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Digging up your own delicious fresh spuds is very rewarding. Early varieties are particularly worth trying as these can be very expensive in the shops - they are also better suited to limited space.
'Second earlies' mature a little later in the year, these are followed by 'maincrop' varieties which take up the most growing space but tend to be better for storing.
Buy seed potatoes in garden centres in late January or February.
These should be 'chitted': place them with the rose end up - end with the most eyes - on a tray or in open egg boxes on an indoor windowsill until they have sprouted about 6 weeks before you intend to plant out. They are ready when their sprouts are about 2.5cm/1" long.
Plant out in a sunny place in late March or early April 15cm/6" deep, 30cm/1ft apart, in rows 60cm/2 ft apart.
Add a sprinkling of fertilizer and slug pellets as you plant. Handle them carefully being careful not to break off the sprouts. Plant with the sprouts pointing up, loosely covering them with soil.
As the tops grow and come through the soil, regularly mound up the soil over them to create mounds about 15cm/6" high. It's essential to keep them well watered for a good crop.
Potatoes can be grown in containers - use one that's at least 30cm / 12" deep and wide, plant 2 seed potatoes about 15cm/6" deep in compost or fertile garden soil. Make sure the container has good drainage and keep well watered.
Start to lift your early potatoes when the first flowers appear, this will be from around June. Lift them as you need them, thin-skinned new potatoes don't store well and will keep better on the plant.
Second earlies can be harvested next, maincrop potatoes should be harvested from about September.
If you want to store them, cut the tops off a couple of weeks before harvesting to encourage the skin to thicken.
Potato blight, characterised by dark blotches on the leaves, is the biggest problem, especially in wet years but early varieties should escape. If it appears, spray with Bordeaux mixture, but badly affected crops should be destroyed.
