The whole business starts with seed tubers, and this is the time to hunt them out. If you have a heated greenhouse or conservatory, you can make a start indoors now. In a container of compost or garden soil with drainage holes, about 30cm in diameter, 40cm deep, plant a single tuber, eye-end upwards, 10cm deep. The crop will then be ready for digging up at Easter.

For the majority of outside crops, you should plant when the soil warms up and the day temperature is consistently around 15C. The seed tubers should first be chitted by standing them in a seed tray, eye-end upwards, in a cool, dry place in daylight, until short sturdy sprouts appear. What variety you grow depends on when you want to harvest them – First Earlies mature first and are eaten when they are the size of eggs as new potatoes; Second Earlies and Maincrops are harvested when the tops have died back and the skins are thick – and how you want to cook them.

If all you need is yield, then plant the variety Nadine. If you want to be organic and are worried about blight, then stick to the new Sharpo varieties. Where slugs are a big problem, try Kestrel. If it’s taste you’re after, combined with a proud crop of potatoes to show to your friends and neighbours, then try one of my tried-and-trusted star performers on the right.

Suppliers of seed potatoes
Thompson & Morgan (01473 688821; www.potatoes.thompson-morgan.com). Marshalls (01480 443390; www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk). Organic Gardening Catalogue (0845 1301304; www.organiccatalogue.com). Potato Day, 78 varieties for sale, at Ryton Organic Gardens, near Coventry, January 29, 9.30am-5pm (024 7630 8211; www.organicgardening.org.uk)

Growing tips

• If soil is tired, dig in manure or home-made compost in autumn. Dig over light land two weeks before planting, a few weeks earlier with heavier soils.
  
  
• Once tubers are chitted, plant First Earlies around mid-March and the rest from early April, When the plants emerge, bank up the soil to make a flat-topped ridge.
  
  
• Water well when plants are small. Keep watering, in the morning, if the soil is dry.
  
  
• Harvest new potatoes for boiling when the plants are in flower. Check the size you want by scraping away the soil and having a look.
  
  
• Harvest Second Earlies and Maincrop when the plants have turned a light green and died. Slugs will eat most potato varieties, so don’t delay the harvest, especially if the weather is wet.
  
  
• Harvest on a dry day, in the morning, and let the tubers dry out on the surface before storing in a paper bag, in a cool, frost-free place. After two weeks check for any soft or wet tubers.

  Page 2: Alan Wilson’s Top Ten spuds ()

  Alan Wilson’s Top Ten spuds

  Belle de Fontenay (1885) Second Early with a rich taste and mealy texture. Stores until winter.

  British Queen (1894) Second Early with floury texture. Good all-rounder.

  Catriona (1920) Second Early, with old-fashioned, light, creamy texture. Excellent for baking.

  Duke of York (1891) First Early with rich waxy tubers that taste wonderful. For containers or outside.

  Kestrel (1992) Second Early with excellent flavour and blight resistance.

  King Edward (1902) Maincrop with a distinctive taste – these are a must for roasting. You need decent loamy soil as well as a little luck.

  Ratte (1872) Second Early with rich chestnut taste that makes superb salad potato.

  Saxon (1992) Second Early with a creamy flavour. It has good disease resistance, high yields and good-sized tubers.

  Wilja (1967) Second Earlywith a floury texture – good for all purposes.

  Yukon Gold (1980) Second Early with large yellow-fleshed tubers with a lovely rich buttery taste.

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