Page 26 - ALG Issue 4 2020

vegetable
The not so humble Potato
A staple of British diets and a crop that helped to fuel the industrial revolution, shaping present day society, the
potato began life in South America. Archaeologists have found potato remains that date back to 500 B.C. in the ancient ruins of Peru and Chile.
The Incas grew and ate them and also worshipped them. It is believed that they were brought back to Europe in the 16th century by Spanish Conquistadors, but it took some years before other European countries overcame their suspicions and realised the value of
the plant as a staple crop. In the 17th century potato cultivation was banned in Burgundy:
“In view of the fact that the potato is a pernicious substance whose use can cause leprosy, it is hereby forbidden, under pain of fine, to cultivate it.”
Over time their usefulness was recognised, and they became a reliable source of food for the working classes. However, this reliance caused a disastrous famine in Ireland whereby during the 1840s half the population depended almost exclusively on the potato for their diet. When the crops
in the late 1840s succumbed to late blight, a million people died and almost 2 million more emigrated. By 1911 Ireland’s population was less than half of what it had been before the famine.
In view of the fact that the potato is a pernicious substance whose use can cause leprosy, it is hereby forbidden, under pain of fine, to cultivate it.
Nowadays potatoes make up part
of a healthy varied diet and are used in hundreds of delicious recipes. According to the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey, potatoes contribute:
• 15% of average daily potassium intake
• 13% of average daily vitamin B6 intake
• 14% of average daily vitamin C intake • 12% of average daily thiamin
(vitamin B1) intake
• 9% of folate average daily intake
Potatoes prefer a sunny open site that has a deep, well drained, fertile loam with a pH of 5.0-6.0 to do best. They
are a labour-intensive crop because they require earthing up several times during the growing season, and digging them up can take up several hours, sometimes spread over days. They
are a heavy and bulky crop to store. All of these things have to be taken into consideration before committing too much of your time and allotment space to potato production. Potatoes are grown from seed potatoes. Most of the seed potatoes offered for sale are grown in Scotland, where the risk of the plants contracting any of the various potatoes
diseases is minimal.
Seed potatoes can be kick started into growth using a process known as chitting.
This involves standing the seed potatoes vertically in a seed tray with the scar
end at the bottom and the rose end at the top. In early spring place the tray
somewhere frost-free and in good light to encourage the eyes to sprout and develop
into short green shoots that will produce the potato crop during the summer. Potatoes
are organised into three groups; early, second early
and maincrop or lates. These terms refer to the lifting time not the planting out time.
26 Allotment and Leisure Gardener
They reflect how long it takes