Among the foods most worth growing in our home vegetable gardens and allottments is the potato. Though there is a wider choice than ever in the supermarkets, nothing tastes so good as a freshly dug spud. But also because, when you experiment using different varieties for the different dishes in which they perform best, you'll find that there are a basic two or three types you like best - and you can never count on any shop to have a constant supply of them through the season. So do yourself a huge flavour favour, discover which potatoes you and your family prefer, and plant them for yourself.

The potato, Solanum tuberosum is an edible tuber, originally from South America; though perennial in some places there, is only half hardy in Europe. Potatoes are not grown from actual seed, like most vegetables, but by planting tiny tubers called "seed potatoes", and it is advisable to buy new ones each year, as it's important to get stock that is certified healthy and virus-free.

Trials have been done to see if chitting - exposing the seed potato to light to ecourage shoots to form before planting - is vital, and the good news is: it isn't. If you plant seed potatoes without bothering to chit them, you get a slightly smaller yield, but chitting speeds up the time between planting and maturity by only a few days. Chitting is still regarded as the best start for potatoes, but if you haven't already bought your seed potatoes and chitted them don't worry, there is still time to plant them.

Potatoes take up a lot of room, so if space is precious, do what we do at Le Manoir and grow the salad potatoes we've successfully trialled here, like Belle de Fontenay, Ratte, and Bintje that benefit most from being freshly dug and eaten. For their flavour we also like Pink Fir Apple, Yukon Gold and Estima. The last makes a good jacket potato. Desirée is a good variety for baked potatoes and chips, as is Maris Piper.

Try www.edwintucker.com and click on Tucker's Seeds to see a good range of varieties to buy.