Potato Days in the UK
Created | Updated Feb 7, 2007
UK style Potato Days were "invented" by Jackie Gear MBE in 1995. At the time she was co-director of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA), now renamed Garden Organic, which is the largest organisation for amateur gardeners in the UK with over 30,000 members. She was concerned about the reduction in the numbers of varieties of vegetables that were available. The reduction is a direct result of the EU's regulations on seeds which were aimed at the prevention of fraud by selling wrongly marked seeds or inventing new names for old varieties. Almost needless to say, the implementation of the regulations were over the top and mean that for a variety of vegetable seed to be sold in the EU it has to be registered, this is a long (and costly process). The result is that only varieties that are sold in large quantities are registered. This is great for farmers who buy large quantities of the seed of commercial varieties but not for amateurs who only buy small packets of seed of varieties which suit their way of growing. So varieties which are suited to amateur growing but not commercial use were not being registered and old varieties were being lost.
Jackie decided to take action to preserve potato varieties and arranged a day on which around 50 varieties were available for sale as individual tubers. This meant that gardeners didn't have to buy a 3kg bag (the normal size found in garden centres or offered by seed catalogues) but could take as few as they wanted to try or to fit into their available space. To make the simple sale of potato tubers into an event, advice from potato growing experts, cookery demonstrations and talks on potato issues were added. After a couple of years the event was attracting thousands of visitors and was spread over 2 days.
This was great for gardeners living near Coventry but those further away couldn't take advantage of this gardening gold mine. So the HDRA's local groups stepped in and started to organise their own Days modelled on Jackie's. In 2007 10 local days are happening from Whitchurch, Hampshire in the South to Edinburg in the North. The highest number of varieties is available in Whitchurch with 143 in 2006.
These events have had a side effect on the overall availability of potato seed varieties available to the public. The seed mail order companies are now offering a much wider range with up to a hundred varieties listed by one of them. Garden centres have also widened their range and some offer individual tubers and special events with experts along to offer advice.
The Days have also grown in scope with the incorporation of activities such as potato tastings, children's activities, sales of other garden items and seed swaps.
A list of all the Days and some of the commercially organised events is at http://thewhitchurchweb.org/potatoday/potatodays.htm.
Jackie decided to take action to preserve potato varieties and arranged a day on which around 50 varieties were available for sale as individual tubers. This meant that gardeners didn't have to buy a 3kg bag (the normal size found in garden centres or offered by seed catalogues) but could take as few as they wanted to try or to fit into their available space. To make the simple sale of potato tubers into an event, advice from potato growing experts, cookery demonstrations and talks on potato issues were added. After a couple of years the event was attracting thousands of visitors and was spread over 2 days.
This was great for gardeners living near Coventry but those further away couldn't take advantage of this gardening gold mine. So the HDRA's local groups stepped in and started to organise their own Days modelled on Jackie's. In 2007 10 local days are happening from Whitchurch, Hampshire in the South to Edinburg in the North. The highest number of varieties is available in Whitchurch with 143 in 2006.
These events have had a side effect on the overall availability of potato seed varieties available to the public. The seed mail order companies are now offering a much wider range with up to a hundred varieties listed by one of them. Garden centres have also widened their range and some offer individual tubers and special events with experts along to offer advice.
The Days have also grown in scope with the incorporation of activities such as potato tastings, children's activities, sales of other garden items and seed swaps.
A list of all the Days and some of the commercially organised events is at http://thewhitchurchweb.org/potatoday/potatodays.htm.
