Potato varieties on sale in 2019

Apache potatoes

If you’re going to grow some spuds this year, you might want to have a look at some of the 30+ varieties of seed potato we’ll have available at our Seed Swap and Potato Day. There’s something for everyone, from old favourites to some more unusual varieties.

All our potatoes are £2 per dozen, pick and mix (or 20p each). You can choose just what you need – and you’ll be supporting our community activities at the same time.

Our full list of varieties:

Potato picker 2019 – full details of all our varieties (PDF)

or you might like to try one of our top five…

 

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Our top five potato picks

Kestrel is one of our ever-popular early potato varieties. It has a unique purple blush, a naturally occurring trait which is passed on from their parent variety, the Cara potato. Kestrel has a delicious, slightly-sweet flavour and is great for baking, roasting and chips. It also has good disease resistance and was recommended by Joe Maiden. If reliable earlies are your thing, you might also like to try Charlotte or British Queen.

 

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Sarpo potatoes are grown by the Sarvari Research Trust in North Wales. These potatoes all have excellent resistance to blight, so they are ideal for organic growers. Our participants have had great success with the maincrop Sarpo Mira in particular. This year we also have Sarpo Kifli (also a maincrop) and Sarpo Una on offer. The Una is a second early variety which is ideal for growing in containers – try growing it in pots or sacks.

 

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Belle de Fontenay is one of our new varieties this year – chosen because we’ve been asked for it in previous years. This heritage variety has long, slightly curved yellow tubers. Belle de Fontenay is a classic French salad potato, which was first introduced in 1885. It has a smooth, firm, waxy texture with a fine flavour – great for salads (hot or cold), boiling or sautee – and it’s one of 17 organic varieties that we have available this year.

 

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Pink Gypsy is quite new to us and has already proved very popular. It’s quite distinctive looking, with deep pink and cream skins. The tasty white and creamy flesh has a lovely, fluffy texture when cooked. Great whether baked, roasted or mashed. If striking-coloured spuds are your thing, you might also like to try Apache (which has similar markings), Salad Blue, Red Emmalie or Highland Burgundy Red.

 

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Pink Fir Apple potatoes are always in high demand here – and rightly so. They’re one of our all time favourites, great tasting both hot and cold. You can cook them whole in their skins, so don’t worry about peeling this unusual shaped spud. To make sure that you don’t miss out on this firm favourite, we keep lots of them in stock. Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Growing Newsome Seed Swap & Huddersfield Potato Day – Saturday 2nd March 2019

Get your growing year off to a great start with our bumper early Spring event…

Seed Swap and Potato Day

Saturday 2nd March 2019
10am to 1pm

Newsome Scout Hall
Newsome Road South
Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

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Huddersfield Potato Day

Choose from 30 different types of seed potato, including popular easy-to-grow varieties and some more unusual types. All seed potatoes are £2 per dozen (pick and mix) or 20p each. Our 2019 varieties are:

1st Earlies:
Casablanca (organic), Colleen (organic), Maris Bard (organic), Pentland Javelin, Red Duke of York, Rocket, Sharpe’s Express.

2nd Earlies:
Apache, British Queen, Charlotte (organic), Divaa, Jazzy, Kestrel, Maris Peer (organic), Sarpo Una.

Mains:
Ambo (organic), Belle de Fontenay (organic), Belmonda (organic), Cara (organic), Carolous (organic), Desiree (organic), Highland Burgundy Red (organic), Mary’s Rose (organic), Orla (organic), Pink Gypsy (organic), Pink Fir Apple, Red Emmalie, Salad Blue (organic), Sarpo Kifli, Sarpo Mira (organic), Vales Sovereign.

Potato picker 2019 – full details of all our varieties (PDF)

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Seed Swap

Seeds galore – We’ll also have vegetable and salad seeds, sprouted garlic, onion sets and shallots on offer. You can either swap, or pick up some seeds in exchange for a small donation. Try our seed starter packs – ideal for growing in small spaces.

Activities – Seed planting and crafts for kids.

Local food – Jam, pickles etc. made from fruit and veg grown in Newsome.

Beekeeping – advice and demonstration hive from the Huddersfield and District Bee Keeping Association. 

Books – Reading Circle book stall with all sorts of books.

Refreshments – Tea, coffee and home made cakes available all day.

Help with growing – Please ask for advice.

It’s Fairtrade Fortnight, when thousands of individuals and groups across the UK come together to celebrate the people who grow our food, people who live in some of the poorest countries in the world and who are often exploited and badly paid. We’ll have a selection of fairtrade teas and coffees on sale, plus some cakes made with fairtrade ingredients. 

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Join us for lunch

served 12 noon to 1pm 

Enjoy a warming cooked lunch, featuring some local ingredients.

Free admission. All welcome. And please tell all your friends!

Seed Swap 2019 leaflet (pdf)

Huddersfield Potato Day leaflet (pdf)

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Roadworks ahead!

Part of Newsome Road South is closed on our event day for resurfacing, from the junction with Church Lane (Newsome crossroads) to Plantation Drive.

Updated 1st March at 1pm: We’ve been advised that the tarmacing will be from Newsome crossroads to just above the church hall and scout hall. This means that you should be able to drive up Newsome Road South from Berry Brow or the valley, and get to us ok. However, we don’t know exactly where the tarmac lorries will be parked. The road engineers are aware of our event and will do their best to help. There is also some extra signage up now.

All the other roads are open, so you can still approach the village from Newsome Road, Lockwood Scar or Jackroyd Lane and turn onto any of the side streets. The nearest drop off point to the hall is from St. John’s Avenue, just opposite. Bear in mind that you won’t be able to use Newsome crossroads by car or park on Newsome Road South. 

If you’re coming by bus, the 306 has a diversion route that will drop you off on Towngate (please double check with the driver). 

If you’re on foot, you can walk through Newsome church grounds or down the footpath from Hall Bower, or you will be able to cross the main road at safe places. We’ll do our best to make sure that everyone can participate – let us know if you need any help.

Kirklees roadworks search
type in Newsome Road South

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Organised by Growing Newsome

Our special thanks to the
West Yorkshire Organic Group
for supporting our Potato Day.

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Want to help?

We’re looking for volunteers to help out with our events and activities. Contact us at growingnewsome@gmail.com to find out more, or ask on the day.

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Potato Day 2019 – order your seed potatoes in advance

Our annual Huddersfield Potato Day is always popular. If you want to make sure you get the best pick of the potatoes, you can order from us in advance.

The idea of our annual Potato Day is that you can choose from around 30 different varieties of seed potato. This means you can just get what you need, instead of having to buy a whole bag of the same variety. It’s ideal for anyone with a small garden or containers, or if you just want to try something new.

We do our best to get your favourites, based on what was popular at our last Potato Day, and what our participants have asked us to buy.

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Our 2019 varieties are:

1st Earlies: Belle de Fontenay (organic), Casablanca (organic), Colleen (organic), Maris Bard (organic), Pentland Javelin, Red Duke of York, Rocket, Sharpe’s Express.

2nd Earlies: British Queen, Charlotte (organic), Divaa, Jazzy, Kestrel, Maris Peer (organic), Sarpo Una.

Mains: Apache, Belmonda (organic), Cara (organic), Carolous (organic), Desiree (organic), Highland Burgundy Red (organic), Mary’s Rose (organic), Orla (organic), Pink Gypsy (organic), Pink Fir Apple, Red Emmalie, Salad Blue (organic), Sarpo Kifli, Sarpo Mira (organic), Vales Sovereign.

You can find descriptions of many of these varieties in last year’s potato guide:
2018 potato guide (PDF)

Our full 2019 guide will be available nearer the time.

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Sorry, advance orders are closed now – but you can collect your seed potatoes at our event on 2nd March.

 

 

 

 

Growing Newsome’s 2018 homegrown preserves for sale

We have a selection of preserves available now, all freshly made this Summer and Autumn from fruit and vegetables grown in the Newsome area…

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Christmas gift boxes – £5 each

We’re offering our popular gift boxes again this year. Each box contains two 8oz jars of homemade preserves – you can choose the contents from our selection of jams, jellies and marmalade. Look out for more Autumn preserves as we make them.

They are boxed with a pretty fabric ribbon and tag (designs vary).

Choose any two jars:

• Jam – Strawberry Jam, Blackberry and Apple Jam, Blackcurrant Jam, Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, Courgette and Ginger Jam*
• Jelly – Redcurrant Jelly*, Apple and Strawberry Jelly*, Grape Jelly,
  Apple Jelly with Elderberries
• Marmalade – Orange marmalade* (homemade, not homegrown)

*low stock

Easy to recycle or reuse

Our gift boxes are fully recyclable. The box, tag, labels and stickers are made of paper and card. Our ribbons are fabric, which can be composted or reused.

You’re welcome to return the jars to us at any Growing Newsome event or Newsome Forum meeting, or glass can be taken to bottle banks or recycling centres.

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Individual jars – £2.40 each

We also have a selection of individual 1lb jars of preserves:

Strawberry and Raspberry Jam
Strawberry and Lime Jam
Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
Redcurrant Jelly

Apart from the citrus fruits, all our fresh ingredients are homegrown, so we have limited supplies and therefore not every preserve may be available in every jar size. 

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Delivery or collection

You can pick up your preserves from us in Newsome or in Huddersfield Town Centre – or we may be able to drop them off for you if you’re nearby. Please email growingnewsome@gmail.com to make an order.

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Garlic bulbs available at our Autumn Gathering 2018

Our Autumn planting vegetables this year will include different varieties of French garlic, which is certified to be 99% virus free and fungus free. Pick up yours at our Autumn Gathering event on 6th October 2018.

Garlic needs a month or more in the ground at a temperature of 10C or less, and Autumn planting gives you the best chance for this.

So you can get planting yours soon – all you need to do is decide what sort to grow.

To help you choose, here are some notes from our supplier (Jennifer Birch)…

Arno

• Winner of RHS Award of Gardening Merit 2004.
• A good keeper – will store until the Spring following harvesting.
• Produces the largest bulbs of any long dormancy type.
• Plant between November and March for harvest late July or August.
• A white head with pink cloves.
• High multiplication ratio.

Aulixito

• A very early cropper.
• Plant in October for harvest in June.
• White head and white clove skins.
• A garlic with stiff stems which will naturally flower.
• Should keep until the December following harvesting.

Sprint

• A well-known, early cropper.
• Plant in October for harvest in June.
• Attractive purple heads.
• A garlic with stiff stems which will naturally flower.
• Should keep until the December following harvesting.

Cristo

• A white garlic head with pale red cloves.
• Consistent cropper, good size for a long dormancy type.
• Plant before or after Christmas for harvest in July or August.
• Winner of RHS Award of Gardening Merit 2004.

Dario

• A newly developed variety, popular with French growers.
• Plant in October or November for harvest in July.
• A non-flowering variety which can be strung or plaited.

Germidour

• Winner of RHS Award of Gardening Merit 2004.
• Plant in October or November for harvest in June.
• A rich purple head with ivory clove skins – very attractive.
• A non-flowering variety which can be strung or plaited.
• Lift as soon as mature. Should keep until December following harvesting.

Thermidrome

• A traditional variety producing large heads and cloves.
• White head with white clove skins.
• Plant in October or November for harvest in July.
• A non-flowering variety which can be strung or plaited.
• Should keep until the December following harvesting.

You can pick up your garlic bulbs at our Autumn Gathering event on 6th October 2018, 10am to 1pm at Newsome Scout Hall. We ask for £2 per whole bulb to cover our costs. This is ideal if you have a small garden or plot, as you don’t need to buy a whole pack. It’s also great if you fancy planting more than one variety and you just want one bulb of each – or if you want lots, but want to save some pennies (and avoid paying for postage).

Look out for onions, shallots, vegetable seeds and some plants too – all suitable for Autumn growing.

If you can’t make it to our Autumn event, we will offer any remaining stock afterwards. You can Join our email list for updates.

The nights might well be drawing in, but there’s still lots to get growing.

Autumn Gathering – Saturday 6th October 2018

Love local food? There’s lots for you to enjoy at this event…

Autumn Gathering

Saturday 6th October 2018
10am to 1pm

Newsome Scout Hall
Newsome Road South
Huddersfield HD4 6JJ

Lots of jam and preserves made from fruit, vegetables and herbs grown in Newsome.

Beekeeping advice and demonstration hive from the Huddersfield and District Bee Keeping Association.

Perennial plants and wildflowers from Kirklees Parks and the S2R Peace Pit Growing Group.

 

Kids crafts – get creative in our craft corner and make a collage or creature.

Reading Circle book stall (with all sorts of books).

Recipes and tasters – find out what you can make.

Got a glut? Please bring along spare fruit or vegetables to share.

Tea, coffee and home made cakes available.

Information about local volunteering, events and activities.

Jam jar amnesty – clean, small jam jars (1 Ib or less) that fit a 63mm lid are welcome.

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Autumn Planting:

Autumn planting vegetables for you to take home – including a great selection of garlic bulbs, onions, shallots, seeds, overwintering leaf crops and anything else we can rustle up. We’ll also be taking advance orders for our 2019 seed potatoes.

Garlic bulbs available at our Autumn Gathering 2018

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Souper Soups:
served from 12 noon to 1pm

Enjoy a choice of seasonal soups for lunch at the Scout Hall, made with local vegetables and served with a selection of fresh breads, followed by a hot Autumn pudding made with local fruit.

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How you can help:

• Display a poster:
  Autumn Gathering poster (PDF)
• Bring something for the cake stall.
• Bring along the rest of the family or bring a friend.
• Please get in touch if you’d like to come along and help out on the day.

Organised by Growing Newsome

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Natural Kirklees Summer Gala – 12th August 2018

Natural Kirklees Summer Gala

Sunday 12th August 2018

From 12 noon to 4pm

Venue: Greenhead Park, Huddersfield

Park information
Map & directions

Join us in the park this Sunday for local food & family fun

Natural Kirklees and the Parks and Greenspaces Team at Kirklees Council are hosting a special Summer Gala for groups who are involved in parks and green spaces in Kirklees. It’s a great opportunity to meet local environmental groups and there are lots of fun activities to try, both in the event marquee and around the park.

Join us in Greenhead Park on Sunday 12th August to meet lots of community groups, learn about what they do and take part in fun activities including: go on a mini bug hunt and find out the ideal lunch for a duck with River Holme Connections, learn about Clem’s Garden who work together to grow and sell flowers, supporting local charities and community projects with their profits, browse the Support to Recovery (S2R) plant stall, join in the Big Butterfly Count around the park, or create a piece of artwork using natural materials with Growing Works.

Growing Newsome will be there with plenty of home made treats, made from fruit and vegetables that have been grown in Newsome and donated by our generous volunteers and friends. Please come and visit us in the marquee on the event field near the top of the park (just across from the miniature train tracks). Our stall is open from 1pm to 4pm.

Music – Enjoy the sound of brass in the great outdoors with Slaithwaite Band. They will be performing on the Greenhead Park bandstand from 2pm to 4pm as part of a programme of concerts organised by the Friends of Greenhead Park. Limited seating is available and you are welcome to bring your own folding chairs or rugs.  Free – there will be a collection in aid of the Friends of Greenhead Park. There will also be music from the Ukulele Band in the marquee.

Refreshments – The Friends of Greenhead Park will be serving tea and cakes throughout the afternoon in the marquee – and running a craft building extravaganza.

We hope to see you there.