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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
In this Year of the Potato, here is six months’ planting
Earlies: Old favourite Belle de Fontenay,
Amandine or Sirtéma: these earlies are good for
steaming, Amandine is good for salads, and Sirtéma is
also good for fries. All should be ready to eat 70 to 75
days after planting. Amandine can be kept in the ground
for 100 days and then stored.
Mid season: Mona Lisa, large oval potatoes, good
for all sorts of cooking: steamed, with cheese, mashed,
and keeping, or Charlotte, with a fine flavour, good for
steaming and with salads.
Late Season: Caesar, large cropper, with a good
shape, can be gathered late, and resistant to various
diseases, good for frying and for roasting. Desirée, a red-skinned large potato with a clear flesh,
also keeps well, good for frying or mashing.
Most of these will be available in your local garden centres, or through catalogues such as
Willemse (www.willemsefrance.fr)
To protect your potatoes against Colorado beetle, try planting flax between the rows, but
make sure that you plant the flax in plenty of time for the plants and flowers to develop.
Otherwise it’s pick the beetles and squash them!
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Downtime 
