“There’s something wrong with these potatoes, dude.”
“Oh my God, what is it?” I shrieked, rushing to join him.
“Well, for one they’re all nasty looking. And they’ve got like, stuff growing out of them.”
I sighed with relief. “They’re perfect.” I picked one up to examine it, “At least, I think they are…”
I’ll admit they did look a bit suspect, all callused and pink and warty, but the man at the nursery told me that’s what they’d look like, and who am I to question?
I’ve never grown potatoes before. In fact I had no intention of growing them, until last week at the garden center I was arrested by a cheerful, promising display. Five-pound sacks of Red Pontiacs for 2.99 a piece? Why, come summer I’d have enough potatoes to feed the neighborhood! I had to get in on it.
The salesman explained the process: cut them into egg-sized chunks and let them callus over, stick them into average dirt, when the sprouts sprout, mound them in more dirt. Repeat the process for a couple months, then dig your hand into the soil and retrieve your treasure. So simple! So mysterious! How could I resist?
I planted my little aliens in a big pot out in the yard today.
I’ll keep you posted on what becomes of them…
In other news, I’ve planted three types of tomato and one sweet organic basil plant I got at the local grower’s market on Wednesday.
I’ve read they make great companion plants, (the basil influencing the flavor of the young tomatoes), but I have my suspicions that that has more to do with their established culinary association than with any mystic cultivational alliance.
(I don’t think “cultivational” is really a word…)
Either way I’m excited to eat them together!
Stay tuned!
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