This simple step by step tutorial of how to make seed potatoes starts for your garden will help you harvest a large crop for pennies !
Believe it or not potatoes have more significance and provide more benefits than Donald Trump’s toupee. It is one of the most important vegetables in existence (most diverse too). Furthermore, when you are the “number one vegetable crop in the world”, you deserve some props. The thing is people aren’t aware of just how important a potato is. Some might not have ever even seen one, much less know what it is.
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This article aims to give you some insight into potatoes – what they are; of what benefits can they be to you and how to grow them yourself.
So let’s talk about the little tuber.
What is a potato?
I did mention it is a tuber, which means that is a fleshy, thickened, underground outgrowth of a stem. Usually it has an oblong shape or it can be round.
It is of course a vegetable and belongs to the night shade family (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, tomatillos). It is the part of the potato plant that provides food for the leafy portion. Its skin color could be brown (most common), red, yellow and even purple. It has a fleshy inside, a bit tender, with either a white or pale yellow color (unless purple on the outside).
I also mentioned before that it is a comfort food. What that means is that you can enjoy it a variety of ways. Added to that, you get a whole bunch of nutrients from it, from just a serving. Most notable nutrient is vitamin B6.
Planting Potatoes for yourself
I am not stingy nor is the steps to planting potatoes a secret formula like the secret formula for making a Krabby Patty. I will now share with you the whole process on what needs to be done to have an awesome harvest:
• Make sure your soil is well prepared. Design doesn’t matter as long as the soil is rich and not frozen.
• For every potato you have, slice chunky portions out of each so that you have 2 -3 eyes on each portion.
• Leave the portions exposed to open air for about 1 or 2 days. That will dry out the pieces to build a protective layer around it that ultimately helps retain moisture and makes it resistant to rotting.
• What you want to do next is dig a long narrow ditch and add your fertilizers. Spread an adequate amount evenly across the ditch.
• You are ready to plant the pieces you have. Place them in the ground and allow the side with the eyes to face up.
To yield great potato produce, you need to give proper attention and care throughout the growth process. That means you have to make sure the soil remains loose and nicely textured, moist by constant (daily perhaps) watering and deprived of pests that can ruin your hard work.
We cannot talk about potatoes and not mention its benefits:
• I mentioned already that it is packed with nutrients. That means your body gets exactly what it needs to function efficiently.
• When cooked it is tasty, which means you get to totally enjoy the many delicacies it can offer while supplying your body with the proper nutrients for good health.
• Research by the Institute for Food Research shows that potatoes contain compounds that can lower blood pressure.
• Furthermore, its high vitamin B6 concentration means that it is useful for building your cells and improving Nervous System function and activity.
I will conclude here with some fun facts.
Did you know?
The potato plant bares fruit that looks like a tomato but is completely inedible.
It contains blood pressure-lowering compounds called kukoamines.
It is one of the only vegetable crop in the world that can be prepared in a variety of ways – mashed, baked, fried or roasted, boiled
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