Boot camp Melbourne

Last season we decided that it was time to re-visit our ever expanding range of potatoes by growing out all of our varieties together. The aim was to gather new yield data, and to reassess each variety to make sure that they possessed the kind of qualities that warrant selection as a Diggers spud. So all nineteen of our recently offered varieties were put to the test.

It’s always difficult to find an empty space in the thriving Diggers Trial and Seed Production garden. So rather than taking up valuable cultivated ground, we decided to construct new beds dedicated to potato trials. we used some old hard-wood pallets that were lying around. The pallets were laid end to end straight over existing gravel, four per bed. a chicken wire fence was attached to the sides and supported with star pickets. old hessian bags and jute matting were put onto the slats of the pallets, then a layer of straw and finally about 30cm of home made compost. Six tubers of each variety were planted. The space between the pallet slats and the ground meant that good drainage was maintained, an essential element to producing a good, healthy crop of spuds.

Once planted, the only maintenance required was to add more compost and mulch building up around the potato plants to encourage more tubers to grow. Potatoes really are so easy and satisfying to grow, a great set and forget crop. our beautiful compost produced such robust healthy plants that there was no need to use any pesticides and the mulch smothered any pesky weeds.

It was such a treat when after three months we harvested our trial potatoes. working our way along the pallet beds, we gradually uncovered each variety, like digging for treasure. Each had its own unique appearance. we weighed, measured, documented, photographed and sorted the tubers. what a contrast this wonderful diversity of shapes, sizes and colours made to the bland looking selection on supermarket shelves.

While it is unlikely that any of you would be growing the full range at home we thought it was necessary to provide the information that will allow you to make informed choices based upon what you perceive to be the ‘best’ qualities for a potato. Perhaps you are a roaster, maybe the kids will only eat mash, or are you on a quest to reproduce that incredible gnocchi you had in a little restaurant in Rome. and believe me, a potato is not just a potato.

If culinary factors alone are not reason enough to convince you of the necessity to maintain cultivation of a diverse range of potatoes, then let’s get into a little bit of history, and a tale of modern day madness. The potato was originally cultivated by andean farmers who celebrated its rich diversity by growing all manner of shapes, sizes and colours. when the potato made its way to Europe, its ease of cultivation, high nutritional value and good storage qualities meant that it played an integral role in sustaining human populations.

Generations of irish farmers cultivated the potato which became the main food source for the population. However, in the mid 1800s the system collapsed with tragic and fatal results. irish farmers had ‘refined’ their potato cultivation down to one variety known as the “lumper”. when disease destroyed the lumper, the reliance on this single variety meant that more than a million people starved. Lumper did not possess the genetic tools to resist Phytophthora infestans and so the potatoes rotted in the ground.

Nowadays australian potato farmers grow the varieties that conform to the strict criteria of the multinational companies that control the industry. Potatoes make up around 40% of vegetable cropping in australia and over half of that is used for processing, the majority of which is frozen. There are two dominant companies: Mc Cains, the Canadian owned food giant that supplies McDonalds, and Simplot which is american owned. These companies demand uniformity and perfection in their potatoes. They want potatoes that can be sliced into the long, thin portions that make McDonalds’ french-fries. Cultivation is generally in monocultures that provide no resistance to pests and disease and chemicals are routinely applied to keep the potatoes looking pristine and blemish free.

In an attempt to reduce chemical use in potato farming, the ever vigilant Monsanto has genetically engineered a potato variety called newLeaf which contains its own dose of insecticide. To do this, Monsanto inserts a gene into the potato plant that induces it to broduce bacillus thuringiensis, an insecticidal bacterium that targets caterpillars. The entire plant, including the potato tuber, becomes deadly to predatory insects. not surprisingly, there was widespread public concern about the potential health effects of consuming the newLeaf potatoes.

Somewhat ironically, it was the fast food giants including McDonalds and Burger King who responded to consumer concerns and announced that they would not use GM modified potatoes. Monsanto has since discontinued the newLeaf line.

By growing your own and choosing from the wide range of traditional varieties, you can rest assured that there are no built-in poisons and that you are helping to maintain the diversity of potato varieties available to us all – and so play a role in the continued safety of our food supply. Don’t succumb to the boring world of food uniformity but get adventurous and try something new. Experiment with varieties that you may not have tried before and impress your friends and family with the range of culinary uses that you can put the humble spud to. The following table should help you get going and the culinary recommendations come direct from our Diggers chefs. we harvested our trials 140 days after planting.

 

Article contributed by Lou Larrieu, Diggers' Vegetable Trial Manager

Article published in
www.diggers.com.au