Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: GigaBuist on July 30, 2013, 10:51:33 PM

Title: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: GigaBuist on July 30, 2013, 10:51:33 PM
Wife and I decided to try growing potatoes this year.  Mostly because we bought some Blue Adirondack potatoes from a farmer's market while on vacation last year and really liked them. 

Went out to water them today, beyond what we usually do with a soaker hose on a timer, and my hose washed away maybe a quarter inch of soil to reveal potatoes everywhere.  So, I pulled one out for giggles:

Exterior:
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjustinbuist.org%2Fblog%2Fimages%2Fblue_adir_ext.jpg&hash=ed04871bef8fab6c6a7b3f881f0f9e4dd037a2b7)

Cut Open:
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjustinbuist.org%2Fblog%2Fimages%2Fblue_adir_int.jpg&hash=a81b2ca85cc5652633519046c6077b6bcf1e3279)

I ate some of it raw tonight and it doesn't taste any different than a russet potato.  I know they contain higher sugar content than other colors, but perhaps that isn't noticeable until you've roasted them or done something involving putting heat to them.  Not sure.  I'll fully admit that I might think these things taste awesome because the first and only time we ate them it was 100' from Lake Superior, on vacation, roasted them and some brats over a fire, and had some delicious sweet & sour kraut side to go with it.  We were happy, kids were happy, and they thought it was fun eating a purple potato.

Regardless, they are higher in antioxidants, which is good for you.  And it's easy to get kids to try them.  Mine ate some raw tonight.

It's not economical to grow your own potatoes, but it is dead nuts simple.  My wife purchased a 3' wide steel fire pit ring, stuck it near the garden, put some compost (Wholly Cow brand) in there, stuck the seed potatoes in, rolled some of the soaker hose fromt he garden into it and let it go.  Whenever the plants got large enough we stuck more compost in until we filled the 1' tall ring up.  Potatoes, like tomatoes, will set roots when their stems touch soil.  And since we eat the root part of the potato plant that's how you increase yield: keep piling up soil (or straw) against the plant as it grows.

Based upon what I saw today I wouldn't be surprised if we have 15 pounds of potatoes in that little 3' ring.
Title: Re: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: Perd Hapley on July 30, 2013, 11:03:01 PM
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjustinbuist.org%2Fblog%2Fimages%2Fblue_adir_ext.jpg&hash=ed04871bef8fab6c6a7b3f881f0f9e4dd037a2b7)



Did it request to be taken to your leader?
Title: Re: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: TommyGunn on July 30, 2013, 11:05:07 PM
I saw those in the commissary  of the U.S.S. Enterprise in a STAR TREK episode.  They were a favorite of Mr. Spock's.  [tinfoil]
Title: Re: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: vaskidmark on July 31, 2013, 02:32:01 AM
When you move, that eye on the top follows you.  Spooky.

stay safe.
Title: Re: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: RevDisk on July 31, 2013, 09:09:41 AM

I think they really captured his essence.
Title: Re: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on July 31, 2013, 01:34:30 PM
Oh, I love purple potato's. Not sure if they really taste all that diffrent, even cooked, but it's kinda fun.

One year, my weird aunt accidently bought them for the Thanksgiving potato's. She always screwed up something for dinner. She decided to just go ahead and cook them and we all hoped that Grandmother Landes (my Dads grandmother who was in her late 90's at the time) wouldn't get upset by purple mashed potato's. It ended uo being one of Marge's better screw ups, because everyone thought it was funny, even Grandmother Landes.
Title: Re: We got Purple Potatoes!
Post by: bedlamite on July 31, 2013, 04:19:34 PM
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjustinbuist.org%2Fblog%2Fimages%2Fblue_adir_ext.jpg&hash=ed04871bef8fab6c6a7b3f881f0f9e4dd037a2b7)

IT'S A TRAP!