GARDENING New potatoes and old ocas

New potatoes and old ocas


Growing
Hans Wieland

Lucy Madden in her great book ‘The Potato Year, 365 ways of cooking potatoes’ calls the potato “the most democratic of vegetables” because it is so widely available. Self-confessed potato lunatic and collector Dave Langford from Swinford, who has more than 180 varieties on show, would definitely agree with that.

Super spuds
Even the new strains of potato blight that can strike at lower temperatures and can survive in soil cannot diminish the popularity of the humble spud. The only slight shift in practice is that more and more people now grow early varieties, and many grow in polytunnels thus trying to avoid the blight problem. Also it seems that the initial negative reaction to the blight-resistant SΡrpo varieties is waning, and more people like to eat them.
SΡrpo potatoes were first bred in Hungary by the SΡrvΡri family. Their work has continued through the SΡrvΡri Research Trust in Wales, which looks for blight-resistant varieties of potatoes (and tomatoes, hurrah!).
SΡrpo Mira has fast become a favourite for home growers, along with its sister, SΡrpo Axona. These are red late main crop potatoes. They are also virus-resistant and unmarred by slug damage, and they don’t mind drought. Plus, they have a long dormancy period, so they store incredibly well.
In my own garden, I grow SΡrpo Mira outside and Red Duke of York, Orla and Ratte in the polytunnel.

New grandad on the block
And now to something new. Actually, it’s not new at all, because the oca was introduced to England, France and the US as a novelty in the 1830s. Known as ‘South American wood sorrel’ (it’s a cousin of the common wood sorrel), it caused such a stir that enthusiasts held oca parties, where entire meals were constructed around these fascinating tubers. And it seems to me, judging by the frantic phone calls I get at The Organic Centre, that some gardeners are going mad for ocas.
Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) is a long-ignored South American tuber that is now beginning to show up in markets that specialise in unusual Latin American ingredients. A highly productive perennial plant, it has waxy, brightly coloured tubers that are perfect as a season-extending crop. In its native lands of Bolivia and Peru, the oca is second only to the potato in agricultural importance. It is an excellent source of carbohydrate, phosphorus and iron.
The tubers are best eaten boiled, baked or steamed. The leaves and yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers are edible and make great additions to salads.

How to grow ocas
Ocas are very easy to grow. They don’t suffer from blight and seem to be very disease and pest resistant. The only thing you need is patience: They need a long growing season, as the tubers don’t start growing before the autumn equinox (less than 12 hours of light per day). For that reason, they are better suited to polytunnels, where they can be better protected from early frost.
Ocas are basically grown like potatoes. Plant them after the last frost, at 30-40cm spacing and at a depth of 5cm. After a few weeks, small stalks with clover-like leaves will appear. Give them a weeding once they are big enough, and after about two months. That’s all there is to do until November or December, when the frost will kill the foliage. It’s time then to dig the tubers up. If you don’t have early frost, keep them in the ground until early December for the biggest yield. You can pluck a few leaves throughout the summer to add to your green salads.
Yields are on a par with that of potatoes. If growing them at home, leave them in the sun for a few days once dug, as this sweetens the flavour.

Hans Wieland is training manager at The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, which offers courses and information on organic growing, and runs an Eco Shop and an online gardening store. For more information or to download the centre’s free 2013 Course Programme and Seed Catalogue, visit www.theorganiccentre.ie.