Who's selling cheap British Queens in Co. Antrim?

Golden_Anemone

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

The fact that they come from southern Ireland doesn't mean they have changed variety.. and also chances are they haven't even been grown in Dublin... Didn't see may fields of potatoes in around St. Stephens green last time I was down... most come from wexford and furthere down the country... nowhere near Dublin.

When I was growing up they were sold around Dublin as Rush Queens.

Thing is, I prefer Comber. I think they're first earlies. Anyone know which variety they are?

dmxdave

AFAIK They are a variety of their own

warmhands.coldheart

dmxdave wrote: »

AFAIK They are a variety of their own

Nope, Again it is just the area they are grown in. Chances are they are Home Guard, Accord, Dundrod or Concorde, which are First Early Varieties. Later (Second Earlies) it would be British Queens or any of the Afore-mentioned.

Quote
"The reason that the Comber area has such a reputation for early potatoes is primarily due to its location in County Down. The parent material of the soil surrounding the northern tip of the Lough is Triassic red sandstone and gravel. It is lighter and free draining, which allows the soil to dry more quickly and warm up faster than soil in other parts of Northern Ireland. Protection offered by the Ards peninsula to the east and the Mourne mountains to the south means that the climate is warmer than other parts of Northern Ireland. This, twinned with the warmer soil, means that the growing season for the New Season Comber Potatoes starts before potatoes in the rest of Northern Ireland. This warmth also means there is a lower risk of frost. Therefore the potatoes are normally harvested between May and July, earlier than other potatoes in Northern Ireland."

The same situation arises in Pembrookshire... also famed for it's Early Potatoes and The Isle of White.

Don't worry Money_Grabber13579. Not Offended in the slightest, just a bit of a Potato Nerd.... It's what happens when your brought up on a Potato farm...

I have to say.. with the increased pressure from Supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's et al.... on their "Perfect looking Produce". the older tastier varieties are less and less available on their shelves.. hence the reason in my view you can buy the "Local" potatoes in every hole in the hedge along the road.

I really don't rate a lot of the Newer varieties.. too waxey... I'm a "Balls of Flour" Man... In my view
Best First Early - Home Guard (For Boiling)
Best Second Early - British Queen (For Boiling)
Best main Crop - Kerrs Pink (For Boiling)
- Maris Pipper, Navan or King Edward for Chipping

Pretani

Didn't think I'd learn so much about the humble spud when I stated this thread, LOL.

There's a spud we eat which is called 'standards', to the best of my knowledge it's an early crop. Would that be a nick-name of one of the varieties you mentioned or is it the proper name of the spud?

Pretani

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Best First Early - Home Guard (For Boiling)
Best Second Early - British Queen (For Boiling)
Best main Crop - Kerrs Pink (For Boiling)
- Maris Pipper, Navan or King Edward for Chipping

Good advice there WHCH. :T

...also, where abouts would you put blues on that list? they're a good spud, although quite alot of eyes on them.

warmhands.coldheart

the "Standard" you refer to are, I Believe, Dunbar Standard, Main Crop Potatoes, Not just as floury as the Kerrs Pinks and (Though I've no experience of growing them) I believe are a lot easier damaged when harvesting so, going back the Perfect Looking Produce required from the Supermarkets, not ideal for them cause they want them all washed and clean and looking nice for the consumer... heaven forbid they might have a bit of dirt on them!!:eek::eek:

Salad Blue - sorry not much experience of these.... a bit a novelty potato in my view but then again it has been around a while so.... may be worth a taste if I ever come across them..... Can't see the N'Ireland farmer growing them though... A BLUE SPUD !!!!!!!!!:rotfl::rotfl:

Pretani

That's them, Dunbar Standard. I'm growing some sunbeam in containers this year, they're a floury spud and should be ready for diggin about now. Must give them a hoke and see how big they are.

The blue spud I was talking about isn't the salad blue, they're just blue skinned. Look a bit like kerrs pinks with lots of eyes and taste the same.

EDIT:- think I found the proper name on the internet, Edzell Blue.

jammin_2

So what are Irish Queens then?

:-



(for sale in Superquinn in Waterford, today.)

Pretani

Its sort of sad seeing the Irish change the name of a spud. Ah well, hopefully the taste doesn't put them off as much as the name. God forbid if the 'Irish' word was used abroad to name produce.