Sweet & Spicy

Sweet:

Our second crop of strawberries is coming on, not too many yet but they are of nice size and flavor. The ones above ended up in a smoothie...it was good.

Spicy:

I have been busy making our version of kimchi, the latest batch consisted of cucumbers, green beans, carrots, various cabbage, Tuscan kale, kohlrabi, Italian chicory, red amaranth leaves, onions, garlic, chives, green onions, green & black peppers (would have liked to have had some red peppers for color), and was flavored with spicy red pepper powder, paprika powder, plus a few tablespoons of grated ginger.

For every five pounds of processed veggies I added a very light 3 tablespoons of sea salt. The cabbage is mixed with the salt and pounded to release juices. I then included the rest of the veggies and spices, mixed well and packed into a crock, keeping the ingredients weighted down for approximately a week. One cup of water was also used in order to have enough brine to cover everything. Seven days later I transferred the fermented deliciousness into glass jars...15 lbs of veggies made 1 gallon plus a quart.

This can either be kept in a cool root cellar or one's refrigerator. Since I had to make it early this year in order to incorporate fresh green beans and cucumbers into the mix it is being stored in the refrigerator as the root cellar is not quite cold enough yet...last year our kimchi and sauerkraut stored well in the root cellar from October through May at which time I put the remaining jars in our refrigerator. It will easily keep over a year this way, we are still working to finish off last year's kimchi and it tastes just fine.

In looking at these jars I am reminded that a piece of wax paper should be added in order to keep the lids from corroding or rusting...oops.:) Also, after the first week or so in storage we always have to add a little more brine to keep everything covered.

Does anyone else enjoy the bold flavors of kimchi?

Sunroots in our Salad

One of the vegetables that we will probably never be found lacking in are sunroots, so we are always looking for new ways in which to use these prolific tubers that spread so readily throughout our gardens...in their designated areas of course. Of late we have been slicing them into thin strips and mixing with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil or any balsamic dressing we happen to have on hand...Mrs. H is always finding fantastic deals on balsamic dressing and hauls it home by the box full, it must be a black market thing...shame, shame. Anyway, they are then covered and left in the fridge overnight to marinate a bit which helps impart an extra nice flavor when sprinkled atop our daily veggie bowl.

Today's ↑ salad contains various kale, turnip greens, cabbage, grated carrot, squash, turnip (root), beet, topped with red cabbage sauerkraut, sunflower seeds, and a hint of Asiago cheese. Sunroots really add a distinct crunch to the mix, traditionally, when eaten raw, we have simply grated them into the salad but I much prefer this new method.


If you are so inclined, more of my thoughts on how we grow, care for, and store sunroots can be found in the links below.↓ Also, I have been asked why I choose to call them sunroots instead of Jerusalem artichokes, sunchokes, topinambour, girasole, earth apple, or any of the other names they might go by. I do this because, as far as I know, they were first cultivated by Native American and Canadian Indians who called them "sun roots" long before these tuberous plants were whisked off to foreign lands where they underwent a variety of name changes.

Sunroots or Pirate's Booty
Our Ultimate Survival Food

Our Ever Evolving Sunroots (Jerusalem Artichokes)

Jack's Back!

Our little grandson Hunter William, aka Jack, has recently found his way back down the beanstalk all the way from California where he spent the summer getting reacquainted with his "birth mom." Anyway, he is back just in time to help with the harvest, of course all he wants to do is go fishing, and fishing, and fishing...he likes fishing. He is also the missing link in our garden photos as a small boy makes everything in the garden look much bigger.

Surprisingly, after being on a slightly (much different) diet than what we eat around here, the lad was ready to get back on track with a wide variety of wholesome foods from the gardens without complaint. He returned to us with a craving for fresh eggs, anything berry, and will eat as many cucumbers as we give him....pickled or fresh. I was sure that we would have to retrain those taste buds of his. Welcome back little man.:)

While he is really of Polish, Japanese, English, and other descent, he seems to have acquired my jovial Irish nature.:)


Don't let those little green eyes fool you, what you're really looking at is 100% pure mischief.


Saying hello to the girls on the other side of the runner bean patch

Potting Tomatoes and Three Courses of Kale

We started potting our tomatoes and little tomatillos in 4" pots the other day, my wife's an old pro at this, me, I'm very slow. She roughly packs them into the pots with assembly line quickness while I want each one to be just perfect and am so gentle and careful that I am best left to deal with other tasks like making sure she has all the supplies needed for the operation and telling her to be careful with the plants. She assures me that tomatoes are tough and can handle it. She is right, but still...

The root cellar is still full of everything and the garden of greens.

We celebrated kale last night with a veritable kale salad extravaganza. A kale and potato salad, a kale/chicory/celery/root veggie salad, and a warm kale and squash salad. Mmm...Mikey likes kale.

Homegrown Puppy Chow

One of the things that we have been striving to be more self-reliant in is the ability to feed our pet's food that we can obtain or produce ourselves. After consulting with a fellow blogger whom I trust goes to great lengths to care for her own dogs and doing a lot of reading on the subject of canine nutrition we have come up with our first homemade dog food recipe. Having realized that a dogs natural diet could consist of a wide variety of different foods we started offering small samples to our puppy, Rowdy, early on so that he would develop a taste for them, and boy did he ever. He loves to eat everything we have given him...fruits, veggies, nuts, chicken poop (his idea not ours), etc...

In the wild, a wolf, coyote, or dingo's diet consists of more than just meat. Being opportunistic in nature their diet, while based on various types of meat, can also include some fruits, berries, grass, vegetables, and other plants. I've read that coyotes are even known to raid farmers melon patches upon occasion. So we came up with a cooked puppy food that is approximately 50% meat and eggs and 50% plant based. This is of course subject to change depending upon how well the dog does on this diet and any new information I might obtain.

Here is a fascinating video of wolves supposedly eating raspberries. Although they look more like rose hips to me.

Our first batch consisted of a couple pounds of good quality lean ground beef, eggs, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, peas, plain tomato sauce, berries, apples, chicory root, parsley, celery, and steel cut oats to bind it all together. All of these vegetables, and the steel cut oats, are supposed to be easily digestible for dogs unlike some of the cheap corn and soy based "filler" ingredients, full of chemical additives, that make up the bulk of some pet foods...or so I've been reading in Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs & Cats and various other sources. For the record, while a very interesting book, I don't necessarily agree with everything in Dr. Pitcairn's book.

Anyway, this mix will last him about 25 days (keeping in mind that this is a small puppy...for a while) and is served as an addition to his constant supply of dry dog food and the occasional serving of kefir or milk, extra eggs, raw fresh veggies, fruit, berries, and any voles or mice he might catch. We measured out the daily portions and froze them for ease of use.

Grandfather tested and puppy approved homemade dog food right out of the garden.:)

He absolutely loves his new food, it was so good I even had a bite. If I have to start eating dog food in my old age this will be my brand of choice, not very tasty but pretty darn healthy.:) We will probably add a little more protein in the form of beef, fish, broth, legumes, and eggs as he continues to grow. Other possibilities include the addition of spinach (?), garlic, eggshell powder, broccoli, squash, rice, flax, and kale to the mix. He goes nuts over our kale for some reason, he was with me while I was picking it one day, probably thought I was grazing on it, and has been stealing it from under the row covers ever since. Now if I could just figure out how to make a high protein healthful dry dog food, and then there's those hopelessly lazy and finicky cats to deal with.

So far Rowdy is a very healthy, happy, and energetic puppy who loves to take walks in the wetlands. Beside harassing our cats his favorite pastimes include catching goose feathers that are floating down stream, hunting for voles, and quality time with the chickens...more on that later.

Breakfast and a Run

We normally only make two types of meals for breakfast. The first is our old standby salad, usually with and egg or occasionally some fried spuds on top...and a very berry smoothie. The other meal, depicted above, is always fun because it is a mishmashed combination of whatever was left over from the previous night's dinner. This morning I had blue jade corn bread, gold nugget squash with ginger pear sauce and young dandelions, a thick kale and potato soup, one egg sitting atop sauerkraut, and of course, a small slaw salad. It sounds like a lot but that is all I will eat until dinner.

My wife and I will be going on an 8 mile run later this afternoon as she is working towards a goal of 13 miles since she will possibly be running in a half marathon in the near future. My job, per her request, is to make sure she can do it. That mostly involves making her a nourishing breakfast and running along side her, sometimes even backwards in front of her, humming inspirational tunes from the movie "Rocky" and giving her annoying words of encouragement. This usually helps as she invariably picks up speed in order to escape me.:) Normally we eat much lighter on the days we will be running, I hope this meal does not slow us down too much

I wrote this post yesterday and we did have a pretty good run. It was very exciting for Mrs. H as she has never ran 8 miles before (8.1 to be exact). Last year she talked herself into running a 12km (7.46 mile) race and now she will be doing that same 12k plus a half marathon this year. I'm just glad that we are having such a great snow free winter and do not have to train on slippery snow covered roads like last year...so far anyway.

The Salad...

Lately I have been contemplating a question we are often asked. How can we possibly consume all of the food that we grow? The answer is really quite simple...a salad. Take away the grocery store and the fact that the majority (not all) of our diet is vegetarian in nature, we prefer the term healthy opportunists, and you will find us making each and every meal out of those things that we have spent the warm months growing and the cold months maintaining.

Most evenings find us creating a salad that varies in nature depending upon what is available to us from the garden and root cellar, this is normally our main course often served with side dishes such as bread, eggs, soup, etc. How can a salad be the main course of any meal one might ask? Well, our salads are not just salads but full meals comprised of numerous ingredients such as squash, potatoes, greens, cabbage, beans, seeds, fruits, berries, and anything else we care to throw at them.

For example, last night's salad consisted of:

Grated root veggies
1 1/2 beets
5 small carrots
1 turnip
2 sunchokes
1 celeriac root
3 parsnips
1/2 cup squash
1/2 cup kohlrabi

Greens
parsley
kale (various)
spinach
endive
Swiss chard
turnip greens

Toppings
flax seeds
diced onions
diced leek greens
dried tomatoes (so good)
diced apples
dried peppers


This was served with grilled cheese & onion sandwiches and tomato soup. The only ingredients not from our garden were cheese and some components of the salad dressing...and a dab of butter. We always make enough salad so that we can also have it for breakfast, usually with a few eggs or fried potatoes on top. We like to mix it up a lot by adding things like salmon, sauerkraut, various fruits, berries, nuts and surprisingly find that this meal not only suites us nutritionally but, with continuously differing combinations, still enthralls us with its menagerie of flavors. In the summer, when more fresh produce is available from our garden, we might have over 40 different ingredients in each salad, that's when it really becomes fun, and things like fresh berries can make any salad delicious.


In thinking about the fact that we eat a similar type of salad every night and most mornings (we normally don't eat lunch) close to 365 days a year that is one whole heck of a lot of vegetables and greens that we need to not only grow but also store and preserve. All of these same foods comprise a good percentage of our chickens diet as well, especially in the winter. Simple food for simple people.

The puppy? Yesterday, after visiting with Mrs. H's parents we stopped on our way back home to take Rowdy for a walk along a trail next to the river and were soon beset upon by a troop of Catholic school girls led by a friendly young nun who upon seeing our little angel-eyed puppy could not resist but to ask if her girls could pet him. Rowdy was in heaven as each girl patted his head and told him what precious little puppy he was. Were he a more vocal dog I'm sure he would have squealed in delight.:)

Sweet Tomato Pie

Every once in a while you come across a really great recipe that just calls out to you "try me," and once you do you're hooked. Here is how we made a sweet tomato pie with some of our extra tomatoes.

Pre-bake your favorite homemade crust and add two layers of tomatoes and herbed seasoning

Add cheese mixed with kefir (or mayonnaise)

Layer with some carefully sauteed (caramelized) onions and garlic

Top with a few red or green peppers and more seasoning

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Enjoy dinner as if it were dessert

This most delicious recipe can be found at - http://cookingupastory.com/tomato-pie.☺

"Eat my dahlias?" she yelled...

"Eat my dahlias?" she yelled, her face contorted with a look of horror as I innocently walked through the door proudly displaying a bowl of the tubers. "Well yeah hon, I read about it in Mother Earth a while back, remember? I told you all about it" I said with a sly grin. My wife, looking at me in utter disbelief, questioned my sanity and reminded me that we had enough roots and tubers scattered about and that perhaps I should focus my attention on them and leave the poor flower bulbs alone.

"And just how do you plan on eating them?" she demanded, shaking her head in obvious dissatisfaction. "Well dear, if you remember correctly, it was I that convinced you to plant them in the first place, that said, we will grate them raw into our salad tonight" I proclaimed with smug disregard for her flowery sensitivities. "No problem Mike, you go right ahead and try them just don't expect me to get sick along with you" she responded walking out of the kitchen. "Foolish man wants to eat flower bulbs does he, well go right ahead" I heard her mumble under her breath from the other room. Pushing my luck, I couldn't help but call out a gentle reminder "they are not bulbs sweetie, they're tubers."


Anyway, it went something like that. Well, perhaps that is "quite" a bit of an exaggeration and perhaps I am a bit foolish, but in the end we both tried and enjoyed the new found spicy but subtle flavor of grated dahlia that adorned our salads. Enjoyed might also be a bit of a stretch, let's just say we reveled in the fact that they were indeed edible. All dahlia tubers are edible and so are their flower petals, I did refrain from dining on the flowers being content to simply gaze upon their beauty. No doubt eating the flowers would have seen me booted out the door with suitcase in hand. You can only push a flower gardener so far before she snaps.


Now while I am certainly not going to make a habit out of eating dahlia tubers I suppose it is good to know that if times were tough a person can have their blooms and eat them too. Dahlias like sunchokes, scorzonera, salsify and endive roots contain high levels of inulin, a healthful dietary fiber. It takes a body some time to adapt to this as inulin does not readily break down in the stomach.

The inulin in these foods has it's benefits. It can help increase the absorption of calcium and is also considered a prebiotic, helping to stimulate the growth of bacteria in the digestive system. Which, while a good thing, can cause a bit of stomach discomfort to those who have not adequately adapted to inulin rich foods. So starting out with the consumption of a small portion of these foods might be a wise choice. Don't worry, you will know if you ate too many.:)

Here is a link to the article on edible dahlias in "Mother Earth News" -

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Edible-Dahlia-Bulbs-Recipes.aspx

One Thing Leads to Another...

You might see Spooky, the cat, in many of our photos, for the most part it's not that I'm trying to include her in the pictures so much as she includes herself. My sister-in-law found her as a small kitten roaming a busy city intersection on Halloween in 1995, and she has been our constant companion ever since.

Formal introductions aside, Spooky and I picked the last of our turnips yesterday. We saved out the best greens for the night's dinner, but as so often happens, instead of a simple salad the greens became the genesis, if you will, of another pretty darn good home grown meal. This is a fairly common occurrence around here. We will be working in the garden and a particular vegetable or part thereof will strike our fancy and even though it might only be the smallest ingredient of a meal the whole regale will be based solely around that one simple component. It's interesting how that tends to happen.


Pasta was made from last year's hard red spring wheat that included a secret ingredient that was the extra chaff. It can be hard to remove all of the chaff when winnowing grains but, once ground, you would never know it was there. We'll just call it fiber...


With this neat little contraption, a pasta maker that my better half picked up last year brand new at a garage sale for $3.00, I was easily able to turn that same wheat, ground and mixed with a few eggs, into thick delicious fettuccine noodles that made my wife laugh. She laughed because she knew, as is usual, that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. It took me a few tries to master the funny little machine but I was soon almost as accomplished as her at it.


Of course, we used leftover sauce from the previous day's canning adventures and into the same pot went diced eggplant, pepper, onion, and garlic. At the last moment I added the turnip greens and a few of the garden's remaining sprigs of broccoli. We had a most wonderful dinner and the best part was that every single ingredient minus the sea salt was from our own little garden. What more could a person possibly ask for in a meal? Thank goodness for turnip greens.

Eggplant

This summer we once again grew Black Beauty and Long Purple eggplant. Both did great, the long purple always perform well in our normally cooler garden conditions and the black beauty does OK if it is warm enough, and it was this year. Newcomers included Thai Long green and Apple green, they were amazing. The round green eggplant came on extra early and produced numerous amounts of little apple sized fruits. The long green were my favorite, not only did they produce well but even the ones that got away from us, getting a little too large, still had the most tender skin. Both of these varieties are supposed to be able to withstand light frosts, although we didn't wait to find out if this was true or not.

We harvested them toward the end of September, just before frost set in. They now reside on our porch and should be good into late November or longer if the temperature is kept at around 40°. The skins will eventually start to wrinkle a bit but the eggplant themselves still taste great as long as we are diligent in weeding out any that might spoil. We love using them breaded and fried (baked) alongside zucchini, in omelets, stir fries, or even as a pizza topping as we did last night.

Breaded and baked zucchini and eggplant, I surely gained 5 lbs from eating these all summer.

The Forgotten Cardoon

Last night we incorporated a couple cardoon stalks into the evening meal. I diced up eggplant, red pepper, blue corn, onions, cut in half and cored a few meaty little Turkey tomatoes (one of my new favorites). The cardoons were then peeled, diced, boiled in salted water and later added to the rest of the mixture. My wife was in charge of salmon, generously donated by my in-laws (thanks!), baked with tomatillos and dill. We topped everything off with a zesty salsa and side of warm cornbread...it was delicious.



Cardoons, a biennial and member of the artichoke family, grow fairly well for us as long as they are provided with plenty of water. These large prehistoric appearing plants have saw-toothed leaves and ribbed stalks similar to celery. I started growing them a few years back as we hope to eventually start making some of our own goat cheese. Cardoons contain enzymes that can replace rennet in the cheese making process. Since we have yet to try our hand at cheese and still don't have a viable source of goat milk, we decided to make better use of this rather unusual vegetable and have begun to include it in our diet.


Traditionally, the stalks are blanched in the fall by mounding dirt or straw around them and tying or wrapping the upper portions in paper or any material that will keep the light away, helping to tenderize the stems. We have not tried this, and find that if watered properly the stalks do not seem to get very tough, and the inner ones are often palatably delicate.

In the kitchen, the leaves are removed and the back of the stocks peeled of any fibrous strings. Immediately after peeling and cutting the stalks should be put in cold acidic (salt, vinegar, or lime juice) water to keep them from discoloring. They can then be boiled for about 20 minutes at the cook's leisure. With an almost bittersweet flavor and texture similar to celery I plan to use them in stir fries, soups, or any of the funky dishes we tend to make around here. They are not bad raw either, especially while still young.


While this vegetable may not be for everyone, we hope to make better use of it in the kitchen and will be attempting to overwinter some in both the garden and root cellar this year.

Kimchi

We finally followed through on making some kimchi for my father's birthday. Week old Kimchi, a couple books on Native American medicinal herbs, and he was happy to say the least. We made some for the first time a couple years ago and it took me about five minutes to fall in love with it.

Kimchi is a somewhat spicy Korean delicacy made of various vegetables. The main ingredient in ours is salted (sea salt) napa, savoy cabbage, or bok choy seasoned with ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and onions. We then add a few other vegetables and let the concoction sit in loosely covered jars at around 60° for about five days to undergo lactic acid fermentation. The added vegetables can be anything you like, kale, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, corn even certain fruits like apples.

Like sauerkraut, kefir and other fermented foods we eat, kimchi is supposed to be very healthy. Full of probiotics due to the fermentation process, vitamins contained in the ingredients, and good bacteria, it is possibly a true "super food". Give it a try.


Basic Kimchi recipe -

Ingredients:

2 large napa or savoy cabbage

1 thinly sliced red pepper

6 cups of cold water

3 tablespoons of sea salt

1 tablespoon of fresh garlic, finely diced

1 - 2 tablespoon of fresh ginger, finely diced or grated

1/4 cup of fresh green onions, thinly sliced into 2" pieces

2 teaspoon of dried red chili pepper flakes

2 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoon of sugar

Directions:

1. Chop cabbage into 2" pieces

2. Mix salt in cold water

3. Place cabbage in gallon zip lock bags or tightly sealed glass jars, fill with salt water brine and place in refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight flipping occasionally

4. Drain and reserve brine

5. Mix all other ingredients with cabbage

6. Pack 1 gallon jar with mixture leaving 2" space at top. Pour reserved brine over the cabbage to cover.

7. Push a small freezer bag into the mouth of the jar and pour the remaining brine into the bags (you may need the extra brine later). Better yet, use another glass jar that will fit inside your gallon jar.

8. Let kimchi ferment in a cool place no higher than 70° for 3-6 days. The longer the stronger.

9. Remove the brine weight, add more brine to jar if neccesary and cap tightly. Store in the refrigerator where it will keep for a couple months.

That is the basic recipe we used on my fathers kimchi. The new batch we are making will include a little diced kale, radichio, Italian chicory and perhaps a little more red pepper and red pepper powder. We have not made this in years and it was fun to get back into it. We try to keep the salt content low and always use real sea salt when fermenting foods. Remember salt obtained from the natural evaporation of sea water is entirely different from modern refined salt and much better for you.

What Good is a Russet Without a Purple Majesty by it's Side!

I love potatoes, not just any potato...all potatoes and that is why we will be growing twenty five varieties this year. Last year I think we had around twenty and maybe 45 plants. I think that growing ones own food is very important, but just as important is enjoying growing ones own food and variety allows for that.


There are many reasons that I grow a large number of each type of vegetable aside from the enjoyment aspect. It allows me to see which vegetables do best in my garden and in any given condition that may arise, and also provides me with the opportunity to be more self-reliant. More self-reliant in the sense that I am able to save seeds from a much wider selection of crops and will eventually, I hope, be able to rely more upon myself for those seeds and less upon others (seed companies).

Now that I have attempted to justify why anyone in their right mind would possibly choose to grow twenty five different varieties of potatoes, here is what we will be growing for ourselves and our chickens :). Many of these potatoes will be grown from my own seed but I did purchase a few of them.

Purple Majesty - One of our favorites, it is purple inside and out. We are sometimes provided with really large specimens that taste great fried, baked or boiled and are most wonderful tossed hot over a healthy green salad.


Red Lasoda - Red skin and white flesh makes for a great potato salad. We do have a problem with scab on this one in particular...but hey, scab is only skin deep and who will ever know if you mash it.


Yellow Finn - New to us this year, it is supposed to have yellow flesh with a buttery flavor and be a good keeper. A butter like flavor...why is it that every yellow fleshed potato seems to be described that way? I have yet to eat a butter flavored potato, but I am sure this will be the first.


Sangre - The name means "blood" in Spanish, it has a dark red skin with white flesh, nice used as a new potato. We are always stealing this one in July as it seems to come on fairly early and gives us lots of baby potatoes.

Mountain Rose - A sometimes large potato with red skin and pink flesh it makes for a great boiled potato.


Dakota Pearl - We first grew this last year and really liked it. The potato has an almost white skin and flesh, very crisp potato that takes extra time to cook. Small to medium in size all of mine were free of defects such as scab. A fine choice for hash browns.


Huckleberry - Red skin, pink inside (especially once cooked) with some white, very similar to Mountain Rose. My wife is partial to this one and always chooses it to top her salads. Grows really well for us and is named after huckleberries that grow wild here in the northwest.


Gold Rush - We are trying this one for the first time this year. Supposedly a nice baking potato with good flavor it is a cross between a Lemhi Russet and Norgold...supposed to do well in dry climates.

Russet Burbank - Most widely grown potato in the United States. A favorite for baked potatoes especially in Idaho. The chickens love them and they are regularly included in their diet. Ours always turn out short and fat and bear little resemblance to the perfect store bought russets.

All Blue - Medium sized potato with blue/purple skin and a bluish interior. A bit of a mealy potato I have grown to love after becoming accustomed to the texture. Very high yields for us.


Russian Banana - With yellow skin and flesh this potato makes for a great french fry and also seems to grow well in our climate putting out numerous disease free tubers.


Swedish Peanut - Another potato that we are trying for the first time, I hear it has a nutty tasting yellow flesh and should be good in a stir fry as it is supposed to stay firm when cooked.

French Fingerling - A staple in our diet, the french fingerling has red skin and slightly yellow flesh with a red line running through the middle. Another potato that does well fried.

LaRatte - We have yet to try this yellow skinned potato that reportedly has a creamy yellow flesh and somewhat nutty flavor.

Austrian Crescent - With light yellow skin and flesh this potato, along with all of the other fingerlings, is really a treat when steamed and served on it's own.

Anna Cheeka Ozette - A very interesting looking potato with deeply set eyes, yellow skin and flesh. This potato stores and produces very well for us.

Red Thumb - With red skin and flesh we were not able to find this potato last year and are excited to grow it this summer. It is supposed to be very uniform in shape and have a nice texture and flavor.

Adora - Very productive with yellow flesh and round shape. Makes a fine boiled potato, especially when young.

Red Norland - Red skin and almost white flesh, perfect for potato salad. Does seem to have an issue with scab.

Norkotah Russet - Like the Burbank russet, a nice baking potato that produces fairly well...but not great. Some of these get really big.

Yukon Gold - Thin skin and yellow flesh, definitely my favorite baking or boiling potato. Unfortunately it does not produce all that well for us.

Red Pontiac - Large round potato with thin red skin and white flesh this potato is perfect for mashing.

Purple Viking - Purple skin and white flesh, it will be a first for us as well.

Superior - White fleshed potato that is an all around excellent potato and supposed to be good for making chips, although we have never done so.

Purple Peruvian - Our favorite finger potato with purple, almost black skin and a dark purple flesh. Mealy but delicious, they almost grow wild around my garden as they have so many eyes that even the smallest piece left in the ground produces a plant.

Lots of potatoes, yes, but as a staple in our diet and that of our chickens we go through them pretty fast. No matter how many potatoes we grow the best ones are those that end up on a salad at the end of the day.