GARDEN GOODIES: Air

GARDEN GOODIES: On this week's Garden Goodies, the Wake Up crew had homegrown potatoes for the very first time on Garden Goodies!

Potatoes were originally cultivated by Incas in Peru as far back as 8,000 BC. After European contact with the "new world", potatoes were spread across the world. Today, potatoes are grown commercially in at least 38 states and most countries around the world. As of 2020, China produced the most potatoes out of any country, close to 22 percent of the world total. The United States is the 5th leading potato producer. Within the US, Wisconsin is the 3rd leading state in potato production, behind Idaho and Washington.

Potatoes are a member of the tobacco family of plants. They grow easily in average soil without much need for special fertilizers. Seed potatoes or sections of potatoes are used for planting. They should be planted a few inches (3 to 5 inches) deep early in the spring. Once the sprouts emerge and grow to about 8 or 10 inches, the potatoes should be mulched or "hilled" with loose soil, or a mixture of soil and other mulch like leaves or straw, so that only 3 or 4 inches of the plant are still exposed. By hilling the plant you will increase your potato production. When the potato plant is flowering, it is also producing new potatoes beneath the soil. Potatoes can be harvested once the flowering stage is done. However, if you have a big crop, you only want to harvest a couple potatoes at a time (enough for a meal) during late summer. If you want to store the potatoes in a cool basement or root cellar during the winter, you will want to leave them in the ground until mid to late October. Leaving them in the ground will allow them to "set their skins", or create a more protective skin layer. This will allow them to preserve well during the winter.

Believe it or not, Justin has never grown regular potatoes for Garden Goodies. This is because Justin grew up eating potatoes every day of his life from 2 years old to 18. After leaving the farm, he vowed to rarely eat potatoes again, until now.

For this week's Garden Goodies, Justin has made air-fried potato chips. If you don't have an air fryer, chips can easily be made by frying them in oil in a pan.

Ingredients:

Potatoes, salt, oil (preferably lard, coconut oil, or extra virgin olive oil).

Recipe:

Slice a potato very thin with a mandolin or other slicer. 1/8 inch or less is preferable.

Soak the slices in ice water for 20 minutes.

Pat dry the potato slices

Toss the potato slices in salt and oil (use other spices as desired).

Air fry the slices at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.

Check the slices to make sure they are still spread out in the fryer

Air fry the slices for another 5 to 7 minutes at 350 degrees

Allow to cool and then eat or store.

A word of caution, all air fryers are different. Justin had to test the temperature settings a couple of times before getting some good chips. The first batch ended up black when he tried to finish them at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.

Have any story ideas? You can send them to [email protected]