With the Grand Slam last weekend I neglected the allotment, in fact I simply just ignored it. I had planned to plant the first crop of seedlings but instead I was glued to O'Driscoil, O'Gara, O'Connell & Co and no, I didn't feel guilty.
Then I had to take Mother's Day off to attend the glorious homecoming and even got a glimpse of the Six Nations Cup. Oops, I'm going to have to dig deep this week to overcome the relapse!
On the agenda is the potato. Supermarket potatoes don't come close to the buttery, melt-in-the-mouth floury taste of the Irish spud. Little did I know that growing potatoes was as controversial as the pension levy. Debate rages every year over whether you should "chit" seed potatoes before planting time or if you can just bung them into the ground.
For the unskilled (me!) chitting aka greensprouting is putting your seed potatoes in a cool but light area, rose end upward for several weeks so they form strong, strudy shoots.
Some experts, including Paula Prender, our allotment teacher in Castlefarm, Athy encourages chitting in that it gives the potatoes a head start in the growing season so they mature nicely before a blight strikes.
My mom, daughter of an Offaly potato farmer, is strongly opposed to the idea of chiiting; so much so she laughed heartily at my neatly-rowed seed potatoes in egg cartons.
She reasons the sprouted potatoes will find the soil to cold when planted out and their growth will slow as a result. "You're fussing over them, pampering and spoiling them; they aren't grandkids you know," she jokes.
To find out what method works best for me, I'm going to do both and see what happens; the proof will be in the potato.
And to get the debate really raging, should I leave all the shoots on the chitted potatoes or rub some off? Answers on a postcard please!
Then I had to take Mother's Day off to attend the glorious homecoming and even got a glimpse of the Six Nations Cup. Oops, I'm going to have to dig deep this week to overcome the relapse!
On the agenda is the potato. Supermarket potatoes don't come close to the buttery, melt-in-the-mouth floury taste of the Irish spud. Little did I know that growing potatoes was as controversial as the pension levy. Debate rages every year over whether you should "chit" seed potatoes before planting time or if you can just bung them into the ground.
For the unskilled (me!) chitting aka greensprouting is putting your seed potatoes in a cool but light area, rose end upward for several weeks so they form strong, strudy shoots.
Some experts, including Paula Prender, our allotment teacher in Castlefarm, Athy encourages chitting in that it gives the potatoes a head start in the growing season so they mature nicely before a blight strikes.
My mom, daughter of an Offaly potato farmer, is strongly opposed to the idea of chiiting; so much so she laughed heartily at my neatly-rowed seed potatoes in egg cartons.
She reasons the sprouted potatoes will find the soil to cold when planted out and their growth will slow as a result. "You're fussing over them, pampering and spoiling them; they aren't grandkids you know," she jokes.
To find out what method works best for me, I'm going to do both and see what happens; the proof will be in the potato.
And to get the debate really raging, should I leave all the shoots on the chitted potatoes or rub some off? Answers on a postcard please!
