Seasonality
Varieties
Varieties we grow and love:
We love our Irish potatoes! There are hundreds of potato varieties – we typically ONLY grow 14 or so varieties 🙂
| Variety | Skin Color | Flesh Color | Shape | Best Uses |
| All Blue | Deep blue | Blue | Oblong | Salads, boiling, fries |
| All Red | Red | Red | round | Boiled, steamed |
| Chieftan | Red | White | Round | Steam, boiling |
| Dark Red Norland | red | white | Round | Steam, boiling |
| Eva | White | White | Round | Boiling, roasting, mashed |
| French Fingerling | Rose | Yellow/red flecks | fingerling | Salads, roasting |
| Kennebec | Buff | White | Oblong | All purpose |
| Magic Molly | Dark purple | Dark purple | Fingerling | Salads, roasting |
| Mountain Rose | Red | Red | Round/oval | All purpose |
| Pinto Gold | Red + yellow | Gold | Oblong | Salads, roasting |
| Red Pontiac | Red | White | Round/oblong | Mashed! |
| Russet | Smooth russet | White | Oblong | Baking, fries |
| Russian Banana | Tan | Gold | Fingerling | Salads, roasting |
| Superior | White | White | round | Boiling, roasting, mashing |
| Yukon Gold | Buff with pink eye | Gold | Oval | All purpose |
Storage
As always, fresh produce is most delicious and nutritious when consumed as close to the harvest date as possible.
Store potatoes in a cool well ventilated place. AND DARK! When you store potatoes below 50 degrees the starches turn to sugars and they can become very sweet. This is not bad, but just something you should know. New potatoes are very moist ans should not be stored in plastic. They can form mold on their skins but are still perfectly fine…just rinse the mold off. Potatoes with bruises or other very bad marks should not be stored. Cut off the offending marks and use right away. One bad potato can spoil the whole bunch. I store potatoes in my pantry and cellar with no troubles. They are always kept from the light, BUT, at times when bags (burlap) have been stored where a little light is shed upon them and the potatoes sprout, I go though and snap off the sprouts. It is said if you do this three times they will not sprout again. I don’t know as I have never had them last until the third sprouting.
Green spots or areas on the skin should be scraped or cut off, the rest of the potato is fine. Sometimes you may see raised black lumps or bumps on a potato, this is black scurf. It looks like hard dirt is clinging to the skins. This is caused by a fungus and not harmful to humans. You can scrape it off the skin if it bothers you, and even in storage it will not penetrate the skin. Not harmful to consume… and not something we want to fumigate for 🙂
Culinary Info
Potatoes can be enjoyed in:
Alright, this is tough for me because I love me a good tater and I had a CSA member say to me in October, ” I wish I knew what to do with potatoes”. OY!!!
- baked
- mashed
- boiled
- salad
- roasted
- fritatta
- scalloped
- fried
- soup
OK, what can’t you do with a potato?
Tips for preparing:
New potatoes need only be rinsed, if you rinse them to hard all the skin will come right off. Older potatoes can stand a good scrubbing and if you are old school (which is perfectly fine around here) you can scrape or peel them. If you do the latter, it is better to place them in cold water as you peel them so they do not discolor. Again, if you are cubing, slicing or shredding, place them in cold water. You may note the white substance that collects at the bottom of the dish – that’s potato starch.
As always, be careful cutting hard, round objects and know where your fingers are at all times.
Also check out these great recipes:
