But for people that are nightshade-tolerant potatoes are an excellent food crop.
IIRC, someone was annoyed that do-gooders wanted to remove potatoes from the food stamp programs, because the potato is actually an almost-complete food. This has morphed into The Potato Diet, which calls for eating potatoes and only potatoes for a short period of time.
From the start of October through November in 2010,
Voigt consumed only spuds, a few basic seasonings
and small amounts of oil for cooking. His endeavor
drew attention from NBC’s Today Show, CBS News, Fox,
NPR and the UK’s Daily Telegraph.
Voigt documented his journey through a blog
( 20potatoesaday.com ). Tired of potatoes
getting a bad rap as being nothing but fattening
starch and carbs, he wanted to make a statement
that proved potatoes were very nutritious.
So consistently eating a lot of them increases one's risk of Type 2 diabetes.
What on earth?!
Funded by Chinese and US government agencies and agricultural research programs.
Super nit, but do authors think Mexico is in South America?
Along with wheat, maize and rice, they are estimated to account for up to 80% of all calories eaten by people worldwide.
"Boiled squid liver is a popular food. Along with wheat, maize, rice, and potatoes, they make up 80% of all calories eaten by people worldwide."
is technically true, but doesn't tell you anything about boiled squid liver consumption.
[0]: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-important-staple-fo...
Proportions vary significantly continent-to-continent and culture-to-culture, such that it'd be more meaningless to try and put a more precise (but less accurate) number on it.
This is not difficult to parse out of the sentence if you choose to take a charitable rather than a pedantic perspective, which I recommend to you generally.
I have a small planter on my balcony at the moment which is thriving with leaves, and in a few weeks I'll dig out the harvest to see what I got. People grow them in very poor soil, and even in literal bags of compost, or buckets. They're easy-going and almost trouble-free.
Growing chillis, tomatoes, or herbs on window-sills is kinda fun and rewarding, but growing a "proper crop" feels even more rewarding. And surprising because you have to wait until you dig things up to see how well you did!
Potatoes are a bit better in that respect.
But in poor weather conditions, blight can easily set in on the potatoes and tomatoes. Which makes it a lot less worthwhile.
> People grow them in very poor soil, and even in literal bags of compost
a bag of compost is pretty much the exact opposite of "very poor soil"; it's about the richest soil there is.
Of course the "new soil" would be full of nutrients, etc, it was more that this is possible even if you don't have a garden, or other hardware. (Similar intent behind mentioning the use of buckets!)
We tried carrots, but they came out very stunted, even accounting that they were a smaller variety. The container we used was likely too shallow.
Does anyone have other vegetable suggestions for us apartment-dwelling container growers to try? We have a few different size containers available ranging from about (in inches) 12x12x36 to 24x24x24 and space for more.
I have to say I grew cucumbers for the first time last year, and they were surprisingly good. Otherwise the only other thing that comes to mind immediately is Strawberries, which are also tasty and not so hard to keep up with.
- Zucchini always grows more than we can use, but they're really good. I pick them very small (~6") so the plant continues producing and growing more
- Chard grows year-round and is very resilient and low-maintenance. It's great in casseroles, soups, sautees, and other cooked formats
- Kale is similar. It'll just keep on giving
- Bush beans are amazing in summer, and if you've got vertical space, pole beans can be incredible producers too. My 8 foot raised bed has a single row of pole beans, and I've been harvesting from them for about 6 weeks with plenty more to come. This single row is very densely planted, but I feed it heavily and ensure it's fully exposed to the sun. With enough nutrients and water, you'll get pounds of beans. Again I pick them relatively small and often
- Nasturtiums make a beautiful flower but the leaves and flowers are incredible in salads, and their seed pods can be used to make a really delicious pickle/ferment as well. Throw them in hanging baskets and use them to make fun salads
- Scallions are a fun one that can be densely planted and only need 6" or so of depth. Bulb onions can be a bit more sensitive and demanding, but scallions are pretty easy going. I stagger the plantings throughout spring so I can harvest bunches of them every few weeks. They never seem to do poorly
I grow lots of other stuff but I don't always eat or enjoy them as much as these things. One exception is lettuces and other greens/herbs, but I grow those hydroponically indoors because it allows for a system that makes timing and harvesting much easier so I'm more likely to ensure it doesn't go to waste
Definitely add your other suggestions to the list. We are in Michigan, US, so harvest is soon, then Winter, so plenty of time to plan and prep as we learn more about container gardening.
If you do give it regular fertilizer and water then you can plant it extremely densely, seeding just a few inches apart. Great for apartment dwellers with raised bed or container gardens.
We plant around Halloween and harvest in early July. That leaves time and space for a late summer crop if you wish.
Also, garlic stores very well. We harvest about 100 bulbs each year from a small plot, maybe 2-3 sq m., and that gives us garlic for a year, fresh, cured, minced (into butter or pesto), and for gifts.
And don’t even get me started on how amazing and versatile garlic scapes are. The scape harvest is its own prized crop!
Added: I’m in Vancouver. Garlic seems to love the overwintering process here, usually with some light snow.
Most interesting fact I learned was the effort going toward making potato seeds (not seed potatoes).
This one always bothers me. Mexico is in North America.
I personally would have just gone with “the Americas.”
ggm•1d ago
Not that I don't love spuds.
accidentallfact•1d ago
Two chromozome copies are typical for animals, but the number of copies in plants varies widely, and and often changes easily, even different variants of the same crop can have different numbers of copies.
Underground storage organs are nothing unique, and those of potatoes are not even particularly large. Many places prohibit fig trees for example, because what you see is basically just the tip, and there can be a giant 100m in diameter underground that ruins every underground structure in its path. But it's full of nasty toxic sap, and harvesting it would be a nightmare.
It's just the particular combination of fast growth, edibility, and ease of cloning and harvest that makes potatoes unique.
ggm•1d ago