Pembrokeshire New Potatoes

Cousin Helen a Pembrokeshire girl married Jamie an Irish man at Picton Castle near Haverfordwest. The nuptials were celebrated with a delicious Pembrokeshire feast.The following day before boarding the Pembroke Dock ferry for home a group of Irish guests having already done their detective work found their way through the lanes to Broom Hall Farm in Angle suppliers of the wedding potato, to stock up on the outstanding new potatoes they had eaten at the wedding. What better accolade for the quality of a potato.

Picton Castle & Gardens are open to the public

Barry Hathaway of Broom Hall Farm specialises in growing vegetables. You can buy his seasonal produce including potatoes, carrots, swedes, cauliflowers, cabbages, parsnips, leeks and more at the farm or at  Pembroke and Haverfordwest Farmers Markets. In May he recommends Minerva new potatoes and in June Minerva or Crystal Lady.

Pembrokeshire’s mild climate is conducive to the success of its early new potatoes the quality of which is on a par with Jersey Royals. The delicious potatoes crop earlier and are therefore in the shops before produce from other parts of the UK.

Edward England of Cardiff was one of the most influential and inventive Potato Merchants in the UK buying his first new potatoes from Brittany in France in 1909. The new potatoes were such a success that he bought a steam ship to race his supply to eager customers.

He recognised Pembrokeshire’s potential as a potato growing region. In 1935 he started the Pembrokeshire Marketing Scheme which was highly successful with more and more Pembrokeshire farmers taking part. As his business expanded he bought new lorries to transport the potatoes overnight to ensure maximum freshness. After 150 successful years the Edward England business was sold in 2003 to a like minded 50 year old family concern Mason’s Potatoes. The company continues to thrive to this day as does the success of Pembrokeshire New Potatoes.