When the potato plant is in bloom, you can carefully dig underneath and pull out a few small tubers without doing any harm. There are still lots of tiny ones left to grow on for the main harvest. As this picture shows, our volunteer potato plant did well by me.
Potato blossoms are also a good reminder that this plant comes from the nightshade family. These blooms look exactly like the wild nightshade we were warned about as kids. We don’t grow potatoes, at least not on purpose, because Jim is allergic to vegetables from the nightshade family, which includes potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. That definitely colours our menus and our gardening choices.
