Staarted to Plant the seed potatoes today...

Anyone in an area that is still getting frost at night will probably hold back on planting. However - I need to get this first batch into the ground - so planted my first earlies Pentland Javelin today. They have chitted over the last couple of weeks, the chits are sturdy looking but not very long.

I planted them by digging a trench - markers at the end of the rows, labelled so that I know they are the first earlies. The chits go upwards and I space them as the planting instructions on the bag, or slightly closer if I do n't mind smaller potatoes and am lacking space. If you are short of space it is better to give the main crops more space - as instructions and compromise a little on the planting distances of the frst earlies as they spend less time in the ground and are eaten as smaller - new potatoes. Main crops are left in for longer and produce bigger potatoes usually. I have planted by the other method in the past  i.e. by digging individual holes for the potatoes but I think the trench method probably is quicker and suits my soil on the allotment better ( I hope the trench means less chance of compacted soil between the potatoes).