Have you heard that you should plant your potatoes on Good Friday? It's meant to improve the growth of your plants and increase the number of potatoes they produce. When and where this tradition began is a matter of debate. Some of the legends date back to the 16th century in Ireland when seed potatoes were purportedly baptized before sowing.
The trouble with following the old wives' tale is that the weather in your area may not be conducive to planting potatoes. While potatoes may withstand some cold temperatures, they will not grow well if temperatures remain below freezing for long periods of time. It's advisable to check your region's frost dates and plant after the last frost.
Here's a list of the top 11 most popular and productive potatoes.
Clancy Hybrid Potato
A National AAS Winner for 2019! This is the first potato to be designated as an AAS Winner after being grown from seed. The judges remarked on how simple it is to start plants from seed and how impressive the potatoes gathered at the end of the season were. Plants yield 3 to 4-ounce potatoes with creamy white to yellow flesh that is great for mashing and boiling in a variety of colors of red. The texture and flavor of the Clancy Hybrid are excellent.
Elfe Potato
Elfe is a delicious yellow potato that will satisfy your early potato cravings. It produces tubers that are smooth and homogeneous, with yellow skin and flesh that do not lose color when cooked. The plants are drought-tolerant, high-yielding, and resistant to scab, blight, blackleg, and rhizoctonia. The potatoes have a wonderful creamy texture and buttery flavor. Early in the season, it matures and stores nicely.
Fingerling Salad Potato
Early German settlers brought the Fingerling, a little yellow-fleshed salad potato, to this country. They have a distinct quality and flavor. The tubers are long like a finger, with a diameter of around 1 inch and a length of 2 to 4 inches. The skin and flesh are golden, with a great flavor.
Gold Rush Potato
Gold Rush tubers have a smooth golden russet surface and white flesh and are oblong to oval in shape. It's one of the best baking and boiling ingredients. It yields well and is resistant to scab, hollow-heart, and the early dying complex. North Dakota State University created this. Mid-season maturation.
Kennebec Potato
Kennebec potatoes are one of the most extensively planted main crop potatoes. Enjoy abundant yields of huge, thin-skinned oval tubers with dry, tasty white meat. It's one of the best potatoes for winter storage, and it's resistant to blight. This is a late-season variety.
Magic Molly Potato
Magic Molly is a big fingerling with purple-blue flesh and rich purple skin. The tubers have a deep, earthy flavor that pairs well with roasting. You can dig little fingerlings early or wait until they reach full maturity for larger tubers. Late in the season, the fruit ripens.
Pinto Gold Potato
Pinto Gold has a unique gold and reddish-purple color. The flavor and texture are outstanding, with just the proper amount of starchiness with a buttery, nutty flavor.
Red Norland Potato
One of our most popular early potatoes is Red Norland. It yields a lot of No. 1 tubers, which are round to oval in shape with shallow eyes and smooth red skin. It is a robust plant with strong scab resistance. It keeps well in the refrigerator.
Red Pontiac Potato
The Red Pontiac is a popular garden variety that produces a lot of fruit. The tubers are huge, with a thin red exterior and white flesh. This type is a great all-purpose potato for the middle to end of the season, and it stores well.
Superior Potato
Superior is a potato variety developed by the University of Wisconsin that matures early and produces high yields of marketable potatoes. The skin is smooth, with white tubers that are consistent in size and shape, oval in shape with shallow eyes. A competent keeper.
Yukon Gold Potato
Yukon Gold produces a large crop of golden-skinned potatoes with creamy yellow flesh that is round to oval in shape. No matter how you serve them, their outstanding flavor will be appreciated. This is a variety that is available in the early part of the season.
