Pink Fir Apple Seed Potatoes – A Knobbly Heritage Salad Potato
Pink Fir Apple arrived in Britain from France in 1850 and has been grown here ever since for one reason: a great many people think it is the best-tasting potato there is. The tubers are long, thin and famously knobbly, with pink skin over creamy, firmly waxy flesh, and the taste is deep and distinctly nutty — quite unlike a modern salad variety, and better still after a few weeks in store. It asks something in return. It is a late maincrop that sits in the ground into autumn, the shape makes peeling a thankless job, and its blight resistance is poor. Growers accept all three and plant it again every year.
Key Features:
- Exceptional Flavour: Rich and nutty, and widely rated among the finest-tasting potatoes grown.
- Heritage Variety: Imported from France in 1850 and still unmatched for taste.
- Knobbly Tubers: Long, irregular tubers with pink skin — scrub rather than peel, the shape defeats a peeler.
- Low Blight Resistance: The one real drawback. Watch from midsummer and cut the haulm at the first sign to protect the tubers below.
Planting and Growing:
- Planting Time: Plant between April and May when the soil temperature reaches 8°C.
- Sowing Depth: Plant 15cm deep, with 40cm between tubers and 75cm between rows.
- Growing Tips: Watch for blight from midsummer. Removing the foliage early costs you some size but saves the crop.
Harvesting:
- Harvest Time: Lift from September through October, around 20 weeks after planting. The flavour improves after a few weeks in store.
Culinary Uses:
- Salads: The classic use — sliced warm, skins on.
- Boiling: Scrub and boil whole; the waxy flesh stays firm.
- Roasting: The irregular shape crisps into plenty of edges.
Why Choose Pink Fir Apple Seed Potatoes?
Pink Fir Apple is grown for the table rather than for an easy life. It needs watching for blight and it will never win a prize for its shape, but no other potato in the range tastes like it, and for most people who grow it that settles the matter. Supplied in a 1.5kg bag.
