Seed Potatoes
Hope Seeds is very enthusiastic about our new offering this year: Certified organic seed potatoes!
Grown to both organic and CFIA standards by Karen and Brock
Davidge of Good Spring Farm in Keswick Ridge, NB. Good Spring
Farm was one of the first certified organic farms in NB, and has been
selling their superior quality potatoes, vegetables and poultry at the
Boyce Farm Market in Fredericton for decades.
Why choose certified organic seed potatoes?
Organically grown potatoes have a higher fibre density which
means they have more flavour. They also have better developed
natural resiliency to pest and disease pressure, being grown without
the dependency on synthetic chemicals. Prevention is the key to
good organic practice, and with potato production that means:
- Well-spaced crop rotations keeping potatoes and other solonacea plant family members (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers) apart,
- Starting with good soil fertility, organic matter and strong soil biology,
- Using CFIA certified stock seed which is monitored for bacterial ring rot and other diseases,
- Using compost tea and copper sprays to prevent blight, and
- Regular crop inspections and equipment sanitation to ensure potential problems are caught early on.
Good Spring Farm works to include a diverse selection of potatoes into
their production system - another great way to buffer the impact that
pests and disease can have on a crop. Hope Seeds is happy to
include 7 of the many varieties that Good Spring Farm grows.
How do you know which potato is for you?
With all the variety, it may be hard to choose! Good Spring
Farm sells their potatoes based on cooking quality.
Boilers
are potatoes that have a higher moisture content, so they tend to hold
together well when added to chowders and soups, and are nice moist
bakers. For folks that are trying to cut down on butter and fats,
boilers don't need as much sour cream as others to help them go down -
and if they're organically grown they've got all the flavour you need
anyway!
Midways
are less moist, and are fluffy when mashed, and a baker that likes to
soak in a little bit of butter. They're also kinda waxy which
makes them excellent for potato salads. I like these as roasted
potatoes (along with that grass-fed beef roast, peas, carrots and
homemade rolls on a Sunday afternoon....mmmm....). Then there's the
Dry
potatoes which will fall apart in the pot if over-boiled, but they make
one heckuva good fluffy baked potato! I've listed the cooking
quality beside each variety below.
Another way to characterize potatoes is by length of growing season.
As Karen says "If you can get your seed in the ground by mid-May,
and in
ideal conditions (i.e.
not too...whatever), you can start getting a crop by July with some
varieties." I've also listed the growing season
characteristic below.
A note about growing:
General practice is to cut seed potatoes into peices
approximately 2" across with at least 1 eye. Cut your seed the
day before (or at least a couple hours) before planting to give the cut
side a chance to heal over.
Spacing
peices approximately 8-10" apart in rows will get you about 10' planted
from 1 lb. of potatoes, 25-30' planted from 3 lbs. The
exception are the fingerlings (Russian Banana) which will plant a
longer row from the same weight. Plant as soil warms up in those
last couple weeks before your last frost date. Once plants pop up
to about 8" high, you can hill the plants to the last set of leaves,
encouraging tuber growth along the buried stem. I usually mulch
with straw or old hay at this point as well - helps keep the soil
cooler and moist, but you need to keep an eye out for blight in really
wet weather. Once foliage starts to loose it's vibrant green
(goes a bit duller, yellow), you can start harvesting! Dig around
in the soil with your hands to search out early new potatoes (and leave
the plants in the ground), or wait until plants die back completely for
larger fall storage tubers.
A note on orders: Good Spring Farm will be keeping your seed potatoes in their ideal
storage area at the Keswick Apple Growers Co-op through the winter.
Once potatoes are out of their cool and moist storage, sprouting is
triggered.
We'll be shipping your seed potatoes right when you need them, in the last week of April. If
you should need your supply at a different time, please get in touch
and we'll try to make arrangements. Seed potatoes (along with
garlic and Jerusalem artichokes) are
tax exempt (right on!), but do
cost extra to ship
(sigh...). Please add a $2.00 shipping surcharge in addition to
regular shipping charges to your order for the first 3 lb., $3.00 for
orders over 3 lb. Thanks!
A note to international customers:
You guessed it - we can't ship it. Sorry, but Hope Seeds
does not send potatoes, garlic or Jersualem artichokes over the border.
Deep
blue/purple skin, and purple flesh throughout. You definitely
won't see this at the co-op, but will turn your dinner into a 5-star
meal with All-Blue. A good one to combine with Carola, Rhine Red
and Kennebec for a multi-coloured potato salad (skins-on, of course!).
Carola
has a lovely, sunny yellow flesh with a nice creamy texture making this
potato a smooth one for frying or in German-style potato salad.
Originally from Germany.
Norland
is my standard new potato variety. Red skin with a creamy white
flesh, Norland is one of the earliest setting with new potatoes ready
in mid-July. Not the best keeper.