"Something stinks in here" said my wife, peering into the cupboard. She removed a bag of soft, partially rotten (but sprouting) potatoes. Carefully cupping her hand beneath the the bag to be sure nothing dripped on the floor, she passed it to me and suggested that I "Please bring these to the compost heap right now."
There's something very humble about a potato. Very simple and unassuming. Very practical. The Heirloom Orchardist likes that. So, as I walked toward the compost heap, I inspected those little sprouts emerging from the potato "eyes," and detoured to the garden. Hmm...look at my rotten potatoes now:
In the days of the Heirloom Orchardist, crop yield was very important. The Heirloom Orchardist wanted to grow as many potatoes as possible, with the least amount of effort. And after harvest, the Heirloom Orchardist wanted to use or sell most of the potatoes he grew. That's why potato "eyes" were important to him. Potato eyes? Yes, those little buds on the tuber, where the new growth originates. In the early 19th century, it was common for entire potatoes to be planted to start the new season's crop. But then it was found that one needs to plant only a single eye, carefully cut from the potato, to get a new plant to grow. From then on, the Heirloom Orchardist could sell or use the vast majority of his crop, and still have plenty "seed potatoes" for next year.
Those who grow potatoes today, may be surprised by this. It may seem intuitive that one needs to plant only a portion of a potato in order to get a new plant; providing that portion includes at least one eye. Hmmm...certainly anyone who saw my partially rotten potatoes (before they went in the ground), would realize this. But to the Heirloom Orchardist, this was not intuitive. A Mr. Jonathan Talcott of Rome, New York made specific reference to the novel "one-eye system" in his letter to the editors of the The Cultivator and Country Gentleman, published on January 17, 1884:
"I believe it is 26 years this coming spring that I sent my first order for seed potatoes, and that was to Gerald Howatt, for Prince Albert. Ever since that time I have been an admirer of Mr. Howatt's writings on the subject of potato culture. When Mr. Howatt says he originated the one-eye system, I have no doubt he is sincerely honest in his belief. I also know that the system was practiced by my grandfather in 1783, in the town of Glastonbury, Connecticut."
But all this may make the process of growing potatoes sound much more technical than it is. Believe me, potatoes are easy. Particularly if you're not very concerned about getting the maximum yield. This is how you can grow them: Just stick a few in some loosened soil and stand back.
