4 Corners Potato


Whole Four Corners Potatoes [Wild Potato; Solanum jamesii]

This tuberous plant is not precisely a Potato, but a species very closely related to potatoes.These tubers have been used as a food source by native tribes in the American Southwest for at least 10,000 years, and probably became a cultivated crop very early, but an exact date has yet to be established. They are still used today as a food crop by tribes living in the Four Corners region of the United States, and surrounding areas. They are very small, only up to about 1-1/4 inches, but the plants are prolific. The tubers are also very bitter, so need special cooking. Archaeologists have found they were also dried and ground into flour in ancient times.

These plants grow leaves on very thin stems, so have a somewhat recumbent growth pattern. Different tubers may grow with very different degrees of enthusiasm. Some will grow very fast and be flowering in just a couple of weeks, others may grow much more slowly, and some will be reluctant to sprout for some time.

More on Potatoes.


The photo to the left is of Potatoes from the photo batch at 3-1/2 weeks from planting. Note that some are much smaller. At 4 weeks, the largest ones were already setting flowers.

Four Corners Potatoes Foliage

Buying:

  This is pretty much a "grow it yourself" crop, but tubers are sometimes available from Cultivarial, where you can also find growing instructions. The photo specimens shipped to me were already sprouting.

Storage:

  These tubers have good storage properties, as in their native environment they may have to wait years for rain. Getting them to sprout after a long dormancy may take some patience.

Cooking:

  These potatoes are very bitter due to glycoalkaloids, so are boiled with bentonite clay, which sweetens them and removes toxins, making them edible. This clay is called glēsh by the Navajo, meaning "Potato clay", and is available on-line as it has various health and cosmetic properties. I have not yet determined how much clay is needed in a batch.

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