Although we don't care too much about store bought potatoes, my husband and I are hooked on the wide variety of spuds we can grow ourselves. Unfortunately, this picture is of the last of the potatoes from this years crop. However, we are left with tasty memories and fun plans for next year. This year we grew Adora, Carola, Mountain Rose and Rose Finn Apple potatoes. Although they would all be worth trying again, we will be growing 5 different varieties this year. I just want to try every variety of spuds I can get my hands on at least once if possible.If I ever decide to grow a variety I've tried before, it is likely it will be Rose Finn Apple. It is a fingerling and was wonderful roasted whole on the grill or fire pit or used as a thickener. I peeled them and pureed the Rose Finn's into soups and sauces. It makes for a smooth and delicious thick soup.
The Mountain Rose is just a beautiful spud. The rose coloring makes for unusual but lovely mashed potatoes. They were creamy and delicious. This potato was also great fried in slices or wedges on the fire-pit. I like them for the taste alone but the pretty rose color is a nice bonus. They really dress up a plate. A spoonful of the pink Mountain Rose mashed potatoes looked nice next to a spoon of the mashed golden yellow Carola spuds. I can't say much about the storing qualities of either the Mountain Rose or Rose Finn Apple, we ate them up before they could be put to the test.
The Adora and Carola are both good potatoes but I wouldn't rush to grow them again. They were good on the fire-pit (all spuds are) or boiled and the Carola made a richly flavored mashed potato. Both were excellent keepers. We don't have a root cellar yet (it is in the dreaming stages) but they stored well in a slightly cool basement.
I haven't found a potato we don't like yet but there are some we really love to grow. Our favorite treat will always be digging new potatoes, splashing them with the garden hose and putting them on the fire-pit without them making a trip into the house. Although we enjoy trying to eat a "Hundred Mile Diet", nothing beats the 50 foot diet. You can't get more local than that.
8 comments:
Wow, thanks for potato information. I love potatoes. Will pass the information on to my hubby for spring planning.
Hope you are still spinning for exercise.
*sniff*
wow great gardening blog, making my hungry. :-)
Are you saying that all potatoes DON'T come from the grocery store? That you can actually grow them in a garden. Kidding, of course.
This post makes me want to run outside and start digging a garden so that I can plant potatoes.
Although I'm very familiar with eating local, I'd not heard of the Hundred Mile Diet. Will check it out. Thanks for all the good information.
donna
Donna- it took me many years to find that food didn't come from the grocery store :)
The potatoes have been so fun and easy to grow. Although some do end up in a raised bed, we especially like to grow them in cloth "Smart Pots" or other containers. It is nice to be able to just empty the container into a wheelbarrow, go treasure hunting for the spuds and then dump the soil into a compost pile. It's a nice no dig method.
Although we don't follow a strict 100 mile diet, we like to buy directly from local farmers when possible and grow as much as we can in our yard.
We WILL NOT be strict about the 100 mile diet until the day someone figures out how to grow coffee in Wisconsin :)
Thanks for the potato review! Those rose colored ones sound wonderful to me. I like my food colorful! I'll have to try those potato pots, as I haven't enough to grow them in the ground.
YUMMeee, we are potato people too.
I grew a few potatoes this year too, but didn't get very good yields. No storing for mine either though. I am SO looking forward to spring. Any thoughts on the potatoes you will grow this year? What kind of yields do you get? Any advise on getting more potatoes from my garden would be greatly appreciated!
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