Baby Potatoes

When I went to Kerinci, I was amazed at the amount of agricultural produce available and one of the items that I loved the most was the baby potatoes.  These potatoes are small and I often see it here in the grocery stores as imported items from Australia mainly.  Of course the price is ......
You can cook them in many ways and you do not need to peel the skin, just give them a good scrub and prepare them as you wish.  Since I saw that it can be planted there, I thought why not at the farm.  The climate is similar - once you go over the hills to the other side, the mornings are much cooler, lots of good rain and much cleaner air.

While I was there, I bought a 2 kg of it and ate half of it, of course not all by myself, leaving half for planting.  It is easy to start them - I just placed them on the ground and covered it with a layer of soil and waited.  It took about a week before I started to see the shoots.  In Kerinci, the soil that it was planted in was richly organic hence I prepared beds with lots of organic content - mainly from my compost.

I just transplanted a row and since this is my first attempt, am logging the progress.  I am trying to simulate the same soil conditions as in Kerinci although I am not able to achieve the high humus content that the soil looks almost black.  It is important for it to have the right water content - not dry and not wet - and for good drainage.  Since I have opted to keep as farw away from chemical herbicides, preparation of the beds too a day, first removing the grass and weeds, the turning over the gound, mixing the soil with compost and finally, I was ready to make the beds.  As the chickens and geese have the run of the farm, I had to add bamboo stakes to fence all around it to prevent them from raking the beds and also the geese from eating the shoots. 
There are so many was to prepare these potatoes.  Personnally, I like it "fried" in olive oil with chopped garlic and cilantro and this can be eaten in place of rice, mashed potatoes, etc. with grilled fish, steaks or chicken, making it a really healthy AND delicious meal.  For the Asian flavors, these potatoes can be placed in soups and curries.  Whichever way you cook it, you have the option of eating it with its skins, no need to peel them, just give them a good wash and they are ready to be cooked.
The nutrition facts vary slightly but the table below gives me an idea of its nutrition.  So, if you watch the oil and fat that you add when you cook, it will be a low-fat option.  If you bake it, guess what - it is cholesterol and saturated fat free!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 200g

Amount per Serving Calories 93

Calories from Fat 1.8% 

Total Fat 0.2g

Saturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 244mg

Total Carbohydrate 21g

Dietary Fiber 2g

Sugars 1g

Protein 3g