Patio Produce: Potatoes

About author / Victoria Wesseler

Healthy eating advocate; master gardener; local food expert. Even veggie haters love her recipes.

Maybe it has something to do with Mr. Potato Head being my favorite toy when I was growing up; but I just love potatoes. The brief time I spent on very low or no carbohydrate diets was pure hell. I missed my potatoes. The truth is I can’t live without them. And now I am going to try to set the record straight—potatoes are not the enemy. With their nutritional make-up, there are lots of reasons for everyone to make friends with them again.

Americans eat nearly 50 pounds of potatoes per person per year. And with good reason. Besides being a perfect accompaniment to or ingredient in so many dishes, inexpensive, and easy to prepare, that little spud packs quite a nutritional punch.

In fact, potatoes are now on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s list of the top 20 most anti-oxidant rich foods. One medium sized potato (about 5 ounces) has 100 calories, 3 grams of fiber, no sodium, no cholesterol, no fat and 23 grams of carbohydrate. It’s a great source of potassium, a variety of minerals, vitamins C and B-6. And, despite what you may have heard, according to the Washington State Potato Commission the majority of a potato’s nutrients are not found in the skin, but in the potato itself. However, leaving the skin on the potatoes when you are cooking them retains all the nutrients and makes them a bit quicker and simpler to prepare.

The four basic categories of potatoes in the Unites States are:

• Russets (often referred to as Idaho potatoes) which are easily identified by their rough, dry, dark brown skin. They are the most commonly consumed potato in the United States and are an ideal choice for baking, mashing or frying because of their low moisture and high starch content.

• Long whites which have a shape similar to russets but have a thin pale grayish brown skin. They can be baked, boiled or fried with great success.

• Round white (commonly referred to as boiling potatoes) which have a waxy flesh and contain more moisture, but less starch, than the russet and the long white. These are a favorite for boiling, roasting and frying.

• Round red which are identical to the round white except for the color of their skin.

With over 100 varieties of potatoes available, there are lots to choose from depending on your personal taste and how you want to prepare them. When selecting potatoes, choose ones that are firm, free of sprouts, blemishes or cuts and do not have any green spots. Those green spots, which are bitter and can be toxic if eaten in quantity, are caused by prolonged exposure of the potato to light. Store the potatoes in a cool, dry and dark place and they’ll last up to two weeks. However, new potatoes should be used within 3 days of purchase. Never store them in your refrigerator and don’t wash them until you are ready to use them.

My favorite potatoes are new potatoes which are moist and waxy. They are any variety of potatoes that are harvested early in the growth cycle –usually spring through early summer. I especially love the Yukon golds.

If you have never tasted new potatoes prepared within minutes of harvesting them, you have missed a real treat. It’s not too late in the planting season to try your hand at growing potatoes in a pot on your patio. Here’s how simple it is:

• Choose a pot that is at least 20 inches wide and at least 20 inches deep. Make sure the pot has good drainage. I prefer light weight plastic pots for this rather than clay ones which tend to dry out too quickly.

• Fill the pot half full with a good, lightweight potting soil mix which has some peat, perlite and all-purpose slow release plant food in it. Water the soil lightly.

• Place 6 whole potato seeds evenly spaced apart on top of the soil. You should be able to get seed potatoes from a garden shop or nursery in your area or online from one of the many seed catalog companies. Purchase potato seeds that are certified to be virus free. Yukon golds are a good choice for growing in pots. But, don’t use potatoes that you have purchased from a supermarket as they are sometimes sprayed with growth inhibitors to prevent them from sprouting.

• Cover the seeds with another 6 inches of the soil mix. Water lightly.

• Place the pot in a sunny spot on your patio and water as needed. Let the soil dry between waterings.

• Once the potato shoots begin to emerge in about 2-3 weeks, allow them to grow about 6 inches tall, and then begin to add soil mix, keeping the foliage visible for about 6 inches, up to within one inch of the top of your pot.

• Water as needed.

• The plants will flower in a few months. The flowering indicates that your new potatoes are ready for harvest. Just dig your hands down into the soil, loosening it with your fingers as you go deeper into the pot and gently pull out the potatoes (Don’t save any of these potatoes for seed for next year. This practice encourages the buildup of viruses and diseases in future plantings. Always buy new certified seed).

• For the best flavor, harvest the potatoes only minutes before you plan on cooking with them.

Below is my favorite way to prepare my newly harvested potatoes.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 2 pounds Yukon gold small, new potatoes, cut in half if they are over 2-inches in diameter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 12 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper