So the first thing you need to do is pick out your seed potatoes from your local garden centre, which you need to do in Jan - Feb. If you've read my blog post on this, you will know that we normally go for the varieties Kara, Concorde and Picasso. Although I must say, every year when we go to buy them there are always new exciting varieties and most garden centres write great descriptions of what category they are, what they taste like and what form of cooking they are suited to. Pay attention to this and make your choices carefully. We try and get a few varieties and not only do they arrive at different times, but they have different uses. For example some hold their structure when cooked better than others which basically decides whether you can eat them whole or have no choice but to mash them!

The three categories of potato are 1st Early, 2nd Early and Main Crop, these purely relate to how early in the season that they will be ready as some grow much faster than others, however you do also have to take into account what the weather has been like and when you planted them. For the last couple of years we have found that the main crop was ready at the same time as the first earlies! Luckly if potatoes are stored right, they keep for ages i.e in dry, dark conditions.