Blue Congo/Blå Kongo

[GunnarSK]

This is a very old kind of potato, and the best known one with purple flesh and skin in Europe. It is propagated and sold by SPK in Finland http://www.spk.fi/index.php?id=219 (although 25 kg. is the smallest portion) and possibly also at local nurseries. In Sweden the potato variety is carried by many nurseries, and in Denmark it is also available at the Seed Savers' site: www.froesamlerne.dk (but only to members). If you find the potatoes for sale in a shop as food, you can always try to grow them, but organic potatoes are best, because they haven't been treated with sprout inhibitors. Blue Congo is a late/autumn potato, but they can already be eaten at summer solstice (mid summer), as is the tradition in Sweden.
It is not entirely clear, if this is a Swedish variety or it is originally from UK (Britain), but it is most popular in Sweden.

[Tom Wagner]

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collectio...8-10-2003E.pdf

Recent investigations among several blue-fleshed varieties
at the Potato Research Centre have provided strong
evidence that the following varieties are genetically
identical to each other:
< Congo
< British Columbia Blue
< McIntosh Black
< River John Blue
< Sharon’s Blue

[Tom Wagner]

In addition to the above
synonyms, the literature records several more names of
varieties which are reported to be equivalent of Congo.
Scientific fingerprinting would have to be done before it
can be concluded that these are definite synonyms but
their similar phenotypes certainly point in that direction.
These include All Blue, Blue Congo, Congo Blue, Purp le
Congo, Nova Scotia Blue and Himalayan Black

So many of these synonymous varieties have been crossed to other blue types that I almost forget that the lines could be the same. If you read the article carefully, you will find a justification for maintaining the names regardless of likely copycat versions. The clones become clones in their own right or at least sub selections. Any time a clone is reproduced through many generations it will undoubtedly pick up minute mutations, etc.

[svalli]

I have been trying to find seed potatoes for Blue Congo or even potatoes for eating, but none of the stores here carry them. A co-worker's cousin has a farm where he grows Blue Congo. Most of his crops go to reaturants. I will try to bribe the guy at office to get some potatoes for me from his cousin.

SPK sells only to farmers and delivers on 1000kg pallets, so they won't sell me just 5 kg of seed potatoes. The 25 kg is their smallest bag size, but deliveries are on increments of 1000 kg.

[GunnarSK]

Originally Posted by svalli

I have been trying to find seed potatoes for Blue Congo or even potatoes for eating, but none of the stores here carry them. A co-worker's cousin has a farm where he grows Blue Congo. Most of his crops go to reaturants. I will try to bribe the guy at office to get some potatoes for me from his cousin.

SPK sells only to farmers and delivers on 1000kg pallets, so they won't sell me just 5 kg of seed potatoes. The 25 kg is their smallest bag size, but deliveries are on increments of 1000 kg.

I will try and see if I can get them as a member of the Danish Seed Savers, but there may be a problem with the payment, and in any case I will have to wait for some time. If it works all right, I may be able to send some to you in April, either from here or from Denmark, and I will definitely let you know.

[svalli]

Thanks for your offer Gunnar, if I can't find a seller in Finland I may contact you when visiting Warsaw for a conference in end of April. I found that the Finnish Hyötykasviyhdistys (Association of useful plants) has had Blue Congo on their catalog for 2009. They have not yet updated lists for 2010, but if none of the garden centers around Vaasa sell the seed potatoes, I may be able to order them from Hyötykasviyhdistys.

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collectio...8-10-2003E.pdf

Old Blue would be within this group also Tom??

[Tom Wagner]

Old Blue would be within this group also Tom??

Not that I can read but I did find some possible connection with the collections of Curzio's.

On Aug 31, 2009, curzio from Kenosha, WI wrote:
The Swedish word for old is corretly spelled 'gamla', So the Old Blue should be Gamla Blå (å is pronouced like o)
http://davesgarden.com/community/for...hp?user=curzio

this has about 6 pages of links to old potato varieties
------------------------------------\
Since you are in New Zealand, you may have already read the 51 pages of varieties in your country. To anyone else..this is fascinating reading if you love potato trivia like I do. Here is the pdf

http://www.potatoesnz.co.nz/user_fil...ed_History.pdf
does not have a link to any variety called Old Blue but there is one to Old Red

The only Old Blue I find is Old Blue Don, a forgotten male parent of Up To Date. UTD is a white but I will plant lots of it this year to cross to some of my favorite blues to see if I can get a throw back typel

I'll see if I can talk with Curzio about his Old Blue.

Tom Wagner

[svalli]

I ordered 6 kg of Blue Kongo seed tubers from Hyötykasviyhdistys last nignt. I may need to call them on monday, since their ordering form had no place to put an e-mail and there was no confirmation number or anything like that about the order. The potatoes will be shipped in April and I do not want to wait so long, to find out, if my order went through.

I also ordered some jerusalem artichokes, which I have never before grown or even eaten. On the same catalog they had bio tomato fertilizer, which may be the Tomaten Dunger Ami has been posting about, so I had to add that to my shopping cart too.

[GunnarSK]

Originally Posted by svalli

I ordered 6 kg of Blue Kongo seed tubers from Hyötykasviyhdistys last nignt. I may need to call them on monday, since their ordering form had no place to put an e-mail and there was no confirmation number or anything like that about the order. The potatoes will be shipped in April and I do not want to wait so long, to find out, if my order went through.

Congratulations on getting these potatoes in an amateur quantity (if it works out). I'm still going to order Blue Congo for when I go to Denmark, and maybe also a red variety (Highland Burgundy Red and/or All Red), and if your order works, I will just use them for myself and distribute to Germany.

[svalli]

I recieved finally my Blue Congo seed tubers via mail. The company had lost my original order and shipped everything quickly to me after I contacted them again.

Now I have also 2 kg of Azet Tomaten Dunger. That stuff stinks weird, but not as bad as the composted chicken poop.

[wmontanez]

Congratulations! Love the happy dance potato

[Medbury Gardens]

Whats Azet Tomaten Dunger svalli???

[svalli]

Originally Posted by Medbury Gardens

Whats Azet Tomaten Dunger svalli???

It is an organic fertilizer from a German company. Ami and Ray have had good results with it.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ghlight=dunger