{"id":7161,"date":"2025-12-08T12:17:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T20:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/?p=7161"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:25:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:25:04","slug":"the-almighty-potato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/2025\/12\/08\/the-almighty-potato\/","title":{"rendered":"The Almighty Potato"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kathryn Bedney, WSU Master Gardener<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potatoes are probably one of the most well-known garden crops and one of the first things that new gardeners grow. They are the source of extremely popular foods like French fries, potato chips, and mashed potatoes. Fermented and distilled, we get Vodka and a potential source of biofuel. They are a much-beloved staple crop around the world. But where did they come from and more importantly, how do we grow them ourselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one thing, though everyone currently associates the potato with Idaho (thanks to a very successful marketing campaign) or the Irish (due to the historical Irish Potato Famine), the potato actually originated in Peru in the Andes mountains more than 5,000 years ago. It traveled to Spain in the 1500s, and from there branched out to the rest of the world becoming one of the most important crops in the world for its nutritional value, the ease in which it can be grown, and its relatively high yield per acre. The roots of the potato can be kept in the ground up past the first frost without damage and can be kept in a root cellar, or similar cold storage, for months without losing quality. It contains most of the essential vitamins, except for A and D and even includes 2g of protein for every 100g (0.2 lb.) of potato. Add some milk for those last two vitamins and you had what could very easily have been called the world\u2019s first superfood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When planting potatoes, the first thing you must do is decide what you want out of your crop. This will help you narrow down what varieties you can choose from. Do you want something that grows fast? The potato is divided into early, mid, and long growing seasons. Early season potatoes can be grown in as little as 70 days (Yukon Gold) while others take up to 120 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you care about what color the flesh or skin is? The most common are white or yellow fleshed, but there are specialty varieties that are rose-streaked, solid pink or a purple\/blue color so dark it\u2019s almost black. There are varieties where the skin is a delicate gold film and ones where it\u2019s tough and brown, and others that are mottled purple and red! There is even one variety that has dark purple skin and golden yellow flesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, you can divide potatoes by what you want to do with them. Do you want something specifically for French fries, or something that is more all-purpose? Some varieties contain more starch than others, which makes them good for mashing and fries, while others are firmer and hold their shape well after cooking, making them good for things like potato salad and stews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have decided what you want out of your potato and have chosen a variety, it\u2019s time to get them ready for planting. Potatoes are not grown from seed, but from potatoes grown from last year\u2019s crop known as \u201cseed potatoes\u201d. While it is entirely possible to plant a whole potato in the ground and get a healthy plant from it, it is an inefficient way to do so. Each seed potato has numerous sprouting points known as \u201ceyes\u201d. It is from these eyes that stalks and roots sprout. To get the most potato plants from your seed potatoes, it is best to cut each potato into chunks about the size of an egg or golf ball with two to three eyes on it and leave them to dry for a few days. This allows the cut to scab over and helps it to resist rotting in our wet, spring soil. You may start this process two to three weeks before the last frost and plant them as soon as the cuts harden over. Bury them six to eight inches deep and about one foot apart in rows about three feet apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potatoes enjoy full sun, so plant them in a location that gets six to eight hours of sunlight a day at minimum \u2013 the more they get the better. They can be planted in a wide range of beds, from traditional trench beds, to grow bags, or pots. If they have enough soil and water, they will produce a crop. Potatoes enjoy acidic soil, between 5-6 pH, so it wouldn\u2019t be wrong to add sulfur or pine needles to your soil when adding compost or fertilizer. Also, they need to be watered regularly, more so if you plant them in pots, as pots dry out faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As potatoes grow, it may be necessary to \u201chill\u201d them, meaning to push dirt up against the stalks of the plant to shade the tubers as they grow. You can also use some other form of mulch, such as straw, so long as it is thick enough to keep the potatoes shaded. If potatoes are exposed to light for too long, they begin to turn green. Mostly, this is from a chemical called \u201cchlorophyll\u201d, which is safe for consumption, but it also produces a chemical called \u201csolanine\u201d, which is not. While solanine won\u2019t kill you, it will make you feel very sick and nauseous and gives the potatoes a very bitter taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potatoes can be harvested as early as 50 days after sprouting, or two to three weeks after flowering, for what are known as \u201cnew\u2019 or \u2018baby\u201d potatoes. These potatoes are very sweet with delicate skin, so be careful when handling them. You can simply dig carefully around the roots of the plant, take a few small potatoes from each, and leave the rest of the potatoes to grow to full maturity. These potatoes do not store well, so eat them quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For full maturity, wait until the tops of the plants die completely, then you can dig 12 inches around the base of the plant to unearth your harvest. Traditionally, a broadfork was used, but you can use a spade or your hands if there are only a few plants. Be careful not to damage the skins of the potatoes, as they are more delicate at this stage and can be broken easily. If you do damage the skin, set the potato aside to use first. To properly cure the potato for storage, set them somewhere out of the light with good airflow and cool temperatures and allow the skin to harden. There is debate as to whether to wash them before storage, so I will leave that to your discretion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once dried and harvested, it\u2019s best to keep your potatoes in a cool, well-ventilated area that does not freeze. I keep mine in our root cellar, but a heated garage or other similar location would do just as well. I have managed to keep my potatoes edible for about eight months in my root cellar. From that harvest, if there was no disease, then you may pick out some potatoes with good eyes and start the process again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kathryn Bedney, WSU Master Gardener Potatoes are probably one of the most well-known garden crops and one of the first things that new gardeners grow. They are the source […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":329,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null,"_external_link":"","_expiration_date":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[14,18,38,22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7162,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7161\/revisions\/7162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}