Seed Potatoes

I have just been to buy my seed potatoes. I am a big fan of garden centres where you can buy your seed potatoes loose, that way you can have exactly the quantity you want, the right size and be sure not to get any damaged ones. I got these from Russells Garden Centre in Coventry, and if you are interested in finding a similar one local to you, have a look at this list. I got 10 each of 6 different varieties, which cost about £9.00, - pretty good value I think. The other major advantage is you can get them at exactly the time you want them, rather than being at the mercy of suppliers' sometimes rather erratic delivery procedures, and of course the hopeless postal service.

These are the varieties I chose for this season:
1st earlies - Pentland Javelin, Red Duke of York
2nd earlies - Anya, Charlotte
Mains - Desiree, Cara

I don't know yet whether I'm going to have room for all of these - my new plot is somewhat smaller than my old one, and I haven't quite 'moved in' yet so I haven't been able to go and measure it all out properly. I suppose I could put any leftovers into containers, or give them away.

This week I have begun packing up at my old plot ready for moving to the new one. We are not allowed sheds at the new site, so I will have to find some kind of plastic chest storage. As a consequence I won't be able to bring the water butts either, so they are all staying. Everything else is being moved. I have bagged up the contents of both compost bins and the big compost bag, and rolled up all my bits of netting inside one of the bins. I have dug and potted up three blackcurrant bushes, a couple of comfrey plants which I have split into several new plants, ditto a large rhubarb crown. Most of this I will be able to move by car, once I have been given the go ahead to 'move in' but I plan to borrow a friend with a trailer to help me with the heavier stuff like paving slabs and bags of compost.

In the garden, we had some goldfinches visit a couple of weeks ago, and to entice them back again I have hung up some nyger seed, which seems to have done the trick, they have been back today for a snack. I have had to replace the other seed feeder too, after this naughty squirrel mutilated the last one, pulling out the plug with the percher on so it could hang upside down while the seeds poured into its mouth.