Potatoes

[JoePa]

Why I grow my own potatoes - I just got harvesting around 200 lbs. of potatoes from my garden - here's why I grow my own - years ago I was in a barber shop with my kids waiting to get hair buts - in the chair at the time was a potato farmer who regularly put a lot of acres inn potatoes - we were talking about the bugs that attack potatoes and the need to spray them - the farmer said he didn't have much problem with buts because he uses systemic sprays - for you guys who don't know what systemic sprays are - these sprays actually get right into the plant foliage and when a bug eats the plant it kills them - we told the farmer that the spry was also getting in the potatoes - he just laughed and say he didn't think so - but the true is that the spray does get into the potatoes - 

I live in the country - my place is pretty much surrounded with farm fields - this year one of the farmers planted acres of potatoes - in the spring the first thing he did was spray the field to kill the weeds - then he put down fertilizer - planted the potatoes - then sprayed them twice during the summer - the other day he sprayed to kill the potatoes's foliage - next he will harvest them with big machinery - the potatoes will eventually get sprayed again so they don't sprout - that's why I grow my own potatoes - 

[RandyLinden]

I believe that this is probably applies to most or all of our fruits and vegetables. The constant application of pesticides and other chemicals is bound to end up in the produce we all eat. Common sense should tell us that that his accumulated chemical cocktail being digested in our bodies is not good. The need to have high yields of good quality crops along with the general public's requirement to have good looking produce has made this practice mandatory for farmers to operate a profitable farm. I don't think that this along with genetically modified produce will change until there is an abundance of critical undeniable evidence that points to this practice causing unacceptable levels of health problems in humans. We are all to some extent responsible for some of this because we mostly want good looking, blemish free, large, and well-proportioned fruits and vegetables when we go to the supermarket. Naturally grown fruits and vegetables do not have these characteristics and as a result are not desirable. For anyone that has ever eaten fresh produce grown without chemicals there is a noticeably better taste and flavor. Just try a nice garden grown tomato to one you buy at the grocery store. 

[crappieperchhunter]

The other nice thing about growing your own potatoes or any garden veggie is that you can choose varieties you prefer the taste of better. Most store bought veggies are varieties that are the most productive, or varieties that store or ship well, or have better disease resistance. Best tasting never really enters into the picture for  farmers getting paid by the pound. BTW JoePa what potato varieties do you grow? My 2 favourites are Red Cheiftain and Yukon Gold.

[JoePa]

This year I grew 3 different kinds - N. Elba - Caribou Russet and J. Belmonda - I get seed potatoes from Johnny"s Selected Seeds - one thing you can do is buy organic potatoes in a super market and uses them for seed because they are not (not supposed to be) sprayed - most of the time for breakfast I have potatoes and eggs from my chickens - 

[pics]

On 10/2/2022 at 3:05 PM, JoePa said:

This year I grew 3 different kinds - N. Elba - Caribou Russet and J. Belmonda - I get seed potatoes from Johnny"s Selected Seeds - one thing you can do is buy organic potatoes in a super market and uses them for seed because they are not (not supposed to be) sprayed - most of the time for breakfast I have potatoes and eggs from my chickens - 

If you think vegetables are bad, the big American agriculture lobby has been able to convince the government that hormones and antibiotics are safe to use on food animals.. maximum production is more important than safety..

[xiaolongenquiry]

When I was younger, I used to love potatoes. I would eat them roasted, mashed, baked, and fried. I never thought twice about them. But then, about a year ago, I started noticing that I would get really bloated and uncomfortable every time I ate potatoes. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence, but it kept happening, no matter how I cooked the potatoes or what type of potato I ate. Finally, I realized that I might be intolerant to potatoes, so I decided to make a test from https://www.intolerancelab.co.uk/food-intolerance-test/. A few months ago, I started growing my own potatoes. I wanted to see if I could eat potatoes I had grown myself, and so far, it seems to be working. I haven't had any problems with bloating or discomfort, and I'm really happy about that. Plus, it's been really fun to grow my own food!

Edited October 17, 2022 by xiaolongenquiry