Foremost Seed Potato AGM (First Early)

Foremost is an early potato, meaning it grows quickly and is ready to harvest early in the season as a classic new potato. It has smooth white skin and firm, white, waxy flesh that holds its shape well when boiled or steamed, making it ideal for salads or serving simply with butter. Gardeners like Foremost because it has good resistance to scab, produces plenty of evenly sized tubers, and has a very good, slightly nutty flavour.

Start with chitting the seed tubers in egg boxes or trays in a cool, light, frost-free spot from late winter, with the end having most eyes facing up until you see short, sturdy green shoots reach 1–2cm long.

Plant outdoors from March to April in a sunny, sheltered spot with moist, well-drained, fertile soil. Dig a trench that is 10–15cm deep, and space your chitted seed potatoes 25–30cm apart in rows 45–60cm apart with shoots upwards. Cover your Foremost potatoes with soil, water well, and earth up mounds around stems as plants grow to protect tubers from light.

For containers, use deep bags or pots with drainage, add 10–15cm compost, place 3–4 chitted tubers shoots up, cover, water, and keep adding compost as shoots emerge to the rim for a generous crop of first early Foremost potatoes.

Foremost potatoes, as a first early variety, typically take 10-12 weeks to mature from planting, though some sources note 13-15 weeks depending on conditions. Planted in March to mid-April in the UK, they will produce harvestable new potatoes by early to mid-June or July.