Belle de Fontenay

[shelleybean]

I'm considering growing these for salads and roasting. Does anyone here have any experience with this variety? I'm trying to avoid a late season fingerling. Thank you in advance.

[Tom Wagner]

I'm considering growing these for salads and roasting. Does anyone here have any experience with this variety? I'm trying to avoid a late season fingerling. Thank you in advance.

Shelleybean,
I have grown this variety for quite a few years. It is an early variety so you don't have to worry about it being late like Ozette and some others. The flavor is very good and I've often wondered why folks seldom grow it.


Belle de Fontenay France 1885 Vieille variété (Old Variety) unknown parentage. Fontenay is an area north of Paris, France

Synonyms
BOULANGERE
HAINAULT
HENAUT

I have lots of experience using it as a parent in breeding and many of Belle's descendants. A Grand Daughter of Belle de Fontenay (Spunta) didn't maintain the flavor, probably because of all the Katahdin introgression. I am including just a few of the direct offspring of Belle de Fontenay for people like me who are pedigree nuts.

BF 15 FRA 1947 BELLE DE FONTENAY x FLAVA


BELKA HOL BELLE DE FONTENAY x KATAHDIN

BEA HOL 1954 ARI x BELKA

ARI HOL 1950 RECORD x KATAHDIN

SPUNTA HOL 1968 BEA x USDA 96-5

BURREN IRL 1993 MARFONA x SPUNTA

MONDIAL HOL 1987 SPUNTA x VE 66-295

Belle de Fontenay

Maturity:

Very early

Flower colour:
Blue violet

Flower frequency:
Very rare

Berries:
Very rare

Tuber skin colour:
White to yellow

Tuber eye colour:
Yellow

Primary tuber flesh colour:
Yellow

Tuber shape:
Oval to long

Tuber eye depth:
Shallow

Tuber skin texture:
Smooth

Similar matches to Belle de Fontenay
9/10 Monalisa
8/10 Spunta


Tom Wagner

[shelleybean]

Thanks, Tom. You said just what I wanted to hear. I ordered some for spring and now I'm looking forward to them even more than I was before!!

[kktwahoo]

Michele,

Where did you order them from?

Thanks

[shelleybean]

Milk Ranch/Potatogarden/Ronnigers site. I can't find them anywhere else. And they must be sold out now because they're not listed there anymore. I ordered the week of Thanksgiving.

[shelleybean]

Well, it took this long for the vines to die back and I dug these today. Compared to last year, I was thrilled. I haven't tasted these yet but I was so happy to keep finding...and finding...and finding...and finding more and more potatoes! My kids (5 and 2 1/2) were so excited. They helped dig them. We also grew French Fingerling but we got about half the amount we got from Belle de Fontenay. Too bad it's so hard to find the seed potatoes for this variety--at least here in the US.

[OmahaJB]

Shelleybean,

Thanks for posting your experience with this variety. Depending on if or how much potato seed I decide to grow next year, this sounds like a good candidate for me to grow if I decide to try a new to me variety. I believe the ones I had this year were all 90-110 days or close to it - and I've ended up with alot of tiny to small sized (3 oz.?) potatoes so far. Still have about 5 of the bags to look through, however. Could be too that my problem was self-induced by starting too late, and not using fertilizer, except what was in the container soil itself. Will be working on harvesting some of the other bags today... maybe I'll see some increase in size. I'll have to remember 'Belle de Fontenay'.

Jeff

[shelleybean]

Jeff,

I had the same experience as you with the late season varieties. Just a few very small potatoes. Pretty disappointing. I did have a few smaller Belle de Fontenays but mostly good sized potatoes. I was thinking I might have had better luck with these because they were an early variety. We'll have to see if these are offered again in November. If not, it looks like "Charlotte" is similar and might make a good substitution for an early salad potato.

[OmahaJB]

Michele,

Did you consider saving the smaller potatoes to grow out next year? I know they say it's better to buy certified seed potatoes each year rather than saving your own for disease purposes, but it might be a back-up plan. I'm just now considering saving some of mine since they aren't much use being so small. I've eaten some but prefer better sized potatoes. A girl at work asked for some because she likes using the smaller ones to put in with a roast, so I'll give her some and probably save most of the rest - or at least attempt to. I doubt I'll have much luck getting them to last until next spring. They taste ok and are tender, but I still prefer them larger than what these are.

[shelleybean]

I doubt these potatoes will still be around at planting time, Jeff.

I agree about the pot roast. I grow those little round "Paris Market" carrots and leave them whole, with tiny potatoes and boiling onions, also left whole. It works well.

[Lamb Abbey Orchards]

What has happened to Belle de Fontenay and why does no one in the States carry it anymore? Fedco used to sell it, as did Milk Ranch/Ronnigers.

Any suggestions for US sources of it aside from the SSE? How about for Amandine? That one seemed to have disappeared as well.

Thanks!


John