Handfuls of Potatoes

 

Dagmar Baur has been a long time gardener and the community garden facilitator, for the Bain Co-op Community Gardens.

 

Her latest project has lead her to the wide world of potatoes. Come read the meat and potatoes story of these delicious (and colourful) vegetables.

 

Read her introduction to rare and heritage potatoes and see the list of these 32 potato varieties. Find out about their various nutritional values, and how they should be planted and cooked. And don't forget their flavor!

 

These are the potatoes that she distributed to the community garden network in the spring of 2008, and people grew them in their gardens. So if people want to check the potatoes they grew or to have info about the potatoes that are out there, they can look at this list.

 

Some of them can be ordered from Seeds of Diversity, Some from Seed Savers (US), some from Eagle Creek Seed Potatoes, and some varieties from Dominion Seeds.

 

ABOUT GARRETT'S POTATO LIST

Introduction by Dagmar Baur

The thirty two potatoes on this list are grown by Garrett Pittenger, past president of Seeds of Diversity, on his property north of Toronto.  Garrett is remarkable for his encylopaedic knowledge of nature and his great passion for plants. He started by growing heritage “Luther Hill Corn” and then side-tracked into potatoes.   In the spring of 2008 he passed me some to me to give to good homes.  Many spuds went to  gardens in the Toronto Community Garden Network, but the lion's share was successfully raised by Solomon Boye at the Toronto Urban Farm.

 

Most of the potatoes on this list are heritage varieties and not easily available.  Some are industrial or commercial, but are from other countries and thus not common in North America i.e. the Dutch Bintje or the Belgium potato.  I have gathered information about them from Garrett and his source Alex Caron, and from Barb Daniels whose sensitive palate brought some of the finer points of taste to my attention.   Any mistakes are my own.

 

We are interested in feedback. Contact the webmaster at mail@tcgn.ca with additional information or amendments.

 

In the right hand column "Notes" I have entered the names of those gifting the potatoes.  All across Canada there are individuals like Garrett who protect heritage plant species.  This is a great labour of love.  It is my hope that with this compilation we will become more familiar with the varieties and continue this splendid legacy to safeguard future bounty. 

"It's important to describe them, so that people become interested in growing them. It's my goal to raise consciousness about the varieties available."

 

Dagmar Baur, Toronto Community Garden Network

 

• For an account of a visit to Garrett's farm, see Jillian Bishop's blog seedsavereducator.blogspot.com

• See article in 2008 Winter Issue of Edible Toronto www.edibletoronto.com/content. Search for: "Solanum tuberosum: the Indispensable spud"

• Some of the potatoes on this list are available through "Seeds of Diversity"seeds.ca/en.php

• All about fingerlings madeleinegreey.com

• The Kenosha Potato Project (Seed Savers) has good information on glyco-alkaloids and and the antioxidant properties of dark potatoes www.curzio.com/N/Potato_effect_of_glycoalkaloids_in_diet.htm

• Les Bowser from Peterborough will be selling some 15 varieties at Seedy Saturday.

• For the recipes that go with ROASTED PAPAS NEGRAS POTATOES click here.

• For instructions on calculating when to plant potatoes click here

 

Click on the sections below to enlarge the images and read about these rare, and heritage potatoes ... to be added