Eating late crop poatoes

"indistinguishable from shop-bought"

Very good point for Stored Veg.

 

Quote from Jim and vicky,"It has tought me a lot about potatoes though!!! If you were only going to plant one type you could easily go for main crop and just eat some early! :thmb:"

If thats the case why are seed companies spending millions all the time trying to come up with new varieties, of earlies and maincrop.

I'm still not convinced that a potato dug before its time has the flavour of firmness that it should have.
Earlies die down faster and are ready sooner, thats what they are bred for.

We have a similar situation here as the Golden Delicious apple, usually picked far to early, tasteless and rock hard.
But a lot of people buy them.

Leave it to ripen properly and its a tasty apple.(or so I'm told, never see ripe ones in the shops).

 

Pete, you seem to have a problem with this topic.

You have likened Early Potatoes to Apples - which if picked early are "not mature" (sour, whatever)

You have (at this time) nearly 9,000 posts here, so hardly a one-minute-wonder :thumb:

Yet you say you don't have experience of digging spuds early and trying them for flavour, but you express opinions on how you imagine they would taste - forgive me if I have misunderstood, but that is how I have understood your posts.

" If you were only going to plant one type you could easily go for main crop and just eat some early! :thmb:"

If that's the case why are seed companies spending millions all the time trying to come up with new varieties, of earlies and maincrop."

Main-crop are, generally, a 22 week crop. I have no idea how "early" it would be possible to harvest them, and get a meaningful crop, but I harvest my First Early spuds about 3 weeks early ... so that would be the equivalent of 19 weeks [for a Main Crop variety].

First Early varieties are generally ready for harvesting at 12-13 weeks, I started harvesting mine at 9 weeks. Clearly Main Crop varieties would not have been ready, AT ALL, by then.

"I'm still not convinced that a potato dug before its time has the flavour of firmness that it should have"

Experience or subjecture?

 

You guys have confused me with your potato wars. Is it acceptable just to go by a) if they are at all a decentish size, and b) when you want to eat them? Keeping things simple, I thought.

 

Kristen, I see you are getting rattled so I will say no more.

Just keep reading the books mate.:D

 

I haven't try to do it.Instead,i'm using new seed potatoes to grow fresh crops.Potatoes can be harvest 2-3 weeks after the plants had finished flowering.

 

I would say definitely!!

:dh: I only posted this question to make sure if I ate some main crop early they wouldn't kill us all off!!

Poor Kristen is fighting a losing battle I think - but admirable effort :cl-p:

The facts Pete are that I ate my 'early dug' main crop potatoes and they were just as good as new potatoes.

I should say it is worth remembering that seed companies develop seeds etc for people who want to achieve a certain thing. For example, if I buy main crop I am likely to want to store them. If I buy earlies I know I will not be able to store them. It doesn't mean there are no other uses or variations within these boundaries. The companies are producing a product to sell, and ultimately make money. They need to be specific about what each product is for. Shampoo is shampoo, some say rinse and repeat, some don't but there are hundreds of companies making the stuff each with different selling points. They're still all much the same!

Besides, isn't life fun when you can decide for yourself if you want to eat your main crop early, or eat a bland bloomin' apple. Live a little!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :yho: You might even enjoy it!

 

sounds sensible to me - and it's certainly what I do.