Potato Harvest Today

Several months ago I met a woman at a botanical garden and got into a friendly conversation. After chatting about gardening, she mentioned that she was growing a potato that had exceptional yields and was very dependable. It even did well in her poor soil. Ah, my ears perked up. What variety was it? She didn't know. She had picked it up at a seed exchange in Hilo and knew little about it. So I asked if possibly she could send me a spud so that I could add it to my garden. We separated. I forgot all about it. 

Two months ago I received a package in the mail with four starting to sprout potatoes. No return address that I could make out. PO box something or other, Hilo. Gee, that girl must be a doctor! The only number I could make out was a one. Sadly, I couldn't even thank her for remembering. 

I was tickled to get the spuds.  Cutting them into pieces, I was able to make 7 plants. I promptly planted them and hoped for the best. 

For the past two months the plants have been growing well. It's a tall variety, whatever it is. Then this morning my horse, for some reason only she knows, decided to eat them! Yikes! She's never touched a potato plant before. I was surprised. I don't know what got into her. Most likely she doesn't either. So I sadly retrieved the shovel from the shed and set about salvaging what I could. 

I'm happy to report that the plants had set tubers already, though the plants could have used another few weeks of growing. So it looks like this variety should grow about 3 months before harvesting. But at least I got tubers, so all is not lost. 

I weighed what I harvested, including the small potatoes. 7 plants (harvested too early) = 12 lbs. I think this potato is a keeper. It's white skinned with pink eyes, white flesh. Looks like a boiler type.