PURPLE POTATOES
Being the colorful couple we are, we were interested in the blue potatoes offered in some of the major seed catalogues. There were two types, some with blue skins and white flesh, and others with both blue skins and blue flesh. We planted some of the all-blues in our 1998 garden but there was a late frost which wiped them all out. We tried again for 1999, this time starting them inside on the grow table and moving the plants outside after all danger of frost had passed.
One of our ideas was to try to cross them with the red potatoes to produce a purple potato, but as you can see in the picture below, they're actually more purple than blue, which saved us several years of potato breeding.
These are small potatoes, the largest being about four inches long and two inches across. Some have pure purple flesh, while others have the marbling as shown in the cross-sectioned one in the picture. Their texture isn't different from the usual potato but they taste slightly more tart than normal.
They're a bit small for baking so we generally boil, peel, and slice them, serving the slices with butter, salt and pepper. They can also be used to make home fries, "hash blues", or potato salad. We've had a lot of fun taking these to pot luck dinners or serving them when friends come to supper. People are amazed that there are such things as purple potatoes.
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