heirloom potatoes

Why Grow Heirloom Potatoes

Many people grow heirloom potatoes because they love the taste of a potato like the one that Mom used to serve with chicken on Sundays. Scientists haven't altered these potatoes to produce larger, and sometimes, tasteless tubers.

The seeds of the heirloom passed from generation to generation, don't have their survival based on chemical saturation to keep pests from the plants. They all have distinct flavors and grow best in different types of conditions and soil. When you grow heirloom potatoes, you know that the potato seed produces exactly the same type of favor in the tuber as the parent plant. Unlike hybrids, the seed remains true to its parent. History

There are several different varieties of heirloom potatoes with distinctly different flavors. The colorful tubers often have a stronger taste than those that have creamy white or yellow flesh. This is a throw back to the potato’s origin. They originally came from South America in the Andes Mountains. The potatoes grown by the natives there have heavily pigmented flesh and skin. This helped the plant to survive before the natives began to cultivate it.

The very early cultivated potatoes were one step away from toxic, since their wild brethren proved not just bitter but poisonous to man and animals. Today, only those potatoes improperly exposed to light, and green, are toxic to man or animals. However, other colors are not just okay, they’re delightful to grow.

Varieties

Examples of some heirlooms you might want to try are the Arran Victory. These potatoes were the dish of the high-class family in the 1920’s and 30’s. They are a midseason variety that Donald Mackelvie from the Isle of Arran, Scotland developed in 1918. The skin is deep violet and yet the interior is milky white. These are great storing potatoes.

If you want colorful flesh, try the Catriona from Scotland. Again, this potato isn’t that old, only about 90 years, but light yellow flesh has a dramatic flavor. The skin has violet patches on it. No one knows exactly when the Chile/Ancud potato developed. A Russian geneticist identified it, after he found it off the coast of Chili. The potato tastes like it has a mix of mushroom in the flesh. If you want color in your potato, the blue-black skin and flesh of the N’egresse from Peru will delight you. If you boil this 1815 European transplant, the flesh turns blue-gray, but when you steam it, you’ll delight in the deep blue color.

Soil

The soil for the heirloom potato should be rich and loose. You need to make sure you work the soil at least 18 inches deep. Use 100 pounds of compost per hundred feet of soil. If you use commercial fertilizer, try 15-15-15. They like a slightly acidic soil, but it’s important that you work the fertilizer in ahead of time, before you plant the potatoes. As the potato grows, you need to continue to hill, mount the soil around the stem of the plant.

Planting Time

In colder temperatures, the historic planting time for a bumper crop is Good Friday. In the South, a fall planting might be the ideal for you. Consider your local and zone when you purchase heirloom potatoes.

Watering

Watering the potato is important. Be aware that too much water, especially when they’re small brings disease to the plants. Once the plant reaches 12 inches, the tuber begins to grow. At this point, apply water every three days without over watering. That encourages disease and fungus growth.

Pests

Some of the pests that attack the heirloom are the Colorado potato beetle. Many of the beetles have a resistance to pesticides. Hand picking the beetles off the plants is one method of control. The pink-spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculata, preys on the larvae and beetle eggs, to aid in the reduction of the population. They are, most effective against aphids. You can also use a tea made from boiling hot chilies as a spray to remove aphids. Leafminer flies, the potato tuber moth and armyworms are other pests that attack the potato.

Diseases

Diseases of the heirloom potato often travel in the seed. This was one of the causes of the Irish potato famine of 1845. The primary source of nutrition for the poor Irish was the lumper or cup potato. That year the fungus, Phytophthora infestans, late blight, infiltrated from North America where the unusually damp weather encouraged it. That year’s crop was a disaster. The farmers, however, managed to save seed potatoes. These of course, also carried the blight and the second year’s crop was also a total loss. Black leg, dry rot and other diseases often come from infested seeds. To reduce the likelihood of outbreak, rotate crops and make sure the seeds are healthy.

Storage and Harvest

Harvesting heirloom potatoes is not as backbreaking if you maintained rich loose soil. Pull the top of the plant to loosen the soil and then push it away with your hands. You’ll find this salvages many potatoes from untimely deaths by shovel incidences. Store the potatoes in paper sacks in cool areas. A few potatoes actually improve with flavor, like the Duke of York. Most, however, loose a lot of their texture and flavor with storage. Keep the potatoes at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. An old refrigerator is ideal for storage for heirloom potatoes.

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