Washington
Spuds
WA State Ranks First In Per-Acre Yield
Potatoes are now the most important vegetable
in the world and, not surprisingly, America’s favorite vegetable. We eat
147.8 pounds per person per year - as baked potatoes, fries, hash browns and
more. There’s hardly a foodservice menu that doesn’t feature potatoes.
Potatoes grow commercially in the Northeast, the upper Midwest and in California,
but it’s in the Northwest that the spud has found its place. The soil and
weather of Central Washington and an area of Northwest Washington combine to
create perfect conditions for an assortment of potato varieties, and the growing
expertise of Washington’s scientist-farmers does the rest. Washington grows
more than 20 percent of all the potatoes in the US, leads the nation in French
fry production and has the highest yield per acre in the world. About 75 percent
are grown as processed varieties (i.e. russet and Shepody), about 20 percent
are fresh russets and the rest are whites, reds, yellows and blues.
 It's the Geography & The Growers
What makes central Washington State’s
Columbia River Basin the most productive russet potato growing region in the
world? The tilt of the globe creates long warm days and cool nights during a
longer growing season than any other area. The more sun a potato plant absorbs,
the more potatoes it produces. The Cascade Mountains block the heavy cloud cover
and rain from the Pacific Ocean, so annual rainfall is seven inches or less.
Irrigation water from the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project and mighty Columbia
River means growers can carefully control the amount of water and nutrients to
each field, resulting in optimum conditions.
Additionally, fertile soil deposits
laid down by ancient lakes and waterways provide fields perfect in texture and
composition for growing potatoes. In the Skagit Valley growing region between
Seattle and the Canadian border, where the Skagit River runs into Puget Sound,
the mild marine climate and rich soil create perfect conditions for red, white,
yellow and blue potatoes. In the potato growing region of Central Washington’s
Columbia Basin, harvests can yield approximately 60,000 pounds per acre, surpassing
all other states.
Washington State potato growers take pride in the high standards
they have set for growing the perfect potato. They know they are the stewards
of precious resources - the rich soils and abundant water of the Pacific Northwest.
These growers are among the nation’s leaders in adopting sustainable crop
management practice and new production techniques.
So, what makes a potato great?
A combination of many factors:
• Ongoing research
• Growing conditions
• Conscientious
farming, handling and storage
These practices lead to Washington’s high
quality potatoes
• Consistent size and shape
• Healthy skin and
flesh
• Great flavor
The Not Always So Ubiquitous Potato
Potatoes have been food for mankind for thousands
of years, traveling the globe from civilization to civilization, country to country.
Ancient drawings tell of their cultivation and harvest by the Incas high up in
the Andes in 2,000 or so BC. Amazingly, the Incas preserved their spuds by the
earliest known form of freeze-drying, thanks to their high-altitude, chilly environs.
Spanish explorers to South America took plants home with them at the end of the
16th century and grew potatoes in Northern Spain. Sir Walter Raleigh, among other
deeds, introduced the potato to Ireland in 1589. Spuds made the journey back
across the Atlantic with settlers to the Jamestown colony in 1621, and the first
permanent potato patches were recorded in 1719 in New Hampshire.
Europe, after
some early and mistaken concerns about potatoes’ membership in the nightshade family,
took tubers to its tables. Although first considered peasant food, they became
hot items with the elite after a pharmacist, A. A. Parmentier, championed them
to Louis XVI and created an amazing array of potato preparations. To this day,
many menu items which include potatoes are called “Parmentier.”
Thomas
Jefferson served French fries in the White House, but the true popularity of
potatoes began when Irish immigrants carried potato appreciation across the Atlantic
and across the US.
$pud$
- In 2009, WA growers raised 145,000 acres
of potatoes with an average yield of 61,000 lbs. per acre, 8.8 billion lbs. total.
- Varieties
of Washington potatoes grown in the Columbia Basin, Yakima Valley & Skagit
Valley are known world-wide for high solids and premium quality.
- Potatoes
represent WA’s third largest agricultural crop with a farm gate value of
over $690 million, and total value to the State of over $3.5 billion.
- 87%
of the WA potato crop is sold to processors who transform them into golden fries,
crunchy chips and creamy mashed potatoes.
- At least nine out of every ten
Washington potatoes are marketed outside of WA.
- Japan purchases approximately
65% of the french fries made from WA potatoes that are exported each year.
- Washington
potato growers have been recognized with national awards for environmentally
friendly and efficient use of water and fertilizers.
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Taking
Note of Our Anniversay
For the past 20 years,
the Harbour Public House has served food and drink to our community from the
historic Grow House. To mark our 20th anniversary, we’re taking a fond
look back at a little bit of Bainbridge Island’s history, and some of our
own.
Civil War veteran Ambrose Grow built this house for his family in 1881.
It was a time on the cusp of change for the peaceful island. The enormous forests
were being harvested by Port Blakely Mill Company and the massive logs were loaded
onto ships from Blakely Harbor. Because San Francisco and downtown Seattle had
been destroyed by historic fires, lumber was urgently needed to rebuild the cities.
By 1902, Winslow Hall and his brothers had a large island business building wooden
ships. Between the ships, lumber, and shipments of world-famous island strawberries,
the island had one of the busiest ports on the West Coast, attracting workers
from around the world.
The always diverse population of Bainbridge Island grew
quickly with the arrival of primarily Japanese berry farmers, Norwegian and Swedish
ship builders and many other nationalities who found the island to be a welcoming
home.
By 1991, more than a century later, Bainbridge Island was no longer building
ships and only a handful of farmers were still growing strawberries. Instead,
the Island had become a home to Seattle ferry commuters, quality schools, and
artists and musicians of every kind.
Jim and Judy Evans, who had owned the historic
Grow home since 1978, decided that the home could be renovated to create a waterfront
restaurant and bar. Jim, a structural engineer and Brit, wanted to create a pub,
the community gathering spot he remembered from his youth.
“You could
barely get a decent beer here,” Jim recalls. He had visions of a place
where there was pub food, a good selection of local ales and wine, games, magazines
and newspapers, and lively conversation.. His wife, Judy, wanted a place where
two women could come in for a drink together and feel comfortable. Notably, what
the pub would not have is smoking or a television.
Jim and Judy love to travel,
and eventually sold the Harbour Public House to their daughter Jocelyn and her
husband Jeff Waite. Together, the Waites have put their own vision of the pub
in place. Today, the Harbour Public House is still a comfortable community gathering
spot, and the always evolving restaurant menu features locally grown ingredients
and a wide range of locally brewed ales and wines to satisfy any palate.
Thank
you, customers, friends and all of the talented staff for making our 20th anniversary
a reality. We look forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary with you in 2041.
And, Ambrose & Amanda, if you’re still keeping an eye on the old place,
we hope you’re not too offended.
Island Potatoes . . .
Best Choice For Mashers?
Betsey Wittick and
her lively crew at Laughing Crow Farm named their top four picks: Caribe, Snowflake,
Butte and Yukon Gold. Of these, the Snowflake has the most local history because
it’s an heirloom variety cultivated for many years by the Island’s
legendary Gale Smith. The Snowflake has a creamy white skin and makes a light,
fluffy mashed potato. The texture can be described as like “picking up
a handful of snowflakes and pressing them to the roof of your mouth.” The
Caribe has a lavender skin and is a nice combination of creamy and fluffy. For
creamy mashed potatoes with golden tones, use the Yukon Gold. And finally, the
Butte is a high protein russet that makes good basic mashed potatoes. Betsey
grows at least 26 varieties of potatoes. All of them are hand-harvested, a term
that takes on new meaning when you realize it means digging for them on your
hands and knees. Her potatoes have love written all over them. Excerpted with
permission from Sallie Maron’s 2008 article at www.soundfood.org
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