I’ve now reached the stage where I can plant my Pentland Javelin potato sets – which will hopefully lead on to me digging up gloriously fresh potatoes to eat. A few weeks ago, you may have seen my post about chitting potatoes, which give details on what you should try to do before you’re at the planting stage.
The bed I’ve chosen to plant these Pentland Javelin potatoes in hasn’t been dug over for several months, so I was sure to dig down at least a spades depth to get air into the ground – oxygen will encourage germination. I also done a spot of weeding too.
Pentland Javelin potatoes can be planted when the risk of frost has passed – so I think I’m taking a bit of a chance by planting them at this time year.
I had 28 tubers, which means that when I planted them 10cm deep and 25cm apart, I had enough for 4 rows, spaced 60cm apart.
When the sprouts shoot through, I’ll look to mound up the rows, and cover the shoots to protect the plants from any frost that may be lingering. Because they’re first earlies I look to harvest these in small doses as early as May.
I first dug the trenches and then covered them with the excess soil and then gave the bed a rake over.
First early potatoes make for a great new potato and I can’t wait to smother these in butter and mint. I’ve written a little bit of history about Pentland Javelin, which you can read here.
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