Happy Potato Flower

Beauty--ful Potato Flower from my happy backyard garden! 

For the past millennium, potatoes have been one of the most important food staples for human being and have played a major role in human life.  Potatoes are so nutritious— high in potassium and carbohydrates, low in fat and a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. It is important to use potatoes with skin when preparing potatoes since the potato skin contains various benefits and nutrients.

Potatoes have saved many populations from starvation and hunger during wars and people around the world, including my family during wartime as well as during the post-war period. I REALLY want to honor and express my gratitude to the amazing potato.

Between three and seven thousand years ago, potatoes were first cultivated in South America, near the shores of Titicaca Lake on the border between Perú and Bolivia and used in many areas. According to Dr. Hector Flores, "many expressions of the extended use of the potato in the pre-Inca cultures from the Peruvian Andes, as you can see in the Nazca and Chimu pottery."   The crop was spread from Peru to the rest of the Andes and to our whole world by Spanish Conquistadores when they were looking for the gold and silver in the New World, but found potatoes and corns  besides all the natural resources.

When I was a little girl, my mom served boiled potatoes between meals. I loved eating boiled potatoes by mashing with sugar and a pinch of salt.  My mom later confessed that potato between meals was used to substitute rice because my mom could not afford buying expensive rice.

At our vegetable garden during my childhood, my mom and grandma planted potatoes. They made potato soup, potato pancakes, boiled potatoes, simmering potatoes with soy source and sugar, fried potatoes, etc.

I loved them so much!

I want to honor potatoes as I remember my mother, grandmother and our ancesters who are no longer with us physically.
Thank you, potatoes, for saving us and our ancestors from starvation and hunger!

Thank you for being in my garden to share your journey with me!
Thank you,