tasty tubers

Mat-Su — One potato, two potato, three potato … 180 varieties and more.

From King Edwards to pink eyes, potatoes come in a myriad varieties, but Jeff Smeenk is trying to solve the great Alaska potato mystery. Of 180 varieties grown at the Matanuska Experiment Farm, Smeenk, a horticulture specialist, is trying to find the best potato for Alaska.

“Our main reason is we are always looking for potatoes that will perform best in local conditions,” Smeenk said.

Although there are scientific tests and processes researchers use in their work, Smeenk said it’s mostly about looks. If you look a spud eye-to-eye, is it a tuber for your table?

“Our biggest test is appearance — does it look appealing enough to the consumer?” he said.

While appearance is large issue for determining the success of a potato variety, how many to the tasty tubers a plant can is also important, Smeenk said.

With 180 varieties at the experiment farm, one can imagine the amount of potatoes produced in the project would be amazing. It is. There are towers of taters.

“A majority of potatoes we donate to the food bank,” Smeenk said. “It’s somewhere in the range of 5 to 10 tons of potatoes. We tend to overwhelm them.”

Not only does donating tons of potatoes help feed local families, but it also keeps the soil happy, he said. Although the vitamins and minerals in potatoes are beneficial for the people that ultimately receive them, if left in the ground they would soak the soil unwanted nutrients.

“For us it’s an advantage to give them to the food bank,” Smeenk said.

Research serves as a food source with a byproduct that can produce a proliferation of leftovers, its main purpose is to help local farmers decide what their options are when they begin growing, Smeenk said.

“A large function of the research is to evaluate how to grow material for production while minimizing environmental impact,” he said.

The varieties come from all over the world, and some are even passed down as heirlooms, Smeenk said. With winter fast approaching crews are working diligently to take up all the tubers, but the process is far from being finished.

“There is no end,” he said. “You can always ask new questions.”

Contact Chris Gillow at 352-2284 or chris.gillow@frontiersman.com.