A run down on my potatoes

  
  
OK- this year I bought WAY TOO MANY potatoes...again.  I mean it is a curse I think.  I thought I got just what I needed, but now I have potatoes planted in every kind of bed you can imagine! I even converted my herb bed for potatoes!  Ok, so if I count, I have 5 actual beds of potatoes, and let me see.....5 potato bags ..... and 3 random containers with spuds AND I gave my mome a few of each!  Ok Linna, lesson for next year!

Here is a rundown of what I have:

• Red Norland- Productive and early redskin.One of the best summer varieties for early digging, and it stores well! Great baked, boiled, or roasted. The oblong potatoes have smooth red skin, white flesh, and size rapidly. Introduced in 1957 from North Dakota, Norland has been the standard of early red potatoes for many years. This Dark Red strain is a new selection for richer red skin color. The medium-large, purple-flowered plants resist scab, leaf roll and potato viruses A and Y. TIP: For a higher percentage of small red potatoes, plant at 6-8" apart; for larger potatoes, sow about 12" apart.
• Purple Viking- Unique taste and smooth texture make this variety a favorite for many. Slightly sweet flavor gets sweeter with longer storage. Snow white flesh is perfect for mashing, but is also excellent for any preparation. Beautiful purple skin with red-pink marbling. Average tubers are 3½-4" in diameter, with potential for larger tubers. Excellent storage qualities. 80-100 days.
• German Butterball- First place winner in Rodale’s Organic Gardening “Taste Off.” A good choice for roasting, frying, and especially for mashed potatoes. Russeted skin and buttery yellow flesh. Always one of our favorite all-purpose potatoes. Excellent for long-term storage. Very good yields. 100-120 days.
• Katahdin- Buff skin, white flesh. The choice winter potato for northeastern growers.  Released in 1932 by USDA adn Maine, it is the standard by which all storage potatoes are compared.  Very well suited to a Maine growing season, spreading plants can produced some clunkers.  The tubers tend toward the soil's surface, so hill well.  Resistant to mild mosaic, but not spindle tuber or leaf roll.  Medium to large spreading plant with many large light purple flowers.
• Green Mountain-Famous for its marvelous flavor and exceptional baking qualities. An heirloom released in 1885, bred in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Produces a high yield of light tan-skinned, white-fleshed tubers that store exceedingly well. Resistant to verticillium, blackleg, and fusarium storage rot, but susceptible to scab and viruses. Large spreading plant with big, white flowers. VERY LIMITED both organic and conventional seed.
• Red Pontiac- 90 to 100 days. For rich, full flavor and a big crop in a wide range of soil conditions, this red-skinned potato can't be beat! Red Pontiac is an improved sport of Pontiac with deeper red skin color, higher yields, and better adaptability to clay soil. A mid-season variety, it offers sweet, solid white flesh with a flavor you just have to try to believe! The large, round tubers hold their shape and color during cooking, making them a great all-around choice for boiling, baking, frying, and mashing. If you just can't wait until harvest time for a potato fix, pluck these new red potatoes earlier for a simple, tasty treat - boiled, lightly seasoned, and straight to your plate! These plants grow up to 3 feet tall but spread 2 to 3 feet wide, and each 2-pound bag will sow 20 to 25 feet of row and yield 25 pounds of potatoes or more.
• Russet Burbank- Most people throughout the United States and the World identify Idaho as "The Potato State" because of this single potato variety. This potato variety was developed in the late 1800's by a Massachusetts man named Luther Burbank and didn't find its way to Idaho until the early 1900's.  The Russet Burbank is a much slower maturing potato than the Dark Red Norland and Yukon Gold potatoes. However, they have much higher yields in comparison. The Russet Burbank's elongated shape and thick skin make it a very versatile potato. The most common uses for the Russet Burbank potato are BAKING, MASHING, and FRENCH FRYING.

Oh yes, and that bag of organic red potatoes left in my cupboard, they went into the garden too!