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Grow Your Own
Xmas Potatoes Planting Time

Visitors to the Haskins Roundstone Garden Centre stopped to look with curiosity as the company’s Operation Manager Dean Ridley, aided by equally bemused staff, decorated a Christmas tree not only with traditional baubles, but with potatoes!

The excuse for wheeling out a Christmas tree in mid August (much earlier than the garden centres main Christmas displays in September) was to promote the period between early to mid September as the correct time to plant grow your own potatoes in time for Christmas dinner.

This year the GYO section in the centre will sell the Charlotte variety. The small potato plants are mature enough to produce around 1kg worth of potatoes per plant in good time for Christmas dinner and can be grown placed in compost in either a large container or potato bag.

“Provided the plants receive regular water, fed with some general fertiliser and are protected from frost, the potatoes can be left in the compost until required for eating,” said Dean Ridley. “The instructions are very easy to follow. It’s then up to the grower if they want to use the produce as Christmas decorations!”

More homeowners are turning parts of their garden or patio to Grow Your Own areas and enjoying the tradition of planting, cultivating and nurturing a wide range of fruit and veg to supplement a healthier diet. Haskins Garden Centres introduced a dedicated GYO section in 2007 and has since experienced a 30% sales increase in fruit and veg plants and associated products such as compost and netting.

Dean Ridley with the Christmas Potato plants.

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