Volunteer Potatoes

[Tom Wagner]

Volunteer potatoes are largely thought of as weeds. Acedemiacs and other professionals have pressed within potato growing articles to eliminate volunteer potatoes as a source of disease. No argument there, but without volunteer potatoes many historic potatoes would have dropped off the face of the earth!

This is a lead-in for the defense of the underdog volunteer. I am not taking the time to answer why the volunteer needs some undue praise right now, but will leave it as an opening for someone who understands nature as to why this feature of survival is so important.

Pros and cons of any principle allows for one to get a better grasp of the issues involved.

Tom Wagner

[kktwahoo]

Yes, survival is very important.

Tom, have you used volunteer plants to breed/purify/grow some varieties? I assume so?

Keep in touch!

[svalli]

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

Volunteer potatoes are largely thought of as weeds. Acedemiacs and other professionals have pressed within potato growing articles to eliminate volunteer potatoes as a source of disease. .....
Tom Wagner

Tom,

Could you please explain why volunteer potatoes would be source of disease? I just found the moving box where I packed the tubers of my volunteer Peruvian Purples and they look as good as when packed for overseas journey 6 weeks ago. I know that I am risking of spreading some disease with tubers, but is the risk bigger since these were volunteers. (During 7 seasons of growing potatoes in my Wisconsin garden I never noticed any signs of disease and I used only certified seeds, except these volunteers.)

Is the volunteer potato like a feral puppy? Genetically healthy but infested with fleas and communicable diseases.

If a volunteer survives many years, is that a sign of resistance to diseases?

[Tom Wagner]

Svalli,

First, congrats on your move back to Finland.

Second, sorry about my lack of posting lately, as my energies have been placed elsewhere lately.

I am so surprised that your 'volunteers' made it all the way across the Atlantic! But then, maybe no, as I wrote much earlier that you might survive the move on the ship afterall.

I need to compose my reasoning for the benefit of volunteers, and I will have to delay my written concepts until I find the time and composure to write a decent response.

kktwahoo Yes, survival is very important.

Tom, have you used volunteer plants to breed/purify/grow some varieties? I assume so?

Kent, all of the above. More later.


Tom Wagner

[tessa]

i've got several volunteers coming up in my garden right now. i'm keeping them because one of them, i'm hoping, is going to be a dutch cream. dutch cream are my absolute faves...but for some reason...they have become completely unavailable where i live (i live in a state where there are only three varieties that are allowable for commercial production, and one of those is *absolute crap*. of the rest known to mankind...only three other varieties can be found for sale here...always in the organic shop...always already sprouting!)

my plan is to build up my own store of 'seed' for my favourite 'dutch creams'.

[Tom Wagner]

Tessa,

Thanks for bringing up the volunteer potato thing again. I have been a bit awol lately.

Not sure if Dutch Cream is a variety by that name, a colloquial name, a synonym name, or just a descriptor name. Enlighten me if you can!

If you knew for sure from photographs what a Dutch Cream plant looked like, it would be easy enough to identify it soon after emergence; if not, only at harvest would you know the mystery solved.

I gather a bit of info on the web and placed different pastes for you and others to peruse.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_LquBunhW4nc/...0+x+602%29.jpg

Dutch Creams

It would be impolite to call Dutch Creams a 'spud'. They deserve the full respect of being called a Potato (with a capital P). And they are remarkably cheap - in Australia at least. Originally from Holland, the best ones White Hat has tasted come from Tasmania. They don't need cream and butter - just a little salt.

Varieties available in Tasmania, but that doesn't do you any good in the Perth area.

Bintje
Bismark
Brownell
Carrera
Coliban
Crystal
Desiree
Kennebec
King Edward
Kipfler
Pink Eye
Pink Fir Apple
Pontiac
Purple Congo
Red Star
Royal Blue
Russet Burbank
Sebago
Sequoia
Shepody
Tasman
Up to Date

What to do if you can't find the Dutch Cream. Try Nicola!

The variety, Nicola, is similar to the variety often called Dutch Cream

http://www.diggers.com.au/RNLW06/PototoesP14_15.pdf

Dutch Cream: large, oval shape, with yellow waxy flesh. Excellent for mash (all you need is a little salt) Excellent for purees and soup, the flesh is buttery and rich. Also makes a great roasted potato, and is well worth trying for its delicious taste. A high class potato!

Nicola: Long to oval shape with a rich yellow skin and yellow waxy flesh. Excellent as a salad or boiling potato, wonderful for mash. good for dry baking or roasting, Not recommended for frying. The taste of organic Nicola potatoes is simply delicious with a sweet nutty taste, and is a favourite with children. Also excellent for gratins and baked potato dishes. Originally from West Germany, now widely grown around the world.

http://www.pmc.wa.gov.au/varieties/index.cfm

Lists the potato varieties of Western Australia.

The following quote is rather telling in the limits of potato varieties in your backyard:

Today the board, now known as Western Potato, still controls the Western Australian potato growers. The farmers are told how many potatoes they can grow, what types they can plant and what price they can sell them for. Western Australia is the only state with such rigid laws and regulations. It must be said that all growers are not completely happy with the tightly controlled situation. Previously local consumers had only one variety to consider with the choice being old or new, washed or brushed.
The Royal Blue is considered the cream of the crop and is available all year around; it is the most versatile, has an exceptional taste and can be used in all methods of cooking from boiling to frying. Besides the Royal Blue (and amongst the many varieties grown throughout Australia) these are the other varieties grown in Western Australian, the Friar, Desiree, Kipfler, Shepody, Southern Pearl, Super Red, Nadine, Ruby Lou, Kestrel, and Delaware

Tom Wagner

[tessa]

hi tom.
thanks for all those links.

first...i want to say i'm pretty sure my volunteers are dutch creams as that's all i planted in that area last year. they can't be anything else...cuz i've never grown potatoes in the gardenbeds until last winter (potatoes are a winter crop here) and then all i grew were the dutch creams. they are the BEST! you don't need butter. somehow...they come out of the ground already buttered! a real dieter's potato.

i see you've found our potato mafia.
all you have to do to see the pile of bull they feed us (figuratively, although literally this is still a correct statement) is to click on that last link, then click on the nadine's...and see what they say about those.
that is the worst garbage potato imaginable. and they rate it excellent in taste. garbage. it's a watery piece of junk that won't hold its shape even if you glued it together.

the good news is tho....that i found out today that the potato mafia is about to release its strangle-hold. we're going to get three new potatoes this year. mondial is one. i've just come home with seed potatoes for that...so i'll let you know how they turn out. they're another dutch variety...so hopefully they're close to the dutch cream (if not the true and real name of the dutch cream, in fact).