Saturday 4 February 2023

New Potatoes anyone?

 February has arrived and with it quite a lot of sunshine, mild weather and the days a little longer.  And the vegetable gardeners amongst you will be standing looking out of the window at the garden.   Did you manage  to get it dug over in the late Autumn to let the frost and the winter rains get at it?  Or did you decide to wait and dig it over now?   And is it in a fit state to be dug or are you wishing you had done it in the Autumn?

My Dad was a veg man - as were all the men in the village.   No self-respecting housewife would expect to have to buy her vegetables in Summer - it was the husband's job to bring in the fresh veg every day.  In fact I would go so far as suggest that a man in the village would be judged by the state of the veg he showed at the Annual Flower and Veg show in the village (usually a bit of soft fruit - strawberries, black currants and maybe early plums thrown in for good measure but never as important as the veg).

Perhaps the most important veg of all when it came to the Show was the Potato.   Usually King Edwards - none of the fancy varieties they have now.   Good old fashioned King Edwards - often chitted from a few good ones from last year;s crop.

And that first digging!  One root, dug up about 6pm by my Dad (two roots  if necessary but if so then there would be a serious discussion over what had gone wrong)   The potatoes put in the metal bucket kept for the purpose.   The bucket dipped into the water butt by the wash house door and then the water stirred vigorously with the copper stick by my Dad until the small, white, evenly sized jewels shone in the earthy water.  Rinsed and put into a saucepan, salt  added (no scare-mongering about salt in our diet in those days even though it was just as bad for us then) and a couple of sprigs of fresh mint from the herb garden.  We would sit at the table - knives and forks  ready - they would be strained through the colander and put into the same dish every year - white with flowers round the rim picked up at the junk shop - George Walker's in the village when my Mother took up his Sunday dinner one week (he lived alone).   Then a large knob of tub butter weighed out and patted into an oblong at the Friday butter market in Lincoln would be plopped on the top to melt and we would dive in.   Silence would reign supreme while we tucked in and there would never be a single potato left.   And I would defy anyone to come up with a better, more sublime taste.  Except perhaps a pot of fresh brown shrimps from the shrimp stall on the prom at Morecambe Bay.


 

31 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

A lovely memory from years ago Pat, when food was freshly grown, cooked and enjoyed without sitting there wondering if it was good or bad for you. In those days we simply enjoyed eating our meals without any anxiety or stress.

Barbara Anne said...

Oh, I love parsley buttered new potatoes as does my family! These days it seems hard to find really good potatoes without hard 'inclusions' hiding inside.

I decided long ago that if you did enough daily work, salt intake (not excessive!) wasn't a problem. Enjoy the good flavor!

Hugs!

Susan said...

Fresh, home grown veg are always the best. Potatoes with butter and parsley; outstanding! I will have to try to grow my own potatoes. If the wildlife ignores them, I'll be fine. Jest a few days ago 5 deer were grazing and drinking at my woodland stream. They look lovely and gentle but they do destroy veg gardens.

jinxxxygirl said...

Memories they are sublime aren't they Pat.. I have fond memories of my GrandFather's gardens.. The one he had up North.. New Jersey.. I was very small but i remember being allowed to pick a stalk of rhubarb and the sour taste... pucker power! When i was 5 they moved to Florida for Grandpa's arthritis. I spent every Summer with them. He had 2! big gardens there.. And he would grow everything everyone told him would not grow there.. lol He hand hoed and hand watered everything with a hose.. He eventually used two canes to walk but he could lay the canes down , pick up the hoe and go down a row.. I have some very fond memories , too many to type here.. I'm glad you have such fond memories of the Garden too Pat.. Hugs! debs

Ellen D. said...

Another great memory post, Pat! You describes the dish so well that I could almost smell it! I am sure it was quite yummy! We were never big garden people - except maybe for a few rows of green beans and a couple tomato plants.

Anonymous said...

Here in Pembroke they still revere new potatoes though the days of the itinerant Irish pickers are all but gone. We used to see signs on the posh pubs saying ‘ dim spud pickio’ - no spud pickers!

Rachel Phillips said...

I remember the new potatoes in the early summer and the good taste that they had. Now potatoes of any sort do not seem to be so tasty to me. Maris Piper must be the most tasteless potato ever grown. With regard to healthy eating habits, there is nothing wrong with a bit of salt in the potatoes and anything else we like. The problem lies with the junk food and the size of portions we have allowed to take over our lives if we are not careful today. Traditional British food did us little or no harm.

thelma said...

I always used to look forward to Pembrokeshire potatoes in Bath, they came in a reddish soil and were delicious. Butter must be the nectar of the gods when liberally spread on potatoes or vegetables.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting to read of life in those times in England. Before they emmigrated in the 1800's my father's ancestors came from a long line of farmers in Kent.
On arrival in South Australia they became market gardeners. Dad spent a lot of time with them growing up, but I never had the chance to meet them. Meat and three veg. was the staple diet in Australia for a long time, and Dad loved the chance to establish a garden on the three-quarter acre block of our War Service home, and shared the produce around.
Sweetcorn was his pride and joy, but we had citrus trees, almond trees, roses and all sorts of veg. in the days before water bills were sky-high.
I enjoy your memories.- Pam, Aust.

angela said...

Back when I had small children I grew potatoes in the ground and always got a good crop
This year, as I don’t have to feed an army I tried growing them again in those cloth grow bags.
Not a great harvest at all.
Will think about growing them in the ground again next year. The price of vegetables is skyrocketing here
So I hopefully will be able to help my children by supply some home grown veggies.
Grandma never retires. Not really

Heather said...

How you transport us back to our childhood. Looking back, I realise that no-one in my family was what you would call well off. However we did have homegrown fruit and vegetables, and i can remember being horrified as a very new housewife at how much I had to pay for them when I married and left home. Today, i consider homegrown produce a luxury, and am ashamed to think that all those years ago i took it all for granted.

the veg artist said...

Whenever I think of Pembrokeshire Earlies I remember my sister whose first taste of the year would involve, like you, a pan of salted, boiled potatoes, topped with butter. This would be the only food on the plate - no meat or fish, just super fresh new potatoes.

Red said...

Potatoes are certainly a favorite of mine. Our steady diet was potatoes, meat and veggies. My Dad was a good gardener but my maternal grandfather was a super gardener.

Anne Brew said...

A mouthwatering account of eating a wonderful vegetable. x

The Furry Gnome said...

Our garden is still under a foot of snow!

Brenda said...

I have never liked or used salt except one pinch for mashed potatoes for family. For me…none
I use other spices.

Joanne Noragon said...

We feasted on "new potatoes" in February, but not from our garden.

Hilde said...

We had our own potatoes when I was a child, and the first ones always were a feast, eaten with butter and salt. Of course when there were any potatoes left from the year before, we had to eat them too, no food waste there. Actually they were necessary for the obligatory potatoe dumplings accompanying the sunday roast.
Now the first new potatoes in the shops come from Tunesia, but I always try to wait for the first German ones, usually from a region in the south called Palatinat.
Hilde in Germany

Woody in Ohio said...

Nothing quite like an Ohio Irish White Potato. Boiled, fork smashed, and smothered in butter and salted is always good eating. Add some boiled sweet carrots, a wedge of steamed cabbage and slices of homemade corned beef and it's St. Paddy's day! I must confess I do like as a side a small sauce dish of homemade yellow tomato preserves...just something I grew up eating. Take care Pat!

Cro Magnon said...

Those first new potatoes are always wonderful. My job as a child was to fetch some mint from the bottom of the garden. I would always come back with some weeds, then when my mother pretended to scold me, I would bring out the real mint from behind my back. I still do it today!

Librarian said...

Spuds with nothing but salt and butter - one of the best meals ever! I still make that sometimes, but I do not have a garden and therefore depend on the spuds from either my nearest supermarket (they sell regional and organic ones, too) or from one of the farm shops dotted around the outskirts of my town. It will be a while yet before the first new ones are ready.

Col said...

Oh, fresh Cheshire spuds, skins scraped but never peeled, steamed, and served in a bowl with best Cheshire farm butter, fresh mint and plenty of salt, absolute perfection! How something so simple could taste so good was always a mystery to me as a child! I do have to confess to also being a big fan of Cyprus potatoes.
Your mention of Morecambe Bay Brown Shrimps really takes me back to my childhood.
We lived just outside Parkgate in Cheshire, on the banks of the Dee, and used to go to the Shrimp Shop on Sunday afternoons.
Dad always had a bag of the cockles he loved so much, Mum had what we called 'shrimps in their jackets' as she loved peeling her own, but I was always bought a bag of freshly peeled brown shrimps, delicious! My favourite way of eating them was to put seven or eight shrimps into my mouth, poke them into a corner with my tongue, then suck the living daylights out of them! They were superb!
I used to love watching the women in the 'shrimp shop' snapping the shells and popping the shrimp out into a dish, they were so accomplished and speedy!
As I grew older, Mum taught me to how to shell a brown shrimp, and I still have that skill, although I've never reached the speed of the experts!

Tom Stephenson said...

Oh yes, the first potatoes of the season with melted butter. The first of anything in the season really. I would rather have those experiences than the all year-round 'choice' of today's supermarkets.

Derek Faulkner said...

Living next to the sea all my life, Sundays as a child in the 1950's saw me being sent to the nearby wet fish shop on a Sunday afternoon to buy a pint of winkles and a pint of shrimps, for our family tea with bread and butter. Us kids also used to take an old metal bath on a wheelbarrow up to the sea front at low tide, go out on the sand flats and rake up cockles to take round the houses and sell for pocket money.

Anne Brew said...

Derek, my grandchildren would love to earn money that way!

Melinda from Ontario said...

I'm mainly a flower gardener but I always grow tomatoes and occasionally green beans. Last year I decided to add cucumbers so I could make tomato/cucumber salads. My dog decided that he absolutely loved cucumbers and ate every last one. So, it's back to growing tomatoes in out of 'dog-reach' places for me.

Derek Faulkner said...

That's nice to hear Anne, if it's not possible can they not think up some other way.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Derek - Lovely story.
Glad I transported you back Heather!
Rachel - I agree about potatoes not tasting like they used to do - even the fThakirst Jerseys/

Thanks everyone.

Thank you everyone for your comments

Jean Winnipeg said...

Yes, I could eat a plate of new potatoes. My dad always had an allotment, and with mint and salt it was a wonderful treat. I also though enjoyed fresh carrots from the garden with butter and salt, I often would have that for lunch perhaps with a slice of bread!
There is nothing like the flavour of home grown vegetables. Tomatoes are a good case in point, the flavour of a home grow tomato in a sandwich with mayo is scrumptious. Cucumbers ditto! What lovely memories. Shall I talk about broad beans!

Granny Sue said...

We look forward to our new potatoes every year. We grow redskinned potatoes and that first meal, boiled and drenched in parsley butter, well, my mouth is watering. A great memory, Pat, and reminded me of how my mother would put mint in the potatoes. Hadnt thought of that in 60 years.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Jean - Broad beans and parsley sauce. Yum


Thanks for the memories.