The Potato Post

The Mulvey's, up in Wilmington, asked the community for help with planting last week. So Suzy and I brought our potato hooks, gloves and hoe over there and went to work. It was real weed-pulling-and-digging work, but after a few hours we laid in two long and fairly straight rows of white potatoes. 

Potatoes are the most popular vegetable crop in the world. I noticed that the seed potatoes I was planting were certified by the State of Maine, yet another apparent example of government overreach. Not only does Maine have a Potato Board, they have a Seed Potato Board too. They also have a Value Added Tax on potatoes, which, I suppose, pays for all this bureaucracy. 

Government Certified Potatoes Taste Best

Maine, along with Vermont and Quebec, is known for eccentricities. There used to be a tax on mahogany quahogs, but it was repealed in the mid-80s. Perhaps this tax was a casualty of reactionary right-wing Republicanism Down East. If so they need a better marketing strategy. "Repeal the potato tax" is a slogan that would have fired up the base nationwide. 

The Maine Potato Board

Anyway, the Potato Board members (and their staff, who are not shown) don't get a salary but they are reimbursed for expenses and, incidentally, are state employees entitled to retirement and health insurance benefits.

I don't know of there's a UN High Commission on Tubers but there is a US Potato Board, with a $20 million budget, full time employees - the whole bureaucratic apparatus. I was disappointed to learn they aren't an appendage of the $150 billion/year US Department of Agriculture, because it would have made a better story. Somehow these anarcho-potato growers were permitted the freedom to associate and they pay for it all by themselves through voluntary fees. (Say, maybe that is a better story.)

Certifying the humble potato seems a bit pompous and smelled like rank marketing hype to this cynic. Not so. The late blight is a killer of not just potatoes. This algae-like pathogen (an oomycete) spreads rapidly and precipated the famine that killed a quarter of the Irish in 1845-1852. It'll wipe out your crop, quickly spread to your neighbors then destroy theirs, too. The oomycete devastated the potato crop here two years before being exported to Ireland, probably on potatoes shipped to Europe via Boston or NYC.

Maine's potato industry is nearly as large as their lobster industry. A crop failure over there would be an economic catastrophe over here, because they'd immediately declare a disaster and sponge up all the federal government pork-barrel spending earmarked for the northeast. We don't want some potato algae to jeopardize, for instance, our half-million dollar broadband grant. The USDA provides some of that money. They have jurisdiction over our broadband, no kidding. 

So the Potato Board was established in 1945, at the height of Maine's potato industry - I hope they refer to this as 'peak potato' - to cultivate disease-free potatoes. Why the State was compelled to charter it is puzzling but the organization seems to get the job done with a modicum of competence. 

We ate potatoes and they surrendered unconditionally.

The greatest generation had a knack for thinking things through, these people really knew what they were doing back in the 40s. The Board bought a farm in Homestead, Florida, and experimented with potatoes down there. This was a brilliant move because if something went haywire and the oomycetes hit the fan, no worries, it's way down in Florida. Also, Florida is a breeding ground for bugs and pathogens, so they were testing under the worst-case conditions. The fact that someone on the Board had to occasionally travel down there in the winter, all expenses paid, to oversee the operation, was purely coincidental. 

Potatoes were eaten by our most loyal patriots.

There's nothing like the taste of a fresh potato. I hope the ones at the Mulvey's (and our little patch) do well. On that note here are two recipes. 

Salt Potatoes are a regional dish. Take a few pounds of small potatoes - early ones are best, but any will do, and scrub them. Don't peel them. Boil enough water to cover them but add two cups of salt to the water first. Let them boil for a half hour. Don't test for doneness by poking, they will be cooked but firm, not mushy like boiled potatoes. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil. 

Salt potatoes were invented by the Irish who worked at the the salt springs near Onondaga Lake. They would draw up the salt water and boil it down, leaving behind salt. Well, the Irish grew potatoes and it was easy enough to bring some to work and make good use of that boiling water during lunchtime. 

Onondaga Lake has a tragic history. Mining companies began its pollution by dumping wastes into the lake. That practice stopped but a quarter of the water in the lake is still supplied by discharge from the sewage treatment plant. At one time this was the most polluted lake in the US, and it is ringed with Superfund cleanup sites. The Onondaga Nation wants their lands back, asserting that the US treaties were invalid because they were signed by individuals who didn't represent them and none of them were ratified by Congress anyway. They also mention that the US was a horrific steward of the land and water. The natives have a good case and they aren't going to settle this one out of court for a token casino, either. 

Lake Onondaga commentary, 1946

Lastly, a recipe for roasted potatoes with (promise) no sordid history. Clean and dice several potatoes and put them in a bowl or pot. Coat with olive oil, maybe 1/4 cup, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, some thyme and any other seasonings that you like. Dice up a few carrots and a couple of small onions. Toss them into the pot and smush everything around until well coated. Dump it out onto a baking sheet and bake at 400-450 for about 45 minutes. Check every 15 minutes to ensure the temperature isn't too high or low and shuffle around the potatoes so they brown evenly. 

Roasted Potatoes

Take them out and serve. Potatoes, not the chips, fries or other processed monstrosities, are good for you. They have lots of fiber, vitamins B and C, and minerals such as potassium, copper and manganese. We eat lots of potatoes here, alone or in soups. I even munched some potato chips down at the fire station one night but don't tell anyone.