| 2nd | Top Chilean ingredients |
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Potatoes were a vegetable on Earth, often used to make other Earth foods such as chips.
The Doctor was once imprisoned in the Tower of London with Sir Walter Raleigh, who kept going on about the potato, which he'd discovered. (DW: The Mind of Evil)
The Sontarans were said to look like potatoes on several occasions. (DW: The Two Doctors, The Sontaran Stratagem, SJA: Eye of the Gorgon)
In 2075, the Doctor, John and Gillian used potatoes as makeshift weapons to defeat the space pirates on Anastas Thrax's space station. (TVC: The Hijackers of Thrax)
It is often stated that Sarah Jane Smith was peeling potatoes in Irongron's kitchen in The Time Warrior, but this has been debunked.
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| “Generally speaking, when you come across a spud, it means that are in the middle of a field or in the depths of a dungeon.” | ||||||||||
Potato is a vegetable.
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Potatoes are a field-grown crop harvested as part of the roots of a potato plant. The Russet is the main potato variety grown in the United States, accounting for about three-quarters of planted acreage. Potato plants sprout from potato seeds, which are cut portions of whole potatoes and cost between $9 and $10 per hundred pounds. Less than 10 percent of potato production each year is not sold, but used as seed, feed, or lost on the farm where grown. In recent years, the value of potatoes used domestically, including net import value, amounted to between $8 and $9 per year for each American.
Many kinds of potatoes are seen in restaurants, grocery stores, and even homes today, but the most common of these are the russet, round white, and the red potato. Potatoes are tough and durable, store well, and have an impressive nutritional content including being a rich source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C. Like other fruits and vegetables, potatoes are a low calorie food and are free of fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Keep in mind, however, that the leaves and stems of a potato plant are poisonous and may cause illness when ingested.
Potatoes were first cultivated in the Andes Mountains over 7,000 years ago. Spanish conquistadors discovered potatoes in 1537 in what is now Peru. The Incas had cultivated them for centuries, with evidence dating back to the second century A.D. The Spaniards introduced potatoes in Europe as a new food crop. Three centuries later, potatoes’ importance in the diet of some European countries became evident when blight destroyed much of the Irish potato crop in 1845/46 and widespread famine ensued. As many as 2.5 million people perished from starvation and disease while approximately another million immigrated to the United States.
Potatoes were introduced to North America in the 18th century via Irish immigrants, however their native home is South America. Over the next two centuries, Americans increasingly incorporated potatoes into their diet as a staple food; hence the saying “meat and potatoes.” Potatoes have been a staple in the diets of Americans for over 300 years, but they have been sustaining populations worldwide for much longer. The importance of potatoes to U.S. agriculture was demonstrated in 1866 by their inclusion in the first USDA crop production statistics. Today, the United States ranks fourth worldwide in potato production behind China, Russia, and India.
Ninety percent of U.S. potatoes are planted in the spring and harvested in the fall. The marketing season for fall potatoes begins in July (for areas of early harvest) and continues through June of the following year. Unlike most produce crops, which are perishable, potatoes are well-suited for long-term storage in climate-controlled rooms or containers.
Because of their physical characteristics and storage advantages, many major fall-season potato varieties can be sold in the fresh or processing markets throughout the marketing year. Potatoes for fresh use are sold mostly on the open market (as opposed to contract production prior to the growing season), so prices are subject to market conditions. The ability of shippers to store potatoes allows them greater flexibility when marketing potatoes on the open market.
Processing potatoes, such as the Russet Burbank for French fries, are typically contracted to commercial fryers before planting time. The contracts specify the potato variety, volume, and price based on quality requirements. Since growers arrange financing and purchase potato seed prior to spring planting, contracts with processors are negotiated and signed before then.
Potatoes harvested in the winter, spring, and summer account for only 10 percent of U.S. potato production. However, these potatoes meet different or specific market needs and generally fetch higher prices than fall potatoes. For example, some consumers like “new” or “freshly dug” potatoes, such as round white, red, yellow, and purple varieties that are smaller in size and are normally not stored before sale. In addition, specialty varieties such as the round white are in demand for their chipping qualities. Moreover, winter, spring, and summer potatoes help fill any supply gaps that may arise due to shortages of the preceding fall crop in the fresh market or for processing use.
An American potato farmer grosses $2,000 on average per acre in potato sales from all four crop seasons. Sales per acre are normally highest for the winter crop and lowest for fall potatoes, but vary widely between producing States. Prices for fresh potatoes are usually higher than prices for processing potatoes due to crop-quality standards. Domestic potato prices may change not only in response to changes in weather, yield, or demand, but also to changes in supply from imported potatoes and potato products. If a surge of frozen French fries enters the country, U.S. potato processors may cut back on contracts for processing potatoes, which would be diverted to the fresh market. Fresh-market prices would likely fall as a result.
Potatoes were grown largely in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio before Americans migrated westward in the late 19th century. Michigan and Wisconsin became major potato producers in the early 1900s, and Maine in the 1920s. Growers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and California expanded production after refrigerated rail and truck transport opened markets beyond the Western States. Later, potato-processing plants and exports also expanded the market, and the emergence of fast-food outlets across the United States increased demand for Russet Burbank potatoes as French fries.
Western States produce two-thirds of the fall potatoes, with Idaho and Washington accounting for half of the U.S. total. Yields per acre are highest in Oregon, Washington, and California. Between 1866, when USDA first gathered statistics on potatoes, and the early 1920s, production increased with expanding acreage, reaching a peak of 3.9 million planted acres in 1922. Acreage slowly declined thereafter to around 1.1 million acres today, yet production continued to rise as yields trended upward.
Average yields prior to the 1920s were around 50 hundredweight (cwt) per acre. In the 1920s, Luther Burbank made vast improvements in potato breeding, leading to the development of the Russet Burbank, which remains the principal U.S. variety. By the 1940s, yields grew from improvements in breeding, increased use of chemical fertilizers, and the shift of production to Western States with excellent potato-growing soil as well as extensive irrigation. U.S. yields now average around 400 cwt per acre for fall potatoes.
Since the 1950s, the share of the U.S. potato crop used for processing has steadily grown. In 1959, only 19 percent of potatoes were processed while fresh use dominated potato utilization. In the 21st century, fresh use accounts for less than a third of production sold. The volume of frozen potatoes consumed, dominated by French fries, is now larger than the volume of fresh potatoes consumed. The rest of potato production is processed into potato chips or dehydrated into other products.
The growth of the U.S. foodservice sector has driven the shift toward frozen potato use. In 2005, U.S. per capita use of frozen potatoes was 56 pounds per year, compared with 45 pounds for fresh potatoes, 17 pounds for potato chips, and 16 pounds for dehydrated products. Average per capita value, including net imports, amounted to $8.10 per year, of which half ($4) was for processed potatoes.
Potatoes are grown across the United States and are available year round. Store potatoes in a cool, dry place. Sunlight can cause the skin to turn green; if this occurs the skin must then be peeled off before consuming. Most of the nutrients are contained right below the skin, so avoid peeling when possible. Besides fresh potatoes, other forms are often available as well, including:
When choosing potatoes, be sure they are firm, smooth, and the color they are supposed to be. Softness, a green tinge, or wrinkly skin may indicate a potato that is past its prime.
Potatoes should be thoroughly washed with clean tap water and scrubbed lightly before preparation. Any sprouts or eyes growing from the potato should be cut out. The skin can be removed or left on depending on use. Common methods of preparation include boiling, baking, microwaving, mashing, frying and grilling. Consuming baked and grilled potatoes with the skin left on provides the most nutrients.
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| Release date | Unknown edit |
|---|---|
| Members only? | No |
| Quest item? | No |
| Tradeable? | Yes |
| Equipable? | No |
| Stacks? | No |
| High Alchemy | 9 coins |
| Low Alchemy | 6 coins |
| Destroy | Drop |
| Store price | 11 coins |
| Exchange price | 75 coins update |
| GE Database | Look up price |
| Examine | This could be used to make a good stew. |
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
 Click to enlarge |
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Potatoes can be picked from fields across RuneScape. Members with level 1 farming can grow them from seed. They take 40 minutes to grow, grant 8 experience for planting and 9 experience for harvesting. Up to 10 potatoes can be stored in a sack.
The farm to the north-east of the east chicken farm in Lumbridge contains many potatoes that can be picked. There is also a potato field north-west of the western chicken farm in Lumbridge and one in Hemenster, across the road from the Farming shop.
Additionally, players with 43 Construction may build a Teak larder in their kitchen to get a never ending supply of potatoes. Since the Grand Exchange update, the Farming shops sell potatoes at GE prices (when they have potatoes) but will pay players only a starting payment of 11 coins for a potato, assuming the store has no potatoes in inventory - the payment per potato goes down gradually as the inventory increases.
Consumed raw, they heal only 1 hitpoint. However, members can cook them and get 15 cooking XP per potato and then put various toppings on the resulting baked potato to make it heal much more. Potatoes cannot be cooked on anything but a range. If you try to cook one on an open fire or a sulphur vent, the result is always a burned potato. All players can also use the potato as an ingredient in stew.
Making money off of potatoes is something anyone can do, regardless of your skill experience or combat level.
Starting off Draynor Village, follow the road north until you get to a crossroads (the one with the lone Highwayman). Here you take the road east, towards Lumbridge. After some time you will encounter a potato field. Open the gate and pick 28 potatoes, then return it to the Draynor Village Bank.
An empty inventory will allow you to carry 28 potatoes and each potato is worth around 74 coins. When you get the hang of it, one trip back and forth between the potato field takes slightly less than 150 seconds, or 2 and a half minutes; assuming a little bit of slacking, let's say it takes exactly 150 seconds.
This will give us a gold rate of: 69,216 coins/hour.
Members, on the other hand, can do a bit better. In under 15 minutes, you can get 190 potatoes if you go to Ardougne.
Empty your inventory except for 18 empty sacks (sacks hold 10 potatoes each). Run north out of Ardougne's north bank and then immediately east and then north again. You will soon come to a potato field across from the cooking shop.
Open the gate and begin picking potatoes. Each time your inventory fills up (10 potatoes), just click on a sack and keep picking. Continue until all 18 sacks are filled and your ten empty slots are filled as well.
Run back to the bank and deposit all of the potatoes and 15 of the sacks (leaving 3 in your inventory). Right-click each sack and click Empty Sack. The third sack will be only half emptied. Deposit all potatoes and the two empty sacks and get two more full sacks (giving you 2.5 sacks of potatoes again). Empty them all and start over.
Total time (including dropping the annoyingly worthless potato seeds you'll get from time to time) will be aprox 14.5 minutes, or 870 seconds.
80,978 coins/hour (or more)
EDIT: Depending on the price, if a sack of potatoes is worth more than 10x a single potato, its better just to bank the sacks and get 18 fresh empty ones out the bank. All you have to do here is buy a load of sacks next time you're at the farm shop, but they're expensive.. a whole single coin each.
For comparison, an experienced level 68 miner (with a Rune pickaxe), will in the same time harvest around 500 iron ore (~50,000 gold/hour) or 140 gold ore (~70,000 gold/hour).
The positive of this money making strategy is that it can be done by ANYONE, from a level 3 rookie with no experience whatsoever to a high-level veteran. However, there is no skill experience given from picking potatoes. Regardless, players will find that they will obtain a lot of cash provided the potatoes are sold on the fixed price.
The Farm North-East of Lumbridge can be used very efficiently by members who have started the recipe for disaster quest, simple take 18 empty sacks and fill them with potatoes, then run to the Culinaromancer's Chest and deposit them. if you want to get some cooking experience, bake them all on the cooks range. Buy all the butter, cream and milk you can from the chest, and go to a farm near Lumbridge and churn the cream and milk into butter, once you have as much butter as potatoes, add the butter and the potatoes with butter will sell for around 1200 gold each on the Grand Exchange.
A potato was an edible starchy tuber. An oddly-shaped brown object, its appearance was similar to that of the planetoid Kessel.
Types of potato included Corellian potatoes, which were served at the Vor-cal Feast prior to the Battle of Endor.
Mounder potato rice was also a potato product.
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During the filming of The Empire Strikes Back, a potato scored the role of an asteroid.
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