Maine Potato Lady Knows Her Spuds CROPS Miscellaneous Alison LaCourse knows what she is talking about when it comes to potatoes Doing business as the Maine Potato Lady she supplies home gardeners and larger scale growers with high-quality seed potatoes of all kinds LaCourse was a seed potato producer for 15 years before becoming a seed potato reseller a decade ago “We sell in quantities of 1 lb to 5 000 lbs ” says LaCourse “It’s all mail order Everyone orders from the same catalog which we produce every December ” LaCourse works with a network of certified organic and certified seed potato producers who supply her with more than 60 different varieties She offers early mid and late season varieties as well as fingerlings In addition she offers smaller numbers of garlic onions shallots sweet potatoes heritage grains and some perennial flowers “Each year I introduce a few new varieties ” says LaCourse “In 2020 I added Moulin Rouge a red-skinned yellow flesh fingerling and Magic Molly a blue skinned blue fleshed fingerling I also introduced Belmonda an early maturing yellow potato ” LaCourse likes to run trials of new varieties in her own gardens before adding them to her catalog If that isn’t possible she trials them the year they are introduced That was the case with both Moulin Rouge and Belmoda this past season LaCourse cites growth in interest in fingerlings and in colored potatoes as two ways the potato market has changed during her career “When we first started growing yellows to sell people didn’t even know how to fix them ” she says “Back then it was like it is today with blue potatoes ” Another big change is more recent as home gardening has boomed It is a trend the long-term gardener appreciates LaCourse suggest new potato growers start with old standbys like the Norland Red and longtime white potatoes “Look for all-purpose potatoes that will grow under lots of different conditions ” she says “If something doesn’t grow well try something else the next year ” Her personal favorite is the German Butterball “It’s my tried and true variety ” says LaCourse “I do lots of trials of other varieties but it is what I grow for our use ” Her website has tips on how much to order to produce the desired yield as well as how to grow potatoes sweet potatoes and the various plants offered Contact: FARM SHOW Followup The Maine Potato Lady P O Box 65 Guilford Maine 04443 ph 207 717-5451; info@mainepotatolady com; www mainepotatolady com

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