Potato and onion sets

Potato Arran Pilot and onion Stuttgarter sets

Now that I have the space in the allotment (although not much - it's tiny!), potatoes and onions are back on the planting list. I had reached a drastic decision at the beginning of the year: I just couldn't find any space in the garden that I wanted to dedicate to such long-growing and space-needy crops, and I couldn't find any interesting varieties that justified the space (blue & purple potatoes are only sent by mail order and they're pricy). So I wasn't going to grow any potatoes or onions at all. But the first thing I did when I got the allotment was buy some potato seed and onion sets: They are potato Arran Pilot and onion Stuttgarter. New allotment and new varieties! The potatoes had already started to chit (sprout) in the bag (the shoots grow white and weak when in the dark - you can see them in the photo), but now I have them by the window and hopefully they'll start growing stronger shoots before I have time to plant them out.

Ahora que tengo espacio en la huerta ya voy a poder plantar patatas y cebollas. A principios de año habia llegado a una decision drastica: son cosechas que ocupan mucho espacio y por varios meses, y como tampoco encontre ninguna variedad rara que justificara el espacio no iba a plantarlos este año. Pero ahora que tengo la huerta ya tengo espacio, y lo primero que hice fui ir a la tienda y compre patatas y cebollas para sembrar. Son patata 'Arran Pilot' (madura pronto, a partir de junio) y cebolla 'Stuttgarter'. Las patatas habian empezado a brotar en la bolsa, son los tallos largos que veis en la foto. Cuando estan a oscuras los brotes crecen largos, blancos y endebles. Ahora estan cerca de la ventana, y espero que con mas luz echen mejores brotes este mes, mientras espero a tener tiempo para ir a plantarlas.