planting beds, create long mounds about 20cm high, then poke the seed potatoes in half-way up the mounds. This simple trick knocks about a month off their growing time. Add a thick layer of mulch once they're growing well to prevent any shallow tubers turning green. • Potatoes can be grown in tubs or planter bags but expect a lower yield. Water regularly and feed with liquid compost. • As a general rule, spuds are ready to dig once the plants start flowering, but Rocket and Swift don't flower, so make a note of when you planted them so you know when to dig them up. The leafy tops will yellow off naturally when they're ready to harvest.

Lynda Hallinan

Waikato born-and-raised gardening journalist Lynda Hallinan lives a mostly self-sufficient life at Foggydale Farm in the Hunua Ranges, where she grows enough food to satisfy her family, free-range chooks, kunekune pig and thieving pukekos. She has an expansive organic vegetable garden and orchards and is a madkeen pickler and preserver.

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