Potatoes are one of those mystery crops that develop out of sight, underground. You never really know how youâre doing until you harvest - and then it's too late to change things. The potatoes we eat are starchy tubers that grow under ground, swelling and getting larger as the top half of the plant matures. The humble potato can be very finicky to grow, because of pest and disease problems.
Potatoes are relatively inexpensive to purchase, but growing your own is the best way to ensure they will not have been exposed to excessive chemicals to offset their growing problems. Plus you'll have a lot more varieties to choose from. Oval baking potatoes and red potatoes have dominated the market, but there are actually over 1,000 different varieties of potatoes available for growing. The texture of potatoes, even more so than the flavor, is very variable from variety to variety.