November 2, 2017 About Potatoes

We are going to plant things, to eat and sell. Our first garden is plotted out and the ground is being carefully prepared for tilling. The basic garden plans are all made, so it is time to start thinking about particulars. today we are thinking about potatoes.

Nothing is simpler to grow than potatoes and few things are less expensive as a result. Americans rarely use more than three or four varieties, most know only the Idaho Spud, the basic Russet Burbank.  There is nothing wrong with the Burbank it makes a fine French Fry and a good baker. But the Russetting trait makes the skin tough and thick on an otherwise smooth skinned tuber, interfering with the flavor and requiring wasting the skin before eating. During the seventies it became popular to eat the skins, some even took to stuffing them with cheese and sour cream. Not a bad way to mask the truth of an otherwise unpalatable thing.

Eventually, industrial sized farming practices started to make smaller crops sold at farmer's markets desirable for those interested and willing to pay (even if these did keep prices very low). Other, more tasty, less trashy, potatoes started making their way onto the market. In the Pacific Northwest the Baby Red got to be a regular, at first with the farmer's market crowd, then  with the supermarket buyer as larger farms found the market right. Today we see five or six types of potatoes at the farmer's markets and perhaps three or four at the supermarket. The Organic foods trend brought organic varieties to the supermarket shelves, but these are most often the same potato varieties found in the regular selection. Not new stuff, just a few things to raise the average slightly.

But no matter the variety, there are few things easier, to put in the ground and then pull back up, than the potato.

Our plan is to offer much the same variety as the supermarket, using organic factors and clean soil, though not certified organic. We will not plant the Burbank potato because it is a lower order of spud. We will plant the Yukon Gold, Baby Red, and (my favorite new variety today) the German Butterball instead. The selling price for these at the Farmer's Market is slightly higher than the Burbank, but with a few tricks I believe we can make these a wonderful eating and best selling product for our fruit stand.

• Firstly, we can plant enough of them. One plant can yield ten pounds. Each taking space along side of other crops and harvested as needed.
• Secondly, we can plant each variety in two different means to produce two different sizes of spuds. Both baby and large forms of potato can be grown for each variety simply by chitting them differently (dividing each seed potato differently before planting).
• Thirdly, we can make seed potatoes which people can buy to plant in their own gardens. This is really just another way to sell small potatoes, but seed potatoes are an emerging and growing market, so we want in.

Each of the three varieties will yield three products. Each product sell to a different need, for a different price.

The only thing left to do is to find the best way to get this thing started. Only time will tell if we are to be successful; but by planting the right thing, at the right time, in the right soil, with the right water, we should be.