1066
gopher
Posts: 38
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Post by 1066 on Sept 24, 2011 8:51:50 GMT -5
Well, the results are finally in. From Tom's gift of TPS seeds I'm now the proud owner of these - As you can see they are a real mixed bag, from white skins, through to pinky-white, onto pinky-rose, then to a deep purple elongated shape, and finishing with almost purple-black. It's been a real pleasure to grow these, I had no idea what to expect. My seed saving attempts are looking rather sorry for themselves, only a few berries made it. They were extrememly prolific in their production, but as I had to dig them up a lot hadn't reached full size, and could be classed as tiddlers! The plan is to try and use some of the seed from the berries, and also to save a few tubers for replanting next year. The biggest lesson I've learnt growing TPS is to start them off early, and that includes planting them out early so they have enough time to develop properly. The other added bonus has been that they are almost 100% free from slug damage and didn't suffer from blight. RESULT! And once again thank you Tom It's been great fun, and I think they enjoyed their seaview ;D I seem to be struggling to post photos, so I will add the photos to my blog - promenadeplantings.wordpress.com/ (if you are interested )
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Post by wolfcub on Sept 24, 2011 9:56:28 GMT -5
Nice selection of colors with your potatos and your blog is great really enjoyed it.
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1066
gopher
Posts: 38
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Post by 1066 on Sept 24, 2011 14:59:50 GMT -5
thanks for the feedback let's see if I can post a photo this time.... Attachments:
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Post by canadamike on Sept 24, 2011 17:45:02 GMT -5
I have grown loads of Tom's potatoes in the last years, and one thing comes to my mind, a phrase he wrote somewhere«:''some will be duds, most will be average, some will be exceptional''.
Truely, he speaks, when he says that, like a commercial breeder, where if something has to be recognized it's got to bring some difference on the table, or, to say truely, amongst ''people of the trade''.
The darn ordinary truth is that, if you grow them organicly as they were mostly bred, you will end up, even with the average ones, with TASTE. They might not be of merit to replace similar ones already in the trade, but gosh are they good anyway in the mouth and perfectly beautiful on a plate...so what is average for a breeder might be a pure treasure for a food lover.
Last year we went through ( my friends and I) many 100 pounds bags of kind of pinkish skinned potatoes, too pale for market , but lord...were they flavorful..
Again, beware...what is average for Tom is probably heaven for most...
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1066
gopher
Posts: 38
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Post by 1066 on Sept 26, 2011 4:59:18 GMT -5
.......«:''some will be duds, most will be average, some will be exceptional''. .......... Again, beware...what is average for Tom is probably heaven for most... Great words there canadamike! Tom's work has been a real discovery for me, and I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to try out, in a small way, what lots of you experienced growers are doing. I kind of feel like I've been allowed to play with the older kids in the school playground for a while! Growing the TPS has been a real journey. here are the "tiddlers" i currently contemplating how best to cook and eat them And I still can't figure out how to post more than one photo at a time Attachments:
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Post by atash on Sept 27, 2011 18:24:32 GMT -5
Thank you for your patronage, 1066.
I suggest finding a home for the photos somewhere else, then linking to them with code that looks comparable to this:
[img]http://newworldcrops.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Perennial-wheat.jpg[/img]
Then you can do that with as many photos as you want.
As for TPS:
We're going to promote that more and more. It's easier and cheaper to ship, it's relatively easy to keep clean and disease-free (Tom cleans his potato seeds pretty thoroughly), the seedlings tend to be quite vigorous, it's the most economical way to plant out many hills, it's easier to keep a wide variety in stock than trying to keep the equivalent number of tubers available, and it's available all year whereas we don't have refrigeration for the tubers so tuber season is short.
Some folks actually require it for various reasons, and we're one of the few sources in the USA (actually, the only one I know of. You can sometimes mail-order a single variety that I'm aware of).
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Post by tatermater on Sept 30, 2011 9:38:28 GMT -5
Taking a few minutes out of my busy schedule....picking tomatoes, extracting tomato seed, sowing over one hundred varieties of grain, filling late orders, and just a minute ago...extracted true potato seed of 25 berries from a single plant of HOWIE MANDEL.
Once again this is a good berry maker. I will list it in the online catalog this year and not as a 'free gift' this time. The variety is a near look alike of the picture shown by Hastings 1066...a light violet colored skin of a oval...near fingerling shape.
I sliced up a sample tuber of HOWIE MANDEL in order to take a photo with my cell phone. Light yellow flesh with a purple ring. I fried up the several slices with some sausage to determine the flavor and texture. A pleasant earthy flavor with a high dry matter...yet slightly waxy texture. Must of had low sugar...no caramelizing browning to speak of.
HOWIE MANDEL....the cross is between Mandel and John Tom Kaighin...is a tall...very erect vine with pronounced pigmentation in the stems and leaves. It yields well in a field with no irrigation.
Later on I will dig my TPS seedlings of H. M. to compare to Hastings' group photo of seedling tubers.
Thanks...Michel, Hastings 1066 and Atash for your comments
Look for TPS of HOWIE MANDEL to show up on the website for New World Seeds & Tubers sometime this winter. My seed has been primed with TSP to hasten germination with reduced sprouting inhibitors.
Tom Wagner
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1066
gopher
Posts: 38
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Post by 1066 on Oct 1, 2011 10:05:38 GMT -5
atash, thanks for posting the details about adding photos, I'll try adding some to photobucket and give it a whirl. Tom, the way you describe Howie mandel, is spot on, tall and erect growing, lovely colouration on the stems. And very tasty. here's a photo of some of the early ones I dug - beautiful to look at. and thanks again Attachments:
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Post by tatermater on Oct 25, 2011 23:18:42 GMT -5
For the record....if anyone wants to try TPS of my variety HOWIE MANDEL... I will be listing the true seed of the original clone for the coming season. There is some resemblance of the F-2 seed (OP) that Hastings 1066 has pictured as with the original as shown below
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