One Potato, Two Potatoes

We made it.  After a slow dry growing season for potatoes at Heart & Sole Gardens, we enjoyed our first taste of this year's crop.  Soon, we will plow the harvest, but it is possible to dig a few hills to "rob" plants of some tubers that lie underground. It has been  years since I purchased supermarket spuds and the flavor of just-harvested potatoes never fails to delight.

GrandMom Tut holds a Purple Viking potato "head" from 2012

Gardening has a way of keeping one humble and Mother Nature's unpredictability means that crops that grow successfully one year may not do as well in other seasons.  Even with rotating crops, soil testing, sea kelp spraying, weeding and diligently hand removing Colorado potato beetles, too much rain can result in rotten tubers or, as in the case with 2012's crop, a flash flood that washed potato plants from the ground, exposing small tubers to damaging sunlight and destroying some of the crop.  This year, with several weeks of dry weather, the potato yield looks to be much lower than in years past and, judging by some hills we harvested last week, tubers are not only fewer in number, but smaller than expected.  If you would like to grow potatoes, but have limited space, try planting a few in a large container.  The plants have large leaves and the blossoms are beautiful, making potatoes both visually appealing and edible.

Colorado Potato Beetles are insect pests

Voles eat potatoes underground. After the tiller dug this one out, he ran away to eat another day!

Potatoes get a bad rep from folks who think they are a fattening food.  Actually, they are very low in calories and loaded with lots of nutritional benefits; it's butter, salt, cheese and other toppings we add that pack on pounds.  

Some of this year's first potatoes

For an eating experience that rivals true Nirvana, harvest a handful of fingerling potatoes or purchase some at the farmer's market, hours after they were still growing underground.  Choose potatoes that are very small, even for fingerlings.  Scrub them and note how the skin is tender and rubs off with only a little pressure.  Leave as much skin as possible and put potatoes, whole, in a glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with a bit of good quality olive oil (the kind that tickles the back of the throat) and use your hands to rub the oil into the potato skin.  Add a sprinkling of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  Maybe a bit of red pepper flakes or fresh thyme leaves, if you are in that sort of mood.  Place the dish in a preheated 400 degree oven and roast the potatoes for about 12 minutes, stirring halfway.  If potatoes are very fresh, they will cook quickly, so use a fork to check for doneness.  If flesh does not yield to the fork, roast a little longer, but take care not to overcook.   Ideally, potatoes will be cooked through, not mushy, and be slightly golden in color.  That's it.  All that's left is to enjoy one of the season's most delicious ingredients, simply prepared and served without fanfare.  After a taste, you may decide to eat them from the roasting dish.  With your fingers.  When food is that fresh and that good, there are no rules.

For more about Heart & Sole potatoes and a recipe for a great picnic salad, read "The Potato Lady," at Seedtales