Thank you! And potatoes!
Or: my *real* last post of the year
I know I said I’d see you in 2025 in my last post (and I will), but I realized I really wanted to say thank you to all of you out there. To everyone who reads, subscribes, shares, likes, comments, and emails or texts me about a post - I’m immensely grateful! You all are the reason that I kind of feel comfortable(ish) calling myself a writer now. There’s a good chance I might’ve abandoned this project long ago without you. It’s a particular kind of special when I can share my thoughts here with people and they share their thoughts with me.
And a really special shoutout to my paid subscribers. I know there’s a lot of content out there, and there are so very many writers deserving of our money. So it means more to me than I can express that some of you have chosen to become paid subscribers to this thing I’m doing here. A million thank yous!
And with that, my parting gift to you for the year is… potatoes!
I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to plant in the garden next year. If Trump gets his way with tariffs and deportations, food is going to get bonkers expensive (more than it already is), so I’m thinking about a hearty kitchen garden for the summer to help alleviate some of the sticker shock. We already grow raspberries, thank goodness, and I may plant a blueberry bush, since my kids go through berries like crazy and they already cost an arm and a leg. But this year I’m also going all in on the humble, nutritional powerhouse that is the potato. I’ve planted potatoes in the past, and they’re easy and fun, but I dropped them out of rotation because I used to get so many from my CSA (that went defunct this year).
Potatoes also have a fascinating history as “the people’s food.” You probably already know a little something about how they kept my Irish ancestors alive under English colonial occupation. (And if you don’t already know, the famine was, in fact, forced starvation by the English that caused more than a million deaths. The potato crops failed because of blight, but the Irish were growing all sorts of other perfectly edible food that they weren’t allowed to eat because it was for export to England. So, you know, centuries of violent colonization, forced starvation and genocide will leave a people pretty angry at colonizers, and pretty happy when the queen dies.)
Ahh, good times.
Anyway… potatoes have a fascinating history, which you can learn all about on none other than my favorite podcast, Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. Listen to “A People’s History of Potatoes” parts one and two to understand why potatoes are cool people. And why, if you’re facing food insecurity, or uncertainty, or just want to grow something that has a long tradition of sticking it to the empire, potatoes are the way to go.
January is an excellent time to begin planning your growing season, and it’s a good time to pre-order seed potatoes so you’re ready to get them in the ground in the spring. Where can one get seed potatoes, you ask? Johnny’s is always a reliable option and has a good variety. I also just came across this Madison, WI area garlic farm that also sells seed potatoes, and I might give it a try this year. They seem to have a great, all organic selection, and lots of handy information on their website, too.
But wait! Not interested in buying seed potatoes? Guess what! You can hang on to a few of your grocery store potatoes and use those! The only caveat is that store bought potatoes are more likely to carry diseases like blight, whereas seed potatoes typically have to be certified disease-free. But if you feel like experimenting, let a few of those taters get all old and sprouty, then pop them in the ground!
You might be wondering if there’s anything special you need to know about growing potatoes. They’re easy, but if you’ve never grown them before, it’s worth doing a little research. Fruition Seeds has a great potato growing guide (along with a TON of other useful gardening/farming info on their website). The great thing about potatoes is they love a container, so you don’t even need a yard! You’ll need at least a 5 gallon container, but the bigger the better. I’m a big fan of this potato grow bag from Gardner’s Supply Company, because it makes hilling (see the growing guide above if you don’t know what that is) and harvesting easy.
Wait, is this like, a super last minute gift guide for the potato lover in your life?!
Maybe!
So toss a few shriveled old potatoes in a loved one’s stocking! Or treat yourself to local, artisanal, organic, free-range seed potatoes! Either way, when we all find ourselves living in the Hunger Games soon, you’ll be glad to know the people’s food has your back.
Okay. See ya next year. For real this time.
