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I receive email with questions all the time. And I often take the time to answer.
Here is an example of a question I received from JoAnn, Washington State:
What do you think about hybrid potatoes? I like your website though it brings up more questions.
And here is my answer:
JoAnn,
The purpose of any web site is to offer some answers .. BUT I cannot even imagine how many questions are out there!
Often folks don't know how to ask and therefore it is impossible to offer all possible answers. Also, often the answers are there but the way I write [unconventionally because I think in multiple languages] and my style makes it harder for the reader to find the answers.
I truly appreciate your comments though! If you find any information that is not clear, please clearly state what and where and I will make an attempt to reword.
Now, a hybrid potato? There is no such a thing. All potato varieties are the result of crosses which started in their land of origin (Latin America) and likely will keep going on as long as humans will live on this planet.
Potato breeders grow varieties which develop flowers, cross pollinate, harvest botanical seed, start vines with such seed, harvest micro tubers, grow them out [often for some 10 years], test for disease resistance and other qualities .. eventually rename the tubers [coded numbers become common names] .. and the marketing machine is turned on.
The sexual nature of potato seed makes it impossible to predict the features of the tubers before they are grown out. A great number of variation occurs in the potato genome [DNA sequence], even when vines cross pollinate with male pollen from the same variety. That is why professional breeders grow out thousands of vines and hand pick some tubers that "look good", grow them out and hope they picked the winning lottery ticket.
The only difference between today's new breeds and yesterday's "heirloom varieties" is the ability to test in the lab for starch content .. and plenty other features.
Now, it is true that Monsanto has attempted the genetic modification of a tuber to make it better adapted to their chemical products. But the marketplace has refused it and the variety is no longer available. Some crazy person may still grow it. I take the risk of calling such person crazy because that GMO potato wasn't particularly tasty. So, why save it? The definition of heirloom is "worth saving".
All varieties featured on my web catalog have been saved for their taste, first, and their nutritional value, or perhaps because the variety just worked best cooked in a certain way [that's why I collect recipes]. Third important feature is the long storage, or at least 6 months. Why save tubers if they don't live to the next growing season?
Did I answer your question? Should this answer be part of my web pages?
Perhaps I should just copy and paste it and create a new web page?
cheers, Curzio
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