Interested in Growing a New Potato While Helping to Improve Food Security?

Metchosin Farm's Potato Project aims to enhance food security by preserving heirloom seeds and developing new food plants through traditional breeding methods. Since 2017, the farm has been actively researching and selecting new potato varieties that excel in flavor, production levels, and disease resistance. This initiative is crucial because North America has lost a significant portion of its food seeds and apple varieties over the past century.

The project works by focusing on the genetic diversity of potatoes. Potatoes originally come from South America, with two distinct centers of origin: the lowlands of South-Central Chile and the highlands of Northwestern Bolivia/Southern Peru. The highland potatoes, which set flowers readily, have greater genetic diversity compared to the lowland potatoes. This diversity is important for resilience against changing conditions such as climate, soil, pests, and diseases.

At Metchosin Farm, the research involves selecting new potato varieties from the highland group, which produces many small, non-edible fruits after pollination. Each seed in these fruits represents a unique, never-before-seen potato variety. By cultivating these seeds, the farm can develop new potato varieties with desirable traits, contributing to greater biodiversity and food security.

For more information on this project or if you'd like to obtain seeds from them, visit the Metchosin Farm Potato Project page. Metchosin Farm is an organic farm. Seeds obtained from them is suitable to grow in our gardens.