Growing my own potatoes, year 2

A friend recently mentioned that he was growing potatoes. I got very excited and asked if he was growing them in towers, potato bags, raised beds, or hill-and-mulch. 

He looked at my blankly for a moment, then explained: "Whenever a potato starts growing, we throw it in the side yard. They're growing."

"Cal White" seed potato

Pseudo-shepherd's pie

The November issue of Cook's Illustrated describes a traditional shepherd's pie that took the author 5 hours to make. I can't imagine where people who herd sheep for a living found that kind of free time, not to mention the pastry bag and star tips needed to pipe the layer of whipped potatoes over the top of the filling. (The article includes an updated, simpler recipe as well.)

As you may have gathered, I am the type of person who will spend 5 hours making peasant food, but not the day after making Thanksgiving dinner. Especially not when the fridge contains all the ingredients necessary to make a perfectly good pseudo-shepherd's pie: mashed potatoes, some sort of meat, gravy, and miscellaneous tasty stuff. (I'm fairly certain that is the actual wording of the traditional recipe.)

1. pastry crust

2. stuffing

3. turkey

4. gravy

5. balsamic-glazed onions

6. mashed potatoes and mashed kabocha squash

Potatoes

Today, I harvested the last of our potato crop. The proprietor of Seattle's wonderful Portage Bay Grange told me that as long as you get 6 hours of sunlight a day, you can survive with nothing but a potato patch and a goat. Potatoes have carbs and Vitamin C, and goat milk has fat and protein. Plus, goats can eat potatoes. I like a little more variety, and El Cerrito's rules on backyard livestock don't yet allow full-time dairy goats, but I have to say, I'm sold on growing my own potatoes.