Political potatoes

Spring is springing

With the snowdrops, narcissus and crocus flowers providing banks of white and of colour, the new gardening and growing season is soon soon to start and so it is also time to revive this blogspot, says Sharon.

“I'm looking forward to getting cracking, even though I've got about the smallest garden in the world I've got great plans,” says Sharon.

A visit to a garden centre at the weekend saw row after row of seed potatoes on offer. In a tiny garden there isn't a lot of room for a potato field but Sharon's sister, Deborah, has kindly given her a plastic/fabric bag which is specially designed to grow potatoes. The idea is that you put a bit of soil on the bottom, add half a dozen seed potatoes and when the shoots grow through, add more soil. Carry on like this until the top of the bag is reached.

Apparently, it's best to plant potatoes in this area in April, when the threat of frosts has receded. But the potatoes are on sale now at the start of March, so they will have to be put away for a month or so. This will let the little shoots develop.

A bewildering display of potato varieties was on offer at the garden centre. We chose two types, with political connections – Gladstone and Lord Rosebery. Gladstone was the distinguished Victorian Prime Minister and Lord Rosebery took over from him when he retired in 1894. However, Rosebery didn't seem to enjoy being PM very much and he resigned in June 1895.

Rosebery came from a distinguished Scottish background and went to Eton and Oxford. At Christ Church he bought a racehorse and was told that undergraduates were not allowed to do this. He was offered the choice of giving up the horse or his studies and so gave up the latter. He had thee ambitions, to become Prime Minister, marry an heiress and win the Derby. He achieved all three, marrying the greatest heiress in Britain, Hannah, the only child of Baron Meyer de Rothschild. He won the Derby three times. Rosebery owned 12 homes, including the magnificent Dalmeny estate, near Edinburgh, which he used for political house parties.

One source says that not much is known about the Rosebery Potato but it is believed to have been grown at Dalmeny. It is a heritage variety and is said to be well suited for boiling, mashing and roasting. The Gladstone Potato was “first listed” in 1930, although it was thought to be the most popular variety in Ireland. It is a “creamy-fleshed potato with a great floury texture.”