Colourful Potato Varieties

by Annette Welsford No Comments
colourful potato varieties

Colourful potato varieties are a fun way to explore the many flavours and textures of potatoes. They look great in place of traditional potatoes, and are packed with nutrients. These specialty varieties may be hard to find, so you may have to grow your own. Purple Peruvian The purple Peruvian is a fingerling potato with…
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Potato Growing Success Story in the UK

by Annette Welsford No Comments
growing potatoes

We were delighted to receive a wonderful email from one of our valued customers who purchased our book How to Grow Great Potatoes, an avid potato grower who lives in the UK. He has had great success this growing season and kindly shared his experiences with us. Potato Growing with Rhys Jaggar Rhys Jaggar lives…
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The Health Benefits of Potatoes are Greater than you Might Think

by Annette Welsford No Comments
health benefits of potatoes

The lowly Irish potato is a highly nutritious vegetable that is more than just a delicious accompaniment to a meal. In fact the health benefits of potatoes are so great, you could describe them as “underground health superstars”. All plants that support underground storage of nutrients in a modified plant structure (usually the thickened underground…
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Controversial Quest to Protect Potatoes in Ireland from Blight

by Annette Welsford No Comments

Once the basic diet of the Irish, potatoes are once again the centre of attention in Ireland, with a decision by the country’s environmental protection agency to approve a trial of genetically modified potato crops. According to scientists, the motivation is to improve resistance of potatoes to blight. Various strains of this fungal disease have…
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The Real Cause of the Great Irish Famine

by Annette Welsford No Comments

Commonly referred to as The Great Hunger, Ireland’s horrific famine of the 1840s ranks as one of the very worst tragedies in the history of mankind. It is a well-known fact that the massive failure of Ireland’s potato crops from 1845 to 1849 was caused by a fungus (Phytophthora infestans) that generated blight. At the…
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What Causes Green Potatoes

by Annette Welsford No Comments
green potato

Potatoes are one of the most nourishing foods on earth. But they can also be poisonous. You must never eat potatoes leaves. Commonly referred to as “potato greens”, the leaves are poisonous, and even eating the smallest amount, can make a person extremely ill. While the tuber itself is normally totally safe to eat, if…
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21st Century Infectious Potato Disease

by Annette Welsford No Comments

A really nasty seed-borne bacterial blackleg disease, Dickeya solani is causing concern to potato farmers. First identified in Holland in 2005, Dickeya solani is an aggressive form of another type of blackleg disease, Dickeya dianthicola that has established itself in several countries in Europe, including Spain, France and Belgium, as well as in Finland and Poland. It has also spread to…
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Storing Processed Potatoes

by Annette Welsford No Comments

  Growing potatoes can be incredibly rewarding, particularly if you have the space to plant a fair number of them. Better still, if you get a particularly good crop, you can process some of them and store them for times when there aren’t any fresh tubers to harvest from your garden. The Best Ways to Process…
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Wild Potatoes are being used to Develop Commercial Potatoes that will Resist Disease

by Annette Welsford 1 Comment

With potatoes being the number one veggie crop in the USA, it’s not surprising that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has dedicated a lot of time and money to doing all it can to develop potatoes that will resist the typical diseases that attack potatoes. It’s not just the damage from potato diseases…
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Development of Disease- and Pest-Resistant Potatoes

by Annette Welsford No Comments

All living organisms are prone to certain diseases, not least of which is the humble potato which, by the way, is the fourth largest crop in the world after wheat, rice and corn! In fact the potato is prone to so many different diseases, and is attacked by so many lethal pests, that horticulturists have…
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