There are literally thousands of types of potato world wide, about 5000 to be precise. They are the world's 4th most consumed food; behind rice, maize (corn) and wheat. But they originated in the Andes, here are a few true natives of the New World that are readily available to grow from seed sources at home. So many of the originals, such as the potatoes above are so indigenous and have had to be protected from big corporations privatising indigenous crops that they are not currently available to the home grower. As you can see original potatoes came and still come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes, some of the most interesting being the knobby ones or various shades--these are still known as "bride potatoes."
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| The one Andean cultivar widely available: The Peruvian Purple Fingerling available from The Potato Garden (photo from their website) |
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| When potatoes were introduced to North America, they thrived in northern climates for obvious reasons, this is one of the heirlooms from Maine. |
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| The Red Thumb Fingerling is another potato very close to some of the original Andean cultivars |
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| The Dakota Rose is a recent cultivar based on heirlooms, specifically the Red Norland from North Dakota University |
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| Adirondack Blue another recent blue cultivar, this time from Cornell University, based on very old cultivars (photo: Potato Garden) |
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| The Russet Potato, the one that is most readily available in supermarkets is one older North American cultivar. |
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| Purple Majesty Potato |
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| Huckleberry Potatoes |
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| Garnet Chile Potato (photo: Potato Garden |
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| All Blue |
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| All Red |
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| Banana Fingerling Potatoes |
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| Rose Fynn Apple Potatoes |
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| Yukon Gold Potatoes--another variety that is easily found in supermarkets |
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| Katahdin Potatoes for market--another Maine heirloom |
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| White Wax Potatoes |
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| Caribe Potato |
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