See the almost little sprouts in these dark blue potatoes. As you will see later in this post, that’s a good thing! Next see how lovely they cooked up. I steamed them.
Imagine the amazing antioxidants that are captured in the bright blue pigment. They were delicious. First we ate them just like this with a bit of butter. Next I cooked them up with onions, peppers, spinach and served them with scrambled eggs with a sprinkling of cheese. Next I used what was left in a yummy quiche. So how did I manage to be offered such a treat?
Prevention magazine did an article entitled: “7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips”. Anne Underwood writes that root vegetables absorb pesticides and fungicides. As for potatoes “they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.” The article challenges us to try to get a non organic potato to sprout. I tried, I watered one, put in on a window sill until I was tired of looking at it, not a sprout, not even a trace of a sprout! And, washing cannot remove the chemicals that are absorbed.
This spring we will be growing potatoes. When we added onto our kitchen, we also added an unheated 8ft by 16ft room under our addition. It is connected to our basement by a door and does a wonderful of keeping the harvest. I still have 2 winter squash in perfect condition that I harvested last September. I found this great article on growing 100 pounds of potatoes in a 2ft x 2ft area. It is quite clever. I think I will grow Yukon Gold and maybe some Pontiac Reds. My yard started with grass. I removed grass for flowers. I made some raised beds for vegetables. Now, I am finding more ways to make room for veggies.
I grew blue potatoes last year at my community garden plot - totally organic and totally delish! I find that these are showstoppers on the plate and taste really good when lightly pan fried with some good olive oil. But when boiled or baked they can get too fluffy and a bit dry for my liking. But fun to grow nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteLove blue potatoes--they were the first thing I ever planted, while 'helping' my grandfather who lived on the south shore of Nova SCotia. The variety we grew then (and some still do now) was called Tancook Blue for Big Tancook Island and they were incredibly blue inside and out. Still love them.
ReplyDeleteYukon Golds are among my favourite "all purpose" potatoes. :) I've neither grown nor eaten blue potatoes, but you've surely piqued my interest.
ReplyDeleteGloria,
ReplyDeleteWe always get our potatoes organic from either the food co op or the local farmers market. The colored fingerlings cost around $2 a lb and they usually have 4-5 different kinds to choose from at the farmers market, yummy!
Thank you Stevie, Jodi, Nancy and Randy. I've recently been buying my potatoes from the co op which is in Rapid City, 60 miles from our small town. This will be the first time I grow potatoes. I've always been limited by the space. But that 2x2ft frame sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteDear Gloria, Your potatoes, and the way in which you served them, sound absolutely delicious, particularly with the scrambled eggs.
ReplyDeleteBut, oh dear, I am very alarmed having read of your 'experiment' of trying to get a shop bought potato to sprout. It is indeed most worrying to know how and in what way potatoes, and doubtless other foodstuffs, are treated. How nice that you are going to be growing more of your own vegetables. I am sure that you will have fun doing so, and certainly eating them. I shall look forward to hearing more about your kitchen garden.
How interesting, you would think, coming from Ireland, a country of potato eaters I would have had these before.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post I'm really glad I grow my own potatoes. I have a different variety of blue ones they have pure white flesh.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried blue potatoes. I'll probably be sticking with just the classic Red Pontiac for space reasons this year, but you've given me the desire to try some blue ones once. I also had no idea potatoes were so dangerously coated in chemicals... we do try to buy organic when we can find them at local markets, but it's not exactly an easy find out here in the boonies lately, during the off season.
ReplyDeleteWeirdly enough, grocery store spuds sprout for me all the time. What am I doing differently, I wonder? I definitely don't water them, but we've noticed our kitchen stays fairly humid naturally. Other than that, I have no clue! (I'd never plant them, though. My grandfather said to only try that if we were starving and couldn't afford seed potatoes, as they usually are suspect for disease, and once it's in your soil, it may never leave.)
I have not eaten blue potatoes, but I love the gold, as well as red-skinned, ones. I have never grown potatoes, but you make me want to give them a try! I am sure they will taste better and be more nutritious.
ReplyDeleteSunny, You probably have very yummy versions of potatoes. But these blue ones are fun!
ReplyDeleteDear Edith - the things they do to potatoes is alarming! I think every bit of food we can eat organically is a plus. In a small town sometimes it is hard to find organic, especially out of season. Gloria
ReplyDeleteMeredith, maybe the batch or kinds of potatoes you bought weren't sprayed with the fungicide - wouldn't that be great! Did you check out that link on growing them in a 4 ft square foot area? My veggies and flowers grow intermingled. I rarely have a pest problem. I think the variety of scents probably fools them.
ReplyDeleteGloria this is such an important post! There are so many poisons in our environment ... in our food and waterways... on the land. Here is where each of us can help make change happen. Demand organic and grow your own. Seeds too should be organic. Ask about organic when we shop... and even go out to dinner... the more questions asked the more change will come. I love blue and purple potatoes ... I roast them with a bit of olive oil and rosemary... easy and very healthy! ;>)
ReplyDeleteCarol, what you say is so true. I also use green products for cleaning and doing laundry.
ReplyDeleteThey look so pretty. My girls would love to try growing blue potatoes, we'll have to look for them. Home grown potatoes really do taste better than store bought ones in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHi, Gloria;
ReplyDeleteAnd here's another one... peaches. It tops the list of fruits to be wary of (particular for your kids) because chemical sprays are so prevalent. I love peaches but it's hard to even find local growers who behave themselves and abstain from so many pesticides.
Love this idea of the 2 foot tater garden! :) You can generally find Fingerlings growing in a big bucket on my sunny deck.
It makes so much sense that potatoes leach toxins out of the soil, since that's where they live their lives! I too am venturing into potato growing this season for the first time. I'm excited to check out that article you linked to, thanks! I'm planning a "red, white, and blue" potato bed - Yukon Gold, All Blue, and Colorado Rose. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteHi Gloria~~ It's always fun to try new things. These look yummy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen blue potatoes as ours are just the ordinary brown ones. I know the green ones must not be eaten as they received lots of sunlight already which made them manufacture lots of solanine, which is bad for humans. Those we import from western climes are even more dangerous than what you buy there, and that goes with our imported apples, pears and grapes. But we are a poor country and many still buy the imported ones because they are cheaper, not knowing they will kill them softly!
ReplyDeleteGloria,
ReplyDeleteYour potato breakfast sounds delicious. I had not planted the blue potatoes, as the past two years we have enjoyed a harvest of Carola potatoes. We did, however, receive some blue potatoes from the CSA we belong to. They were absolutely wonderful. There is nothing better than being able to walk out the back door and collect fresh veggies from the garden. :)