New potato harvest

This year’s harvest of North Otago’s acclaimed Jersey Benne new potatoes has finally begun in earnest, after wet weather delayed picking.

Peter Armstrong, of Armstrong and Co, said the early November rain was ‘‘brilliant’’ and growth was good. But the two and-a-half weeks of damp, dull conditions in mid-November ‘‘made things a bit tricky’’.

Last week the diggers got going and the paddocks were yielding good crops and flavours, Mr Armstrong said.

‘‘There’s been too much of the season lost to rain, but I hope we can have a good market into the New Year.’’