We also visited one of the packing sheds for Jersey Royals. (potato) We get ours hand dug with a bit of ground on, which we wash off. The supermarkets in the UK demand that the potatos are washed and baged up. The washing and sorting process is quite extensive, and a lot of potatoes are wasted in my opinion. These are the ones that have slight rust marks on them, the rust comes off with a bit of a scrape. However the bag we were given to try was nice but not as good as the fresh dug we get here.
Thats supermarkets for you. It's also why the cost of the potatos are so high in the UK! The farmer doesn't make a good margin, however the process is very efficient. Perhaps if everyone ate more Jersey Royals and didn't mind the 'rusty' bits they would be good value. They are delicious sliced and fried leftover ones with breakfast, and not just a potato to have with salads in the early summer. The cold ones also make wonderful potato salad. We also use them in thai curry and cook them in the sauce to take the saltiness out of the fish paste.
I have been doing a few paintings. I am enjoying the art classes I have been going to. It's drawing tonight. Quick sketches of a live model. I don't go with any expectations of myself and just see what happens.
Lots of different looking stuff has happened to the website browser thingy since I haven't posted, perhaps I just don't like changes once I have got used to something... getting old as well as grey perhaps!