The month of April marks the beginning of vegetable gardening season, and would any veggie garden be truly complete without a potato patch? Growing tasty, disease-resistant spuds is easy with a little help from the pros; I sat down with our potato grower, Cliff Doerksen from JD Spuds to get the real scoop on growing potatoes in our area.
Q: We keep hearing that potatoes are good for you and then seem to see them excluded from every popular diet on the market. What are the facts on the nutritional qualities of potatoes?
A: Potatoes are one of the main food crops of the world. Easily digested, potatoes have a high nutritional value. A potato tuber is about 78% water and 18% starch (carbohydrates). The rest is protein, minerals, and about 0.1% fat. Potatoes contain many vitamins, including vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine, and niacin. Among the many minerals found in potatoes are calcium, potassium, phosphorous, and magnesium. Because they are notably lacking in sodium, potatoes are sometimes suggested for inclusion in low sodium diets. A potato is a vegetable that is high in antioxidants, fat free, and is a good substitute for rice, pasta, or bread. Potatoes are also high in fiber. Potatoes sometimes get a bad rap as being fattening or unhealthy, but they really aren’t. What you put on your potato can add calories and/ or fat. Let’s all eat healthy.
Q: Okay so now we know they’re good for us. Can you give me some tips on which varieties are good for our area?
A: There are over a dozen varieties that we have selected for great growing and harvest here. Along with the standards Norland (red skin, early), Russet Burbank (a.k.a. Netted Gem, white, late), Yukon Gold (yellow skin, mid-season), there are other varieties that are gaining popularity. To name just a few, you can try Bintje (yellow skin, late), Kennebec (white skin, mid-season), Sangre (bright red skin, mid-late season), French Fingerling (red skin, mid-late season), and Caribe (purple skin, mid-season).
Q: What is the best way to plant potato tubers?
A: To energize seed potatoes before planting, lay the seed in a single layer in subdued sunlight at room temperatures. As article on greening the potatoes said that this makes for more even and quicker germination by 15%. Plant the potatoes 2- 5 inches deep and 1-1.5 feet apart. The soil temperature is just as important – it should be at least 50degrees Fahrenheit before planting. If potato seed is in cold, wet ground for too long, it may rot. Planting whole seed makes for a stronger plant, especially in dry years, and has a lesser chance of developing disease. Scab is more prevalent in dry years. Choosing scab resistant varieties, planting in well-drained soil, and keeping your potatoes watered can really help to avoid scab problems. And just so you know, scab is only cosmetic and won’t change the flavor of the potato.
Q: How about storing your potatoes once you have harvested them?
A: If possible, the storage of potatoes should be kept at 5 degrees Celsius with high humidity to avoid moisture loss. Remember that the potato is a living organism and needs air to store well. Any variety will store well in these conditions. If you can’t store potatoes in these conditions, pick potatoes which have a long dormancy. Also, remember that keeping potatoes in the dark keeps them from turning green; while green potatoes are excellent when planting, they are actually toxic to eat.
Q: How do I get rid of scab?
A: Scab is that horrible, corky and scaly-like deformation of the skin of certain root veggies. Caused by the pathogenic bacterium, Streptomyces scabies, scab is a real pain in the backside for potato producers, both commercial and residential alike. Reducing plant vigor, decreasing tuber size, and rendering a substantial portion of the tuber inedible are classic results of a scab infection. The best way to deal with scab is through prevention: make sure your planting and cultivating tools are always clean, select only professionally-grown seed potatoes (trying to grow tubers from grocery store potatoes that you have previously purchased for eating fresh rarely produces a bountiful, healthy crop), keep a close eye on the soil PH levels throughout the growing season (scab loves acidic conditions), and dust your potatoes with potato fungicide prior to planting if you have had problems with scab in the past. There are also several scab-resistant potato varieties out there!
Now that the sun looks like it is here to stay, I for one am very excited to get going on my veggie garden. Far from a difficult chore, planting potatoes is easy and fun to do. If you have a huge garden or no garden at all, grow some potatoes this year! Space constraints can be conquered with a bit of creative thinking: garbage cans, old tires, and soft-sided vinyl potato planters are all great alternatives to a traditional garden. With early potatoes ripening in as little as 6 weeks from planting, a tasty treat for your summer table is just around the corner…now just to figure out how to grow bacon and sour cream…!
