I woke up to an email from D T Brown telling me my seed potatoes had been dispatched. Excellent I though, they’ll hopefully arrive by the end of this week, but most probably by early next week.
This means that the growing season for 2021 can begin. I was very excited and happy…..it’s the little things you know that make my day.
While I was hard at work in a clients garden I got a text message from Mark (hubby) to say that a parcel had arrived for me and it said Live Plants on the outside. No information to say where it had come from or anything. I was wondering if I’d ordered any plants from anywhere else late last year, but I was sure I hadn’t, any way I would have to wait until I got home to find out what was inside. Couldn’t be the potatoes as I’d only had an email that morning.
I finally arrived home and opened the box in great anticipation…..I held my breath, not because I’d let off a smelly toot toot, but because I was so excited. Getting excited can also make me toot toot as well.
It was my seed potatoes that I’d ordered from D T Brown!! Had they been so excited about coming to my house they’d run all the way from Suffolk to Kent? Or had the email arrived later than it should have done, maybe the email got lost on the way? Whatever the reason I don’t mind, I have my seed potatoes for this year and the growing season for 2021 can now officially begin. This year I’ve only got Sarpo Mira and King Edward, so hopefully they’ll grow well and produce some good size spuds for us, only time will tell.
Now they are chitting on a metal tray on a window sill in the house, and they’ll be quite happy there until I plant them in mid March. I don’t need to do anything to them, I’ll just leave them alone and soon they’ll produce some lovely short stumpy shoots.
The video below shows how I chitted my potatoes a couple of years ago which is why I’m saying February in the video. As soon as your seed potatoes arrive start chitting them, don’t leave them in the box for very long. You can either chit them in the greenhouse as I’m doing here, or you can put them on a sunny window sill in the house.
So off we go again, let’s make 2021 a fantastic growing season. What ever else is happening in the world you can always could on your garden to cheer you up.
Take care and stay safe and well.
Happy gardening!
Claire xxx
Clairesallotment's Blog 
Claire, so nice to see your smiling face and talking about spring planting of the potatoes. I’m planting potatoes again this year after a year away from it. Out designated date for planting potatoes here in Nebraska is Good Friday which can be in either March or April. Potatoes are tough and will with stand even a heavy foliage killing frost. They come back but will mature a little later but as you say are well worth the wait. I totally agree with you. Fresh garden produce is always better. I’ve had a bad two years of gardening because of family situations so I’m in the process of bringing my garden back to production.
Have a great day chitting your potatoes.
Nebraska Dave
It’s good you get yours early, we don’t get them from our Allotment society till mid Feb !!
Do you have any traditions? I always plant mine on the 2nd April (my eldest granddaughters birthday)
Im looking forward to more videos and tips this year
Regards. Paul.
No traditions for me, just any time between the middle and the end of March. My birthday falls on a sunday this year, so if the weather is fine I know where I’ll be.