What type of produce do you grow?

[maxilaura]

Hi

I was at the garden centre today and got completely confused at all the different types of potatoes there are. What type do you grow? I just want a normal potato - I know there are all different types of "breeds" (if that is the correct way to describe it), but I don't take any notice in the supermarket of what type of potato I'm getting, I just get the ones that are the cheapest - so now that I want to try my hand at growing them, I am stumped as to which type to get.

The same for onions, and garlic and tomatoes.

Wcich types are the easiest / best to grow?

Thanks for your input.

[the-gnole]

I was hoping it was going to be easier than that to answer

We just buy a variety of things, we did two types of onion this last year and two types of spuds and two different runner beans, carrots, parsnips and that was about it, next year we will do the same again, but we don't really pay much attention to which type, we just grow and eat, eat and grow.

That is the important thing for us, growing what we want to eat.

[maxilaura]

Thanks for your input Gnole, guess I'm gonna just do the same and not worry too much about the "breeds" of the stuff. I was just shocked when I saw all the different types to select from - got so confused that I decided not to buy anything until I had looked into it a bit more.

[diamond lil]

Depends on how you like yer tatties. Some varieties make better chips and some do mash, etc. When you buy them in the supermarket it says on the bag what they're best for. I just get earlies or red skinned one. I dono about onions or leeks though, they taste much the same whatever kind u get .

[the-gnole]

We are going to try a few salad crops next year, spring onions, radishes, lettuce and peppers. Hopefully our third year vines will produce some bigger grapes this next year, and we might do peas and sweetcorn again, but to be honest sweetcorn is a lot of plant for little crop when grown at home.

[Carrot Cruncher]

We grew Maris Peer (not piper) spuds last year and they were amongst the best Roast Spuds I have tasted. It says in the gumpf that they are a salad potato but I thought they were great roasted. Bought the seed spuds off ebay

[preppingsu]

We always grow some 'early' potatoes (nothing quite like that first plateful of new potatoes!!) and some 'maincrop' potatoes. Not too fussy over which type but it is trial and error.
We grow everything we like from root crops, to salad crops etc as much as we can squeeze into the plot.

[maxilaura]

I'm embarrassed to admit that I like Aunt Bessies roast potatoes and mash best. The only time I buy potatoes is when I want a baked potato - and I don't normally look at the packaging, I just get the ones on offer / cheapest.

[preppingsu]

My OH always moans that by the time he's dug the ground, planted the tubers, watered them and then harvested the potatoes, its cost him much more than a sack of spuds from the local farmshop.
However, its more about having the skills and knowledge so I know I CAN grow them and feed my family with spuds for at least 8months of the year. This is will be our fourth year of growing veg and we are still digging up more ground for planting and still learning new things to ensure we get a good crop of soft fruit and veg.

[maxilaura]

Su, thats exactly why I want to learn how to plant my own as well - for the time when Aunt Bessie can no longer supply the demand.

I would actually like to try onions, potatoes, lettuce and garlic to start off with, as well as some herbs like basil, corrainder and sage. I'm going to start small, not over extend myself or my abilities - and go from there.