looking for European source of seed Potatoes

Hi,
I'd really like to grow some different kinds of potatoes next year, and I'm looking around for seed.
I live in italy and I'm finding it hard to get my hands on the potatoes I want.

From what I gather, Italy doesn't produce potato seed due to climate, aphids, something about vector-free production and whatever else. The result is that the potatoes that we can buy at the supermarket and even from organic growers are pretty LAME.

I brought some Sweet Potatoes from the US with me and I'm planning to overwinter them (only have the skins, and it probably won't work, but I'm gonna give it a whirl anyway)...

I'd also be interested in some Purple potatoes or anything heirloom.

I found an awesome UK site with great potatoes, but they only deliver to the UK.
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/delivery

I really want to be able to eat sweet potatoes or yams....mmmmmmm.

If anyone knows how to get their hands on some potatoes, I'd be really interested in knowing. Maybe if I looked on some german sites; they, like americans, seem to be more into the potato.

thanks,
william

i have some experience in growing potatoes in mediteranean climate... first of all you have to plant them early otherwise sun will kill plant and tubers will not finish growing. if youre in south you can even leave some of them over winter and obseve - they know whats best time for them to go out. i would highly recommand mulching.
aphids are not a problem. anything killes them, like ordinary soap. i would be more concerned for colorado beatle. check out do you have them in your area. plant horseraddish around potato beds - they repell them....
for sorts - it doesnt matter much, just try to find oldest sorts possible. those new ones can be very lame. avoid bying seed from west europe - once i bought seeds from there and all got rotten from some virus infection....

you may be able to use potatoes from the store, if they have not had a chemical put on them to keep them from sprouting..so if you find a potato you like, put it in storage and see if it will sprout, then plant it if it does.

Brenda Groth wrote:so if you find a potato you like, put it in storage and see if it will sprout, then plant it if it does.

That's kind of the crux of the matter. Nobody near me sells potatoes worth replanting.
I'm looking online to get a seller in the gate for spring from some other european country that has a wider variety of potatoes.
best,
william

Perhaps this can help.

http://www.europotato.org/breederindex.php

these people seem to have a pretty good selection
http://www.alanromans.com/ ; Another site that led me to them said that  they supply Thompson and Morgan with some of their potato stock.