What, no French Fries?

OhioGardener 12/3/2019, 10:46 am

According to a report on CNN, there is a 6% drop in potato harvest this year due to the cold & wet weather. The article says, "The United States may face a french fry shortage due to a poor potato crop, according to a report from Bloomberg." What are we to do? Shocked

**Scorpio Rising** 12/3/2019, 6:35 pm

OhioGardener wrote:According to a report on CNN, there is a 6% drop in potato harvest this year due to the cold & wet weather. The article says, "The United States may face a french fry shortage due to a poor potato crop, according to a report from Bloomberg." What are we to do?

Get healthy? Lose the battle to be the most obese nation on the face of the Earth? (I blame pop for this mostly). Maybe, but I do love a good FF once in a while! What a Face

**trolleydriver** 12/3/2019, 6:59 pm

A Whole Food Plant Based approach is the best way to eat. See the documentary "Forks Over Knives" also "Plant Pure Nation". Look up Dr.Michael Greger and his book "How Not to Die".

**AtlantaMarie** 12/4/2019, 7:45 am

I've been hearing about all sorts of shortages due to the flooding in the mid-west, etc. all summer. Potatoes have been a large part of those discussions...

DH & I have talked about picking up some large bags of potatoes for dehydrating & freeze drying as we use a lot of them.

OhioGardener 12/4/2019, 8:02 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:DH & I have talked about picking up some large bags of potatoes for dehydrating & freeze drying as we use a lot of them.

Good idea, AM! Potatoes are really cheap right now in our area. Yesterday, they had the Russets for $0.39/lb, and Yukon Gold for $0.30/lb. They also had sweet potatoes for $0.38/lb. If we had a storage capability for them, we would stock up, too!

**donnainzone5** 12/4/2019, 12:21 pm

There also are/will be shortages of corn, wheat, and soybeans in growing regions of Canada, as well as the U.S. Plains and Midwestern states.

The cause: Not just flooding, but also colder-than-normal spring and early summer temps, coupled with early frost and snowfall.

markqz 12/4/2019, 12:30 pm

Potatoes are one of those things that I've never tried very hard to grow. They're always so much cheaper in the store that it doesn't make much sense to grow them. But if there's going to be a shortage, then maybe I should be planting now.

**sanderson** 12/4/2019, 5:04 pm

Mark, I wouldn't worry too much about potatoes in CA. We have a potato industry active for almost 11 months of the year. See Page 18 of the attached report for 2018.

However, you can practice growing spring/determinate small potatoes this spring in a 5-gallon bucket (wrapped with aluminum foil to keep the roots dark). Everyone should experience the fun of harvesting potatoes. Plant 4 wedges of Yukon Gold or small reds from the grocery store. Each wedge needs a healthy eye.

https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/PDFs/2017-18AgReport.pdf

markqz 12/4/2019, 11:29 pm

sanderson wrote:Mark, I wouldn't worry too much about potatoes in CA. We have a potato industry active for almost 11 months of the year. See Page 18 of the attached report for 2018.

So then I go to check my 5lb bag of potatoes purchased for $1.50: It's from Black Foot, Idaho.

Hmm ... so where are all our potatoes going?

I wonder if there is someone in Idaho with a 5lb bag of potatoes raised in California...

sanderson wrote:However, you can practice growing spring/determinate small potatoes this spring in a 5-gallon bucket (wrapped with aluminum foil to keep the roots dark).

I think you mean that the bucket should be wrapped in aluminum foil? So it thinks it's in the deep dark underworld?

Thanks!

**Kelejan** 12/5/2019, 2:21 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:I've been hearing about all sorts of shortages due to the flooding in the mid-west, etc. all summer. Potatoes have been a large part of those discussions...

DH & I have talked about picking up some large bags of potatoes for dehydrating & freeze drying as we use a lot of them.

In my downsizing effort I came across some dehydrated potatoes. Do I use them in soups? They do not look very appetizing. Mad

But I do know that all the nutrition is still there.

**sanderson** 12/5/2019, 4:27 am

Kelejan wrote:. . . In my downsizing effort I came across some dehydrated potatoes. Do I use them in soups? They do not look very appetizing. But I do know that all the nutrition is still there.

I dehydrated potato slices years ago and they looked so bad when I opened the mylar bag a couple years later. Then I saw a video on blanching veggies and the lady blanched the potatoes first. Marie, how do you dehydrate them?

**sanderson** 12/5/2019, 4:48 am

markqz wrote:
sanderson wrote:Mark, I wouldn't worry too much about potatoes in CA. We have a potato industry active for almost 11 months of the year. See Page 18 of the attached report for 2018.

So then I go to check my 5lb bag of potatoes purchased for $1.50: It's from Black Foot, Idaho.

Hmm ... so where are all our potatoes going?

I wonder if there is someone in Idaho with a 5lb bag of potatoes raised in California...

sanderson wrote:However, you can practice growing spring/determinate small potatoes this spring in a 5-gallon bucket (wrapped with aluminum foil to keep the roots dark).
I think you mean that the bucket should be wrapped in aluminum foil? So it thinks it's in the deep dark underworld?

Thanks!

Yes, keep the roots dark.

I followed up on a post in a FB agriculture group. There is a potato farm and processing plant southeast of Reno, NV. They also have a farm or two in CA where they grow different types and seasonal potatoes in order to keep their NV plant employees employed for as many months of the year as possible.

If you have Russet potatoes, then they would come from Idaho. In CA I think they are all the smaller varieties. So no, the bags didn't get mixed up. rofl

**Kelejan** 12/5/2019, 6:19 am

Thanks sanderson, next time I will try blanching them first.

I had to laugh at myself, I typed bleeching instead of blanching. Very Happy

Sponsored content

What, no French Fries?

What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?

Re: What, no French Fries?


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.