Can't offer any solution, but if you find something's good in this crazy weather - go with it!

Hello again Diane,
I've never even heard of pink fir apple, but after the failure this year of my Maris Pipers and Home Guard I'll be setting P.F.A. Next year. Thanks for the tip.

Most potatoes are subject to slugs, Diane. If your pink firs are not then go for them again along with other similar varieties - they are classed as salad potatoes I think. Hopefully the predicted hard winter will reduce the number of slugs again.

"predicted hard winter" Bulbaholic?! Who's predicted that, I can feel my heart sinking to my boots, hadn't heard that myself...

That comes directly from the Snowberry bush at Cairngorm, Bamboo. If the berries come early and are large and juicy then we will have a hard winter. This is exactly what happened in 2009 and 2010, the reverse in 2011. The pyschic bush already has the berries in 2012!
Scoff ye not, this forcast is just as accurate as anything that the Met. Office produces.

Not scoffing - will be interesting to see how things turn out though. Bought the snow shovel last year, luckily, lol

Hard Winter ? Good job I'm going to California again then !

Maybe it'll just be bad up in the Cairngorms, and not in London... and lucky you Hank...

You keep your hard winter over there! We had a hard enough one last winter!

Well, its anybody's guess what the weather will be like round the world, never mind here, now that ole' global warming has kicked in and started the process of change... maybe you'll get regular blizzards, Nariz, lol

I find Pink Fir Apple do well even as volunteers left in the ground accidentally. A lovely potato as long as you eat them young before they go floury. Lady Cristl and Casablanca do well as first earlies but do need digging before the slugs get into their stride.

Thank you for that Steragram, will look out for those varieties. Although Pink Fir Apple are classed as salad potatoes I eat them with every meal. Just scrubbed, sliced, and 5 minutes on high in the microwave with some water. Really nice flavour. Will grow double the quantity next year.
I grew up in the country John. As children we were told that when the Hawthorn bushes had a lot of berries it would be a harsh winter. We can learn so much from nature. I wonder if Alpines grown in polytunnels at GCs can survive winter weather because they are mountain plants ? I covered mine with an old sack weighted down with a couple of bricks last year, they really thrived.

What? ... more regular than the regular ones??????

Diane, my first reaction was to ridicule your idea of covering alpines with an old sack in winter, but then I thought about it! In the wild these plants spend several months of the year under a deep blanket of snow. Whilst the air temperature may be many degrees below zero the temperature at beneath the snow is round about zero; so not very cold. They get minimal levels of light through the snow, there is no ventilation (wind) and a just small amount of water trickling beneath the snow. So, what the difference between that and your old sack - not a lot. The only danger that I see with your method is if they become too wet and stagnent in mild spells.