potato harvest

[shergar]

hello all , been busy lifting potatoes it's been a bumper crop


038 by shergar3, on Flickr
any one know what make of lifter this is as there no marks or plates


034 by shergar3, on Flickr
thanks wayne

[Brian]

What variety? We have got a two row version of that hoover and the single row Johnson harvester. The harvester is best as we just lift the potatoes onto the sorting table and put them in sacks from there. No bending

[shergar]

planted 6 variety's maxine , kerrs pink , pentland dell , navan , picasso and charlotte first time growing potatoes on this scale so tried a few to see which is best , kerrs pink was the only disappointment the tubers were small and scabby the best by far were the picasso with lovely large white tubers with purple eyes , they taste great too best for bake potatoes with plenty of real butter mmmmm . tried to keep clear of the pesticides as well just using some old fashioned copper compound to keep the dreaded blight away.
what variety's work best for you , love to see some pic's of your harvester .
regards wayne

[Brian]

We grow a variety too! Ambo, Cara, Marfona and Nicola along with others I like to try. Had great success with Vales Emerald, a second early.

The Ambo are a Cara/Desiree cross and grow to huge potatoes, white one end and red the other. They are the best baker I have found closely followed by Cara and Marfona. Cara can be a problem for some people when cooking as it may go to porridge in the pan if cooked too long but it has very good blight resistance.

We also go down the no chemical route if possible. I use Dithane 945 for blight and last year we applied slug pellets for the first time as they were a major problem the previous year. We also try and use tons of good old cattle muck.

This year for us, the dry spell came wrong. The potatoes and onions stopped growing and never recovered. They died off early so we have lots of smallish potatoes. People will pay a premium for them in Tesco and Sainsburys but reject them from our sorting trays. Still there is always next year!

[shergar]

we have had it dry as well had to blather plenty of water on em .
had to resist the chemical route as where i work i'am in charge of pesticides , dithane nt flo is a good product also electis , valbon , not had much damage from slugs so probably won't use pellets next year.
which do you find is the best way to store potatoes?
good to hear you guys had a good time meddo , once ( if ) i get victora running i hope to get to a few shows .

regards wayne

[Brian]

Store mine in paper sacks in my workshop but try and sell as many as possible.

Tried the potato "grave" route but too much work and too many "visitors" of the grey furry kind.

[henk]

Brian,

Is this a tomato hoover?

[Brian]

We had to rest them somewhere as we carried them to the trailer!!

[shergar]

potato grave is that the same as a potato clamp , put straw down, pile potato's up cover with straw then cover with soil if so then yes it is hard work , done two already .

didn't know squirrels liked potato's

I will be leaving vermin control to my live in pest control officer.



024 by shergar3, on Flickr

regards wayne

[Brian]

That is the thing.