8 Reasons Potatoes Are A Survival Superfood

If you could choose just one crop to grow to feed your family in tough times, the potato would be ideal. Potatoes may have a humble reputation, but when it comes to surviving in tough times, they're superstars. Here are eight reasons why.

Reason #1: They're easy to grow and require no machinery or processing
Potatoes are easy for one person to grow and harvest. Growing a family plot of potatoes requires minimal labor and attention. No heavy machinery needed! Unlike grain crops, potatoes don't need to be milled, threshed, combined, or undergo any other processing. You just pull them out of the earth, brush off the dirt, and cook them.

Reason #2: Potatoes are packed with nutrition
Potatoes get a bad rap, but they're actually an excellent source of important nutrients. A typical potato contains over half the day's requirement of vitamins C and B6, and almost half of the potassium. They're also a good source of fiber, folate, niacin, thiamin, magnesium, manganese, and more.

Reason #3: Potatoes are a healthful alternative to grains and beans
Many pre-packaged survival foods rely on grains and beans... but for some folks, that can be a problem. Potatoes are more easily digestible than beans, which often require soaking. For people with gluten sensitivities or who don't do well with grains, potatoes are the perfect alternative.

Reason #4: In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, they provide sorely needed calories
In a total meltdown, you will be doing far more manual labor than you do now. You'll be walking or biking everywhere when gasoline prices skyrocket. You'll be growing your own food. If power is down for extended periods, you won't have machines to do laundry, dishes, or cleaning. You'll be chopping wood for heat. And all that extra effort requires more calories. Home grown potatoes, which require minimal labor, can provide all the extra calories your family needs in a complete off-the-grid lifestyle.

Reason #5: They can be grown even when growing space is limited
It doesn't require much land at all to grow potatoes, but if you live somewhere where there's virtually no ground to till, you can still grow them. People grow potatoes in window boxes, food-grade buckets, cardboard boxes, tall homemade containers, and more.

Reason #6: Potatoes keep for months
Kept at the proper temperature in an old-fashioned root cellar, potatoes will last for months. (Keep them away from onions and garlic, however, or they'll spoil faster.) And if you're worried about using them up before they start to go bad, you have another option... see Reason #7.

Reason #7: They're easy to dehydrate
Scrub 'em, slice 'em, and dehydrate them ... either in a dehydrator or in your oven. Dehydrated, potatoes take up less space and can be stored in airtight containers for very long periods of time. In fact, they'll last for ten years in a sealed #10 can.

Reason #8: Potatoes can be prepared in endless ways
Boil 'em, mash 'em, cook 'em in a stew ... fry them, scallop them, even make potato flour from them for baked goods. Make potato pancakes, potato dumplings, home fries ... even potato vodka!

If, like me, you can't help but think that the you-know-what is going to hit the fan any day now, then it's time to get prepared. This spring, why not try your hand at growing potatoes? And if you already do, why not try out a few new varieties?

For the next four days, until Monday March 18,
we're taking 15% off all seed potato orders.

Choose from nine different varieties ... or if you can't decide, get our potato sampler of five different varieties at an even greater discount. To claim your 15% discount, use the coupon code TATER.

Here's what's in stock right now:
	German Butterball, with its buttery yellow flesh, is an excellent all-purpose variety good for roasting, frying, and especially for mashed potatoes. This award-winning potato does well in long-term storage too.
	La Ratte is a top quality French variety highly sought after by chefs. If you're a "foodie," this potato is a must-have. Great for boiling, roasting, and frying, it has a smooth buttery texture and a delicious nutty flavor. Like potato salad? This is the potato you want, since it holds its shape well when cooked.
	Purple Viking makes a great all around, general purpose potato. Love mashed potatoes? Then you'll love the snowy white flesh and slightly sweet flavor of this potato. Delicious when harvested early too.
	Rose Finn Apple fingerlings hold their shape exceptionally well when cooked. They're perfect for potato salad, as well as steaming, frying, boiling, or roasting.
	Yukon Gold is the most widely grown specialty potato. It's a great all-around potato for baking, roasting, frying, mashing, or in salads. Plus, it matures early so you won't have to wait as long to harvest.
	All Blue is the best blue potato variety you'll find. With its outstanding flavor and moist texture, it's great for roasting, frying, and most fun of all, making colorful blue chips.
	Desiree Red skin and gold flesh with a moist creamy texture. It's an excellent choice for a general purpose potato.
	Bintje is, hands down, the best variety for French fries. It grows well in a wide range of soils and stores exceptionally well.
	Kennebec has long been a staple of gourmet restaurants and farmers markets, and is now catching on with home gardeners. Another excellent all-purpose potato that stores well.

For generations before us, potatoes represented freedom in a way that growing corn or wheat did not. It truly took a village to bring in a crop of corn or wheat, since those crops are labor intensive and required tools and technologies that were beyond the economic reach of one household. A single sack of seed potatoes meant one thing: self-reliance. A man could feed his family and not worry about starving. The ability to be a completely self-reliant food producer was a hedge against oppression and tyranny.

What's different today? Nothing. In fact, the self-reliance that the potato endows is more important than ever. And if you agree, then I urge you to plant potatoes in your garden this year.

Planting time is just around the corner! Click here to order your seed potatoes today.

Sincerely,
Nick Huizenga, Senior Botanist
Heirloom Solutions