Over the course of 4 months, while all my teenage friends were deciding what their latest status update on Facebook was going to be, I was deciding which potatoes to plant in the raised bed my Dad had made on our allotment plot, 13B. I had a big dilemma; should I go for the Classic Maris Piper, a route well trodden before, or something more unusual like a Pink Fur Apple? After umming and arring, I decided on 4 varieties; Vanessa’s 1st Early’s in my first row, Charlottes  2nd Early’s in my 2nd and Maxine’s and Pink Fur Apples, main crop, taking up my last two rows. I needed to plant my potatoes ASAP, but as we had a new plot, I needed to dig the earth over and take all of the weeds out in order to plant my potatoes. So, my Mam and I (but mainly me!) dug over the earth until the soil was very fine. I then made four trenches, then lovingly lowered in my potatoes, covered them with earth and waited for the first sprout to appear.

Planting Out

There were many ‘is it a weed or is it a plant?!’ Questions, but after 4 weeks I concluded that my first sprout had come up! Having previously grown potatoes with my Grandad, I knew that this sign was good! But it didn’t make me any less excited’

The first shoots

Is it a weed?

From now on I played the waiting game, paying regular visits to our allotment to check on my spuds. When the plants grew bigger I had to earth them up so they didn’t come into contact with the light. The plants were tall and green and I was very excited on the day of digging my Vanessa’s up.

Coming along nicely

I have to say they were splendid, very yummy indeed. Since then, my spuds have avoided a mole, and blight, but are still coming up brilliantly. I was a bit bemused by the shapes and sizes of my Pink Fir Apple’s, but they made lovely chips!! One Sunday I dug up the last of my plants and  laid my potatoes out to dry. I have to say, they were a brilliant success, and a great start to my crop harvest on Church Vale, and I felt a huge sense of pride, when we all had Sunday dinner with my spuds. I did it all by myself and can’t wait to start choosing again this Easter!

Digging up time

Are you sure this is a spud Dad?