If your garden is too small to plant potatoes, Di Goodwin has another planting idea for you - old car tyres!
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Did you know that the potato started out as an ugly duckling vegetable some 10 000 years ago? It was small, about the size of a walnut, and full of lumps and bumps. At first, people did not want to eat this as it looked so strange, so instead they ate the leaves and stems. Potatoes are related to tomatoes and eggplant and to the poisonous nightshade plant. But eating the leaves will make a person very sick.
The potato is actually a part of an underground stem specialised for plant food. It has the fancy name 'tuber'. Healthy tubers don't bother anybody. Quite the opposite! They contain calcium, phosphorus and potassium in addition to vitamin C and are very nutritious!
By the early 1700s potatoes had become a main food in Ireland. Unfortunately in 1845 a potato fungus struck, called the black rot, because it turned potatoes black. The whole Irish potato crop was ruined and within three years more than one million people had died of hunger. Since then, scientist have worked very hard developing potatoes resistant to fungus and today there are more than 100 potato varieties available to the public.
Ideas for your home-grown potatoes
Once your potatoes are ready for harvesting, try these two ideas:
Stuffed potato boats
Make these delicious potato boats for a braai or treat Mom and Dad for supper.
You will need: 3 potatoes already baked, 1/3 cup milk, 3 tablespoon butter or margarine, dash of salt and pepper, 1 tablespoon chopped green onions or parsley, 1/2 cup grated cheese, bits of leftover meat or mushrooms etc, paprika, shallow baking pan
What you do:
- Bake potatoes in a 220 degree oven for one hour after scrubbing them well and pricking each one with a fork. Cut cooled potatoes in halves lengthways.
- Scoop out potato from shell and mash in a bowl with butter, milk, salt and pepper.
- Add cheese, green onions, or parsley and any bits of leftover meat you might have.
- Fill potato shell, heaping it full with the mixture and sprinkle with paprika.
- Place on a baking sheet and heat your 'boats' at 220 degrees for 20-25 minutes - until hot and golden brown.
Potato print gift wrap
Make your own individualised wrapping paper or greeting cards.
What you need: Raw potato, knife, assorted miniature cookie cutters, paintbrush, poster paint, white shelf or tissue paper
What you do:
- Cut the potato in half carefully to give it a smooth surface
- Mark your design on the flat cut side of the potato and then carve away the part you don't want to print. Or press a small cookie cutter into the potato - this works very well. Keep the raised design very simple for the best print
- Blot away the potato juice, and then gently lower your potato-half into the paint, so as just to cover the cut-out section.
- Press the potato design onto your paper. Use your creativity in placing your design to change the effect.
