As the Jersey Royal season gets under way, Emma Hughes goes in search of buried treasure
OBVIOUSLY I’m biased, but I really think they’re the best potatoes in the world,’ Christine Hellio says, looking out over her 350 vergées (87½ acres) of land as we speak on the phone. She and her husband, Didier, grow a Mr McGregor-worthy assortment of vegetables—cauliflowers, parsnips, sprouts, sweet potatoes—but none of them touch her in quite the same way. ‘This is the thing we look forward to most,’ she confides.
It’s a blustery January day on the northwest of the island and the Hellios’ minds are on Jersey Royals. For 12 weeks a year, the potatoes—pebbly, paper-skinned, butteryfleshed—are all they think about. The growing season brings the rest of Jersey to a virtual standstill; about 22,000 tonnes (2,165 tons) of potatoes are exported during and after it. ‘We produce about 600 tonnes just on our farm,’ Mrs Hellio says. ‘Yes, it’s intense.’
South-facing, sheltered by the Bay of St Malo and criss-crossed by hedges and stone walls, the island’s soils warm fast, making it one of the earliest spots for potatoes. At the start of the year, seed Jerseys start being carefully laid out by hand in cotils, the sloping fields overlooking the sea that are unique to Jersey. For the following three months, they’re tended to with extraordinary love and care. Think pandas get the kidglove treatment? They’re manhandled like parcels compared with Jerseys.
Denne historien er fra May 22, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 22, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
