Potato harvest finished in one day

It’s harvest time! Several months ago I had a few spuds that were forgotten under a sack in the back room. They were sprouting like crazy, so I decided they should be planted. We had a nice patch of very rich loose black compost out by the old incinerator—the perfect place! Every day the spot was watered and soon enough a whole bunch of green shoots appeared and over time became a nice forest of greenery.

Time passed and one by one the little plants disappeared until there was only one. Today the remaining plant was lying on its side, gnawed off at its base by some animal. Potatoes are in the nightshade family, so I can only hope that the glycoalkaloids in the stems gave the little squirrels and bunnies a memorable fit of vomiting and diarrhea.

How exciting when the time comes to reap the reward of my dedication. With a garden trowel I carefully explored the rich damp soil, searching…searching…voila! I followed a root to its end and the result is proudly displayed here.

Now I have to decide how to prepare my treasure.

• Slice it into pommes frites to cook in a teaspoon of virgin olive oil then garnish with a few dashes of hand-harvested Himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper?
• Peel, slice, and boil it for mashing with a dollop of milk and a dot of butter?
• Slice and lovingly intersperse with flour and butter and top with shredded white cheddar and bake at 350°F until it miraculously turns into scalloped potato?

Stick it in the microwave on high and watch it explode? Toss it in the compost bucket? Leave it in a saucer on the kitchen prep table until it sprouts, then plant it? Wait till it shrivels then toss its desiccated carcass in the compost bucket?

I know! Take a picture and blog about it. Then toss it in the compost bucket.