"0tterbot" wrote in message
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"Loosecanon" wrote in message
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"terryc" wrote in message
news

Interesting question; where did the spud originate from?

south america, along with their relative the tomato.

loosecanon
More interesting why do they only seem to sell 4 varieties in WA and
persist in selling crap Nadine variety. More work should have been done
to increase the yields and strength of Delaware.

there are literally thousands of potato cultivars out there. as with other
"supermarket" veg, commercial growers tend towards a handful of varieties
only, to suit supermarket purposes (ripening time, transportation, long
storage etc).

further to your comment on nadines, different potatoes cook best in
different ways (find yourself a list). there is personal preference &
there is right cooking method for the type - there aren't really any "bad"
potatoes. i'm pretty sure desiree & pontiac sell so well commercially
because they are all-purpose & you can't really go wrong with them.

diggers club (no doubt, amongst others) is promoting more potato types
every year for home growers, so try them. iirc they sell perhaps 15 kinds
(which is still only the tip of the iceberg).

We have a Royal Blue variety which is excellent but you have to use them
within a week or they sprout. The supply line of these isn't that crash
hot either where some weeks marble sized potatoes hit the shelves.

see above - not everything is suitable for mass commercial sale.

Now I know they grow sebago here but never ever do these get sold in
fruit & veg shops. I wonder where they go to. I guess the Potato
Marketing board has it all tied up. Meanwhile we dip out on decent white
potatoes.

in nsw you can't get away from bloody sebagos! which are not at all my
personal preference. however, they're pretty good in & of themselves -
they keep growing in one patch of my garden despite all my efforts, so
from that pov i can't fault them ;-) if you really like sebagos, get some
seed potatoes & go for it! or move to nsw g.
kylie


Eastern states companies could sell 100 different varities none would get
past quarantine into WA. The AG department and the Potato Marketing board
have it sown up.

Royal Blues are not sold as certified potatoes. The Delaware they sell are
not the same as 30 years ago, I reckon there was a sneaky cross sometime.

As for moving to Sydney nah....

The Landline story was interesting as the Peruvians grow these spuds at 3000
ft above sea level. Not many potato grows at that altitude here.