the potato

How To Make the potato

• 1

  The Irish potato is really a mis-named vegetable. They were so named by the English because they got their supplies of potatoes from Ireland! Potatoes were first taken to England by a sailor & eventually they were given to Sir Walter Raleigh, who planted them on his estate in Ireland.
• 2

  Irish potatoes belong to the Nightshade family. for many years Europeans regared potatoes as poisonour because they looked like the deadly Nightshade plant, which they did indeed resemble! Finally, someone discovered they could be eaten with safety & pamphlets & even books were written, particularly in Germany, encouraging people to grow them for food crops.
• 3

  Today there are over 400 varieties of potatoes grown. The potato is native to the Americas & is a gift that America gave to the food world. Potatoes can be grown in many different soils but do best in a soil that is light & well drained with plenty of fertilizer. Hoe ground up around potato plants as they grow so they will grow upright & will be protected from the sun.
• 4

  Dig potatoes soon after the flowers have disappeared if you are going to use them immediately, if potatoes are to be stored they should be dug only after the vines are completely dead. The best storage potatoes are those that are dug in cool weather when the soil is dry. If potatoes are dug in hot weather they will scald & not keep in storage.
• 5

  Potatoes are not fattening & an average size baked potato come in with a calorie count of less than 100! Potatoes are almost 80% water & if you boil them instead of baking the calorie count goes down! In many foreign countries the water in which potatoes are cooked is saved & used in various ways because of the nutritive value of the water! They are high in vitamin B & not only are potatoes good, they are very good for you! The potato is touted as "America's favorite vegetable"!
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