Best Potatoes to Plant

Planning to grow potatoes this year? These great-tasting varieties are excellent choices for your garden.

February/March 2010
By William Woys Weaver 
AOE-Potatoes
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‘La Ratte’ potatoes are a delicious French fingerling variety with a slightly nutty flavor.
CLAUS ABLEITER
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Can you recommend some yummy and unique varieties of potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams I can plant in my garden this year?

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Grace Irving
Tacoma, Washington

My favorite sweet potato is ‘Red Wine Velvet’ of the orange varieties, ‘Brazil White’ of the white-fleshed varieties, and ‘Camote Morado’ (a Nicaraguan variety) of the purple-fleshed sweet potatoes.

I grow 53 varieties of regular potatoes (all are favorites or I would not grow them), but I think ‘La Ratte d’Ardeche’ is one of the best. It is favored by chefs in Paris, as well. My favorite way to cook ‘La Ratte’ potatoes is to boil or steam them until al dente (about 12 minutes). Then I smoke the potatoes for 20 minutes over beechwood chips. The result is heavenly, and makes a great side dish for just about anything.

— William Woys Weaver, contributing editor

These rare varieties are unlikely to show up in garden centers, but you may be able to find them at farmers markets listed on the Local Harvest website. You can find mail-order sources using our Seed and Plant Finder. — MOTHER

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