It must be the start of a new gardening year on the plot. My seed potatoes often arrive in January. It's obviously too early to plant them so I'll chit them in seed trays in the greenhouse. There seems to be disagreement amongst the "experts" as to whether chitting produces a better crop of potatoes than planting un-chitted seed potatoes. As my potatoes have arrived in the middle of January I don't know what else to do with them until planting time arrives probably middle to late April.

Charlotte seed potatoes

These are my main crop potatoes, a salad variety called Charlotte. This is considered the classic salad potato by many. It has creamy-yellow flesh which remains firm when cooked and most important of all it has a mouth-watering flavour.

I'm trying another salad variety Juliette, a more modern rival to Charlotte, even more waxy and finely flavoured. I should be able to compare the flavours by late July or early August.

As it's more than likely we'll have a frost before planting time I've covered my potatoes with several layers of fleece to protect them (hopefully) from any frost.

Seed potatoes protected with fleece.

Post a comment here on the blog and tell us what your experiences are! 

Alan Roman have a good choice of seed potatoes - their website also includes lots of information about individual varieties and potato growing in general.