Food Link Newsletter October 2011
Food Link will be holding its fifth annual “Tattie Fest” on Saturday 12th November at Durness Village Hall. The event started in Durness in 2006 and was initially held to help Food Link producers sell their potato harvest. It was so successful and enjoyable that it became an annual event which was held in Lochinver in 2007, Scourie 2008 and
Kinlochbervie 2009. Last years had to be cancelled but this year it has returned full circle and is back in Durness.
The event is from 12-3pm and this year we will be charging a small entrance fee of £1 adults, 50p children to cover
costs, this will include a lucky prize draw ticket. The Food Link stall will be selling a variety of potatoes, seasonal
vegetables, chutneys and jams. There will be information displays on the many different varieties of potatoes available, music from our house band ‘the spudettes’, children’s activities including Spud Gun Alley and Splatty the Tattie.
The Food Link Café will be open for a Tattie based lunch.
What potato to grow?
There are around 500 varieties of potatoes available to the gardener to grow. Finding all of them would be a bit
of a task but the selections easily available will probably be more than you need anyway.
Why all this choice of potatoes?
One good reason, apart from growing habits and disease resistance, is taste. Different potatoes taste differently. The supermarkets may offer you a choice beyond the simple ‘White or Red’ nowadays but the home grower has a range
of flavours far beyond that available in the shops. The taste of the potato is not just a product of the variety; the type of soil and growing conditions will have an effect. I may enjoy one variety but it can taste quite different when grown on your soil. Because of the water content and flesh structure, different potatoes cook differently. Some fry well, making great chips (or crisps – Golden Wonder is a potato variety), some boil well and some mash well. Waxy potatoes are
better for salads than floury potatoes.
The tables below should give you some help on what to grow for what purpose. I have not covered all the varieties available but I think I've got the main ones that are readily available from both garden centres and specialist suppliers. You may find one variety appears in two or more sections as some potatoes are more multi-purpose than others.
Best Potatoes for Boiling
First Earlies: All first earlies boil well
Second Earlies: Anya, Cosmos, Edzell Blue, Marfona, Maris Peer, Estima, Nadine, Saxon, Kestrel, Wilja,
Maincrop: Ambo, Arran Victory, Cara, Celine, Maris Piper, Maxine, Pentland Squire, Picasso, Romano, Sarpo Miro, Pink Fir Apple, King Edward.
Best Potatoes for Baking
First Earlies: Arran Pilot, Duke of York, Epicure, Rocket, Pentland Javelin,
Second Earlies: Cosmos, Edzell Blue, Maris Peer, Wilja
Main Crop: Ambo, Arran Victory, Cara, Celine, Maris Piper, Maxine, King Edward
Best Potatoes for Roasting
First Earlies: Accent, Ulster Chieftan, Swift.
Second Earlies: Catriona, Edzell Blue, Cosmos, Kestrel, Wilja
Main Crop: Arran Victory, Cara, Desiree, Maxine, Remarka, Romano, King Edward, Maris Piper
Best Potatoes for Chipping
First Earlies: Accent, International Kidney, Swift.
Second Earlies: Kestrel, Saxon, Yukon Gold, Nadine
Main Crop: Cara, Desiree, King Edward, Kerrs Pink, Golden Wonder
Best Potatoes for Mashing
First Earlies: Accent, Winston, Epicure
Second Earlies: Cosmos, Kestrel, Nadine, Wilja
Main Crop: Arran Victory, Kerrs Pink, King Edward,
Best Potatoes for Salads
Amandine, Belle De Fontenay, Pink Fir Apple, Charlotte, International Kidney, Anya, Nicola, Juliette,
The most popular potatoes grown by members of Food Link are Charlotte, Kestrel, Pink Fir Apple ,Anya, Rooster, Sharpes Express and Duke of York.
Cara is a favourite of mine too though I haven’t sold any lately. It’s a good baker, withstands drought, and is very disease resistant to golden eelworm and blight and gives huge yields.
If blight is a problem then Sarpo Mira (available from Thompson and Morgan) is one of the most blight resistant varieties. It gives high yields, floury tubers in a range of soil types and does not appear to be affected by slugs.
Propagation Courses.
This year Food Link ran two courses on propagation techniques, both given by Audrey Litterick, which were well attended by people from around the coast from Ullapool to Bettyhill. The first course, held in the Church at Eddrachilles
on 6th April, was attended by about 25 people, and with some terrible weather outside, it was good to be inside around the roaring log fire.
The course gave us insight to the reasons for propagating plants in various ways, from seed, to vegetative division, cuttings, and grafts. The importance of timing, temperature and seedbeds were discussed, along with pots and seed-trays, before a lengthy discussion on growing media.
After a delicious lunch of four homemade soups, bread rolls, and cake, we went to the polytunnel to inspect composts and pots that had been brought along by participants, before returning to the warm and dry for a closing session on lighting, and pests and diseases.
The second course on 5th July was held in Scourie School, and aimed more at vegetative propagation techniques. Audrey told us the reasons for using different types of propagation, layering, division, cuttings and seeds. Some time was spent on types of cuttings, and the different techniques for various plants. Hardwood, softwood, semi-ripe, root and leaf cuttings, grafting, budding, and tissue culture. Each method was explained in some detail, with examples of plants for each method.
Lunch was again provided by the Food Link Committee. The afternoon session covered watering, humidity, warmth, and lighting, along with an in-depth talk about growing media. We then visited Irene Garrioch’s garden, itself the eighth wonder of the world, to view and discuss different cutting types and stages, and collect some material to create our own cuttings in the school poly-tunnel.
Our thanks go to Audrey Litterick, and The Scottish Crofting Federation for these courses.
If you would like us to run courses on other subjects, please let us know, and we’ll try to organise it.
Pete Tuck.
Kinlochbervie 2009. Last years had to be cancelled but this year it has returned full circle and is back in Durness.
The event is from 12-3pm and this year we will be charging a small entrance fee of £1 adults, 50p children to cover
costs, this will include a lucky prize draw ticket. The Food Link stall will be selling a variety of potatoes, seasonal
vegetables, chutneys and jams. There will be information displays on the many different varieties of potatoes available, music from our house band ‘the spudettes’, children’s activities including Spud Gun Alley and Splatty the Tattie.
The Food Link Café will be open for a Tattie based lunch.
What potato to grow?
There are around 500 varieties of potatoes available to the gardener to grow. Finding all of them would be a bit
of a task but the selections easily available will probably be more than you need anyway.
Why all this choice of potatoes?
One good reason, apart from growing habits and disease resistance, is taste. Different potatoes taste differently. The supermarkets may offer you a choice beyond the simple ‘White or Red’ nowadays but the home grower has a range
of flavours far beyond that available in the shops. The taste of the potato is not just a product of the variety; the type of soil and growing conditions will have an effect. I may enjoy one variety but it can taste quite different when grown on your soil. Because of the water content and flesh structure, different potatoes cook differently. Some fry well, making great chips (or crisps – Golden Wonder is a potato variety), some boil well and some mash well. Waxy potatoes are
better for salads than floury potatoes.
The tables below should give you some help on what to grow for what purpose. I have not covered all the varieties available but I think I've got the main ones that are readily available from both garden centres and specialist suppliers. You may find one variety appears in two or more sections as some potatoes are more multi-purpose than others.
Best Potatoes for Boiling
First Earlies: All first earlies boil well
Second Earlies: Anya, Cosmos, Edzell Blue, Marfona, Maris Peer, Estima, Nadine, Saxon, Kestrel, Wilja,
Maincrop: Ambo, Arran Victory, Cara, Celine, Maris Piper, Maxine, Pentland Squire, Picasso, Romano, Sarpo Miro, Pink Fir Apple, King Edward.
Best Potatoes for Baking
First Earlies: Arran Pilot, Duke of York, Epicure, Rocket, Pentland Javelin,
Second Earlies: Cosmos, Edzell Blue, Maris Peer, Wilja
Main Crop: Ambo, Arran Victory, Cara, Celine, Maris Piper, Maxine, King Edward
Best Potatoes for Roasting
First Earlies: Accent, Ulster Chieftan, Swift.
Second Earlies: Catriona, Edzell Blue, Cosmos, Kestrel, Wilja
Main Crop: Arran Victory, Cara, Desiree, Maxine, Remarka, Romano, King Edward, Maris Piper
Best Potatoes for Chipping
First Earlies: Accent, International Kidney, Swift.
Second Earlies: Kestrel, Saxon, Yukon Gold, Nadine
Main Crop: Cara, Desiree, King Edward, Kerrs Pink, Golden Wonder
Best Potatoes for Mashing
First Earlies: Accent, Winston, Epicure
Second Earlies: Cosmos, Kestrel, Nadine, Wilja
Main Crop: Arran Victory, Kerrs Pink, King Edward,
Best Potatoes for Salads
Amandine, Belle De Fontenay, Pink Fir Apple, Charlotte, International Kidney, Anya, Nicola, Juliette,
The most popular potatoes grown by members of Food Link are Charlotte, Kestrel, Pink Fir Apple ,Anya, Rooster, Sharpes Express and Duke of York.
Cara is a favourite of mine too though I haven’t sold any lately. It’s a good baker, withstands drought, and is very disease resistant to golden eelworm and blight and gives huge yields.
If blight is a problem then Sarpo Mira (available from Thompson and Morgan) is one of the most blight resistant varieties. It gives high yields, floury tubers in a range of soil types and does not appear to be affected by slugs.
Propagation Courses.
This year Food Link ran two courses on propagation techniques, both given by Audrey Litterick, which were well attended by people from around the coast from Ullapool to Bettyhill. The first course, held in the Church at Eddrachilles
on 6th April, was attended by about 25 people, and with some terrible weather outside, it was good to be inside around the roaring log fire.
The course gave us insight to the reasons for propagating plants in various ways, from seed, to vegetative division, cuttings, and grafts. The importance of timing, temperature and seedbeds were discussed, along with pots and seed-trays, before a lengthy discussion on growing media.
After a delicious lunch of four homemade soups, bread rolls, and cake, we went to the polytunnel to inspect composts and pots that had been brought along by participants, before returning to the warm and dry for a closing session on lighting, and pests and diseases.
The second course on 5th July was held in Scourie School, and aimed more at vegetative propagation techniques. Audrey told us the reasons for using different types of propagation, layering, division, cuttings and seeds. Some time was spent on types of cuttings, and the different techniques for various plants. Hardwood, softwood, semi-ripe, root and leaf cuttings, grafting, budding, and tissue culture. Each method was explained in some detail, with examples of plants for each method.
Lunch was again provided by the Food Link Committee. The afternoon session covered watering, humidity, warmth, and lighting, along with an in-depth talk about growing media. We then visited Irene Garrioch’s garden, itself the eighth wonder of the world, to view and discuss different cutting types and stages, and collect some material to create our own cuttings in the school poly-tunnel.
Our thanks go to Audrey Litterick, and The Scottish Crofting Federation for these courses.
If you would like us to run courses on other subjects, please let us know, and we’ll try to organise it.
Pete Tuck.
