Potato Farming

 

It started like this. a simple bucket (previously used to move our family 5 times), some dirt, and some water. I wanted to start small because I wasn’t sure that anything would grow because I have been known to have a black thumb. The kids helped me stick some chutes in the dirt and we watered it. Everyday or say, one of the kids would help me water them.

I read them a bit of Potato history, They thought it was silly.

5th Century B.C.

In the ancient ruins of Peru and Chile, archaeologists have found potato remains that date back to 500 B.C. The Incas grew and ate them and also worshipped them. They even buried potatoes with their dead, they stashed potatoes in concealed bins for use in case of war or famine, they dried them, and carried them on long journeys to eat on the way (dried or soaked in stew). Ancient Inca potatoes had dark purplish skins and yellow flesh. The Incas called the potato "papas," as they do today. Following is the Inca prayer that historians say they used to worship them.

"O Creator! Thou who givest life to all things and hast made men that they may live, and multiply. Multiply also the fruits of the earth, the potatoes and other food that thou hast made, that men may not suffer from hunger and misery."

18th Century A.D.

1719 - Potatoes had been introduced to the United States several times throughout the 1600s. They were not widely grown for almost a century until 1719, when they were planted in Londonderry, New Hampshire, by Scotch-Irish immigrants, and from there spread across the nation.

 

19th Century A.D.

1872 - It was not until the Russet Burbank potato was developed by American horticulturist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) in 1872 that the Idaho potato industry really took off. Burbank, while trying to improve the Irish potato, developed a hybrid that was more disease resistant. He introduced the Burbank potato to Ireland to help combat the blight epidemic. He sold the rights to the Burbank potato for $150, which he used to travel to Santa Rosa, California. In Santa Rosa, he established a nursery garden, greenhouse, and experimental farms that have become famous throughout the world. By the early 1900s, the Russet Burbank potato began appearing throughout Idaho.

20th and 21st Centuries A.D.

Today, the potato is so common and plentiful in the Western diet that it is taken for granted. We seem to forget that the potato has only been with us for a few hundred years.

Source http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PotatoHistory.htm

About 3 months in, the leaves were wilting, and so we dumped our bucket over. We only got one bowl of potato’s, but the kids were super excited about it, and they want to plant more. This time they each want their own bucket.