ANYA POTATO

By David Marks
You may not have noticed but you can only buy Anya potatoes in Sainsburys, the reason is that they are grown only by Albert Bartletts and the only supermarket they supply to is Sainsbury’s. The connection between the potato and the two companies is even more cosy when you consider that Anya is named after the wife of Baron Sainsbury.

I’m not sure exactly what she thought about that honour though because Anya has to be one of the most ugly potatoes ever grown. It’s long, thin, has deep sunken eyes and is very knobbly.

PARENTAGE

The parents of Anya are Pink Fir Apple x Desiree.

APPEARANCE, TASTE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ANYA

The Anya Potato

The Anya potato will never win a beauty contest but it does taste good and many chefs agree with that opinion. The taste is slightly unusual being nutty, almost like a chestnut. The have a waxy flesh which marks them out as a top quality salad boiling potatoes. They hold their shape well and are also excellent for sautéing and roasting.

POSITIVE POINTS FOR ANYA
Taste is the overriding reason for growing Anya potatoes. They have some resistance to common scab and blackleg.

NEGATIVE POINTS FOR ANYA
Susceptible to eelworm (potato cyst nematode), blight and powdery scab can also be a problem. Yields are not high.

BUYING ANYA SEED POTATOES IN THE UK

Anya is a common variety of potato and is available online, from garden centres and diy store.

We recommend buying your seed potatoes from certified suppliers because those sold in supermarkets for consumption can be a source of disease and pest. We would avoid buying them from online general retailers such as as Amazon or E-bay unless you know exactly who is supplying the seed potatoes.

Buying seed potatoes from the discount store can be a good deal but it can also result in a sub-standard crop. The discount stores take the second quality seed potatoes whereas the more conventional suppliers take the best quality. Unfortunately you will only find this out after you have carefully tended your crop for several months.

Suttons Seeds sell Anya seed potatoes which are not only correctly certified but they are graded by size to avoid unduly small seed potatoes being sold. Click here for more information and to buy Anya online. A 1kg bag will contain about 11 good sized seed potatoes.

ALTERNATIVES TO ANYA POTATOES

It’s difficult to suggest alternatives to the Anya potatoes because they are a rather unusual potato both in shape and taste. Kestrel might be worth a try, they taste good and the skin markings are rather unusual.

For other potato varieties which we have fully reviewed, click the drop down box below, select a variety and then click the More Information Button.

The planting and harvest dates used below are correct for the UK average. If you want them to be even more accurate and adjusted for your area of the UK click here. It only takes a minute and the adjustment affects every date in this site and lasts for six months.

WHEN TO CHIT / SPROUT ANYA POTATOES

We recommend that you start chitting / sprouting Anya potatoes in. the third week of February This will give them four to five weeks to develop healthy sprouts just at the time when they are ready to be planted out. Keep the potatoes in cool but light conditions to ensure they grow short, green sprouts. Click here for our page dedicated to chitting / sprouting potatoes in the UK and Ireland.

WHEN TO PLANT ANYA POTATOES

Anya potatoes are second earlies potatoes and they are ready for harvest, if conditions are correct, 15 to 17 weeks after the seed potatoes are planted. The key factor governing the time for planting all potatoes is the date of the last frost in your area. Even a touch of frost can damage potato plants if their foliage is above ground, an unexpected severe frost can kill them completely.

The date for planting Anya potato seed can be calculated on the basis that seed potatoes will take four weeks before they appear above ground. Given also that you want them to appear above ground only when the danger of frost has passed (the last week of April is the UK average ) the last week of March is about right time to plant them.

HOW TO PLANT ANYA POTATOES

Anya potatoes are no different from other second early potatoes, get the planting time correct (see above paragraph) and you are more than half way to planting them correctly. For a full and detailed description description on planting potatoes click here. Below we give you a summary of the key points to ensure your Anya potatoes are planted correctly:

Ensure that you choose a sunny position and one that hasn’t grown potatoes (or other veg in the same family) for the last two years. See our crop rotation plan page
if in doubt.
The ground should be well dug, reasonably fertile and not subject to water-logging
Plant at a depth of 10cm / 4in, each seed potato should be 30cm / 12in apart and rows should be 60cm / 24in apart.
Aim to have the majority of sprouts towards the top.
Gently cover with soil to avoid damaging any of the sprouts.

WHEN TO HARVEST ANYA POTATOES

The harvest date for all potatoes is not only dependent on when you plant your seed potatoes, it also depends on the weather conditions throughout the growing season. But on average you can expect your potatoes to be ready for harvest some time between the second and last weeks of July 2017 in your area of the UK.

If you have more Anya potatoes than you can eat it’s best to leave them in ground rather than harvest them and store them indoors. Anya potatoes, left in the ground will keep in good condition for four weeks.

PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE OF ANYA POTATO

The table below sets out how good or bad Anya potato plants are at resisting common pests and diseases in the UK. The 0 point is average with minus (red) values showing lower than average resistance and plus values (green) showing higher than average resistance.

	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5
Late blight – foliage
Late blight – tubers
Common scab
Powdery scab
Slugs
Potato Cyst Nematode (pallida)
Potato Cyst Nematode (rostochiensis)
Blackleg
Splitting
	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5