The real "Jersey Royal Potato " Production system?

Its odd how we seem to have no or very few members on Jersey, good to know we have a Guernsey member.

What is life like as a channel island farmer?

Spare parts & getting hold of engineers must be a nightmare? Not to mention all those tourists!
 

manhill

Member
Its odd how we seem to have no or very few members on Jersey, good to know we have a Guernsey member.

What is life like as a channel island farmer?

Spare parts & getting hold of engineers must be a nightmare? Not to mention all those tourists!

Must be more tractors per square mile than anywhere in the world at lifting time, am I right?
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
Seems to be a lot of people saying spuds don't taste very good these days?
Now I realise not everyone on here is a farmer but the majority of posters are, right? So space isn't a problem.
Why not grow a few for your family yourselves? Its not that hard to make a veggie patch and spuds aren't exactly labour intensive to grow in the garden.
Even us townies can do it;)
 

Kidds

Member
Horticulture
Had some Cheshire new potatoes recently and they were nice. At £3.30/kg it’s not going to be a regular thing though!
Yes I have grown some myself but very late planting and not ready.

Surprised that people mention butter but not mint. Have to have mint in with mine.
 

bumkin

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
pembrokeshire
Had a couple of packs of Jersey Royals recently , and been quite disappointed in them . Got a pack of "Norfolk Keepers " today , never heard of them before , but when I read the pack it says they're "old new potatoes stored in refrigerated conditions " They weren't any better either ! Why can't we just have decent newly lifted new potatoes , thin skinned and absolutely wonderful lightly boiled and served with a goodly lashing of butter ? (or am I just an old anachronism , and there aint no such thing these days .)
supermarkets are the problem when i came here in1990 the spuds were lifted and on a lorry by lunch time and in the market first thing and in the shops ready for you to cook that eavenning these days they are taken to the coop where they are sorted then sent to the supermarket central depot then to the supermarket they are three days old and past their best ,also when i was a kid we used to put fym in the drills and then plant the seed but apparently that is frowned upon these days i could go on but that would be boring
 
Best for taste after the Jersey mids used to be Pembroke earlies, don’t know what variety they would have been back then (50s-60s)

With supermarkets and prepacking they seem all the same nowadays.

My Dad did loads of these. Homeguard was the big Pembrokeshire early wasn't it @JLLM ?

Cold Stores have killed the early job - we never have a shortage now. I wouldn't think Processors want to touch a non set skin spud nowadays, its way too much hassle.
 

Lowland1

Member
Mixed Farmer
Irrigation is why potatoes don't taste as good as before. Very few people grow without as the supermarkets require a bright unblemished uniform sample. So you put on lots of water and get a beautiful looking ball of water.
 
I'm told that in the far off , possibly war time or earlier , days , keen exhibition gardeners who prized their growing secrets like gold dust , used to fill an old leather boot with human excrement almost to the top, (I'm being polite here , but it was a personal effort ) but a thin layer of soil over it , and then plant their seed potatoes directly into it ! I can't verify this , but ---- ? There was also a chap locally , who could supply you with just about any variety of tomato plants you needed . Eurocross 1 ? certainly, etc. Turned out he worked at the local sewage plant where they spread the effluent on a nearby piece of ground ! Organic? certainly sir !
 

bumkin

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
pembrokeshire
I'm told that in the far off , possibly war time or earlier , days , keen exhibition gardeners who prized their growing secrets like gold dust , used to fill an old leather boot with human excrement almost to the top, (I'm being polite here , but it was a personal effort ) but a thin layer of soil over it , and then plant their seed potatoes directly into it ! I can't verify this , but ---- ? There was also a chap locally , who could supply you with just about any variety of tomato plants you needed . Eurocross 1 ? certainly, etc. Turned out he worked at the local sewage plant where they spread the effluent on a nearby piece of ground ! Organic? certainly sir !
when i was a kid we used to collect tomato plants from the railway tracks:nailbiting: , dont do this children it might be dangerous :cautious:
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Haven't tasted a decent new potato for decades. What happened to the earthy nutty taste whether eaten hot or cold.
Fertiliser forced? Is that the problem?

Or lack of fert these days, 1t/acre of 17-17-17 wasn’t uncommon. @JLLM can probably remember stories of Baldwin too where fields would be completely white then he’d tell the driver to go up 2 cogs on the spinner and down 2 on the tractor.

Irrigation is why potatoes don't taste as good as before. Very few people grow without as the supermarkets require a bright unblemished uniform sample. So you put on lots of water and get a beautiful looking ball of water.

Everything was irrigated and under plastic with us years ago, we have a 250acre block with underground coming from a 4m gall reservoir, still have around 100 sprinklers in the corner of a field..
Maris Pier wasn’t a bad variety, one of the first blight free varieties.


Cold storage ruined the job and like many others it really annoys me to have “new potatoes” served in a restaurant/pub/shop where they actually have a skin finish so you know their not new potatoes and that they’ve come from cold storage before you even put a fork/knife through them.
 

JLLM

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Tyddewi
Or lack of fert these days, 1t/acre of 17-17-17 wasn’t uncommon. @JLLM can probably remember stories of Baldwin too where fields would be completely white then he’d tell the driver to go up 2 cogs on the spinner and down 2 on the tractor.



Everything was irrigated and under plastic with us years ago, we have a 250acre block with underground coming from a 4m gall reservoir, still have around 100 sprinklers in the corner of a field..
Maris Pier wasn’t a bad variety, one of the first blight free varieties.


Cold storage ruined the job and like many others it really annoys me to have “new potatoes” served in a restaurant/pub/shop where they actually have a skin finish so you know their not new potatoes and that they’ve come from cold storage before you even put a fork/knife through them.
How bloody old do you think I am?:whistle: Seriously though I do wonder if diminishing taste buds as we get older is partly to blame, nothing tastes like it used to, going back to salted butter has improved things in this household.
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
How bloody old do you think I am?:whistle: Seriously though I do wonder if diminishing taste buds as we get older is partly to blame, nothing tastes like it used to, going back to salted butter has improved things in this household.
I don’t think taste buds change that much....

I thought you may have remembered the days of Baldwin - Ken Thomas worked there then so that’s going back a long time!
 

7610 super q

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Ulster Sceptre rings a bell, along with Homeguard. Don't think those old varieties tasted anything special. I seem to remember Homeguard boiled up black.:whistle:
But they were early.....
Anyone that grows spuds in the garden knows that freshly dug ones have taste. So I reckon it's all down to freshness. Supermarket plastic bags and hot lights are to blame IMO.

Anyway, back to the OP. Is Jim Bergerac still there ?
 

JLLM

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Tyddewi
I don’t think taste buds change that much....

I thought you may have remembered the days of Baldwin - Ken Thomas worked there then so that’s going back a long time!
I do remember Stan but didn't know him well. You're dad and Phil were legends in their day mind.
 
I sell new potatoes and old ones at the start of the season and the people buy 2 kg of new ones for Sunday dinner and a bag of Coldstore ones to do the rest of the week. Ran out of old ones in August last year and there was still people wanting them
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
I’ve planted Homeguard in my garden so hope they do taste nice. Planted very late so not ready for a while yet.

I’m not sure on this but I think the best tasting ones were the ones planted January/February, maybe this is where they are going wrong these days?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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