National Potato Day

Potatoes.

Rarely is there a potato hater.

Who does not love potatoes — mashed, fried, French-fried, baked, scalloped or chips? Potatoes are akin to comfort. They complement any meal.

Though sometimes disparaged for starchiness and high calorie content (taking the rap for butter and sour cream) potatoes are very high in vitamin C, fiber and potassium. And they are gluten-free.

They have a glorious, yet simple history. From their beginnings of first being cultivated in the Andes — currently considered the potato capital of the world, to leaving Ireland decimated after killing one million people from their blight in 1845, potatoes were also the first vegetable grown in space.

Potatoes flourish because they are simple to grow.

In all 50 states and in 125 countries potatoes are cultivated. According to the National Potato Council, potatoes are the fifth most popular food in the world behind rice, wheat, corn and sugar cane.

Potatoes are abundant everywhere. They are the most served side dish in restaurants.

There are many varieties of the beloved tuber.

Locally, the yellow Finn potatoes are a favorite. Harborites’ eyes twinkle at the mention. They have been known to veer for 20 miles to acquire a box of them. According to Kurt Lubbe of Lubbe Farms, “It is the flavor that hooks you and you don’t even realize it until you go back to the white potato. Its skin is non-existent. It mashes better, it fries better and it has less starch. It is a great all-around potato and it has a great shelf life.”

Unfortunately, now that your taste-buds are watering, these potatoes will not be ready to dig up until October. Lubbe Farms will offer two kinds of yellow potatoes, the Finn and the German. The German, says Lubbe has a thicker skin and stores better than the Finn. But the Finn is still the favorite for its delicate “non-existent” skin.

Sharon Voss at Voss Acres, explains why the yellow Finn is not quite ready yet. “As soon as it peeks above the ground, you cover it and then when it grows, you cover it again and when it grows — and I mean two to three inches high, you bury it again. That way, you get lots of potatoes.”

While you patiently wait until October, you can get regular — russet, red, white, yellow, fingerling, baby and sometimes purple potatoes — at Voss Acres, Jay’s Produce, Michael’s Farm Fresh, Grays Harbor Public Market or your local grocer.

As mentioned earlier, the potato is quite possibly one of the most versatile foods, but nothing is more popular, or more American than a potato salad.

Case in point. Looking forward to Labor Day, a Kickstarter project was created by Zack Danger Brown of Columbus, Ohio, who asked for $10 to make the All-American dish because, “I really wanted to make potato salad, but am not at a point in my life where I could assume that level of risk,” he told ABC News in an interview. The campaign, to date, has raised more than $55k. Seriously. Because of the outpouring of interest on the internet, Brown will be making two different kinds of potato salad.

Potato salad. It’s what’s for dinner, or at least it will be next weekend. We won’t be offering a prize of $55k, but you will have bragging rights. See contest information on C2.