Selecting potatoes and a Soggy Plot

It snowed all morning and was extremely cold and wet so we went shopping for our potatoes as planned.

We went to Charlton Park Garden Centre in Wantage as the owner is a bit of a connoisseur. We were able to select individual spuds for 15p each so this is what we chose (the links go to the British Potato database):

• 2 x Accent (First Earlies)
• 3 x Casablanca (First Earlies that look so lovely I had to have some)
• 3 x Arran Pilot (First Earlies Have such good reviews we thought we'd try them)
• 5 x Pentland Javelin (First Earlies seem to have the best reviews from what we've seen)
• 3 x Red Duke of York (First Earlies Not great last year but fancy some red new potatoes)
• 2 x Bonnie (Second Earlies)
• 3 x International Kidney (Second Earlies)
• 20 (ish) x Kestrels (Second Earlies - these are our favourite for mash and all-rounder)
• 4 x Orla (Early Maincrop so tasty, so hopefully more successful than last year's failed crop)

We selected based on slug/disease resistance, our experience and on reviews we've seen on the internet - along with a certain amount of shallowness based on colour :-) We really would have liked a few Chopin as they were very good last year, but they were sold out.
We also bought a small bag of Golden Gourmet shallots.

In the afternoon we popped up the soggy plot to take up a replacement rain gauge - our last one melted as I forgot about it when I lit a bonfire.
As we walked home we spotted some great wood left by the industrial estate skip, so we picked it up and walked back to the plot - it'll be perfect for growing my onion squash (uchiki kuri) over, which will save ground space and might serve some protection against slugs.
I was pleased to see that our chives are growing happily through the snow and cold, so we'll have some with our new potatoes - mmm, can't wait but will leave them chitting round my mum's house for a few weeks yet!