Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Dec 10, 2012 0:10:43 GMT -5
COMING EARLY 2012
HORTICULTURE
GARDEN ALCHEMY: THE LOST ART OF POTATO BREEDING
Rebsie Fairholm
Ever wondered why supermarket potatoes are so bland and boring? In the Andes, where potatoes originate, there are thousands of varieties with bright colours, beautiful markings, unusual shapes and variations of flavour and cooking quality. In the modern world, industrialised monoculture has reduced all this diversity down to a handful of near identical varieties. However, it's incredibly easy to grow potatoes from seed, and every seed is full of unexplored diversity.
Best known for her Daughter of the Soil blog, Rebsie Fairholm gives clear and practical instructions for how to make seeds from potato berries, how to cross different varieties, how to choose which ones to experiment with, and how to keep your newly created varieties growing into the future. She gives examples from her own experiences with all kinds of potatoes, from ordinary garden varieties to historic Scottish heirlooms and rare Andean landraces, and explores the different colour possibilities, from orange flesh to purple flesh.
Our ancestors created their own vegetable varieties in their gardens and took it for granted as a completely normal thing to do; and then the commercial age came along and changed our habits, and so it became something of a lost art. This unique book is a small step towards changing that.
ISBN: 978-1-908011-19-0
www.skylightpress.co.uk/
www.angelfire.com/az/garethknight/skylight/horticulture.html
I have been rather quiet on the blogging front haven't I? The reason is that I'm now working full time for a small publishing company, and also writing a book about potato breeding which will be available in late summer or early September. The book will answer all your questions about growing from TPS and potato seed saving, and to the best of my knowledge will be the first book of its kind on the subject. It's all very exciting and enjoyable, but as you can imagine I am immensely and obscenely busy, and working some very long hours.
An update on Rebsie's Potato Breeding book:
Apparently it's been delayed until 2013. But here is the response i got from skylight press:
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for your support and encouragement. The book has been delayed but we hope to have it out early in 2013. We're encouraged to hear of the enthusiasm for it and will update our website with a new date shortly. Incidentally, we are hoping that it will be the beginning of a series of Garden Alchemy books.
All Best,
Daniel Staniforth
Editor
Thank you for your support and encouragement. The book has been delayed but we hope to have it out early in 2013. We're encouraged to hear of the enthusiasm for it and will update our website with a new date shortly. Incidentally, we are hoping that it will be the beginning of a series of Garden Alchemy books.
All Best,
Daniel Staniforth
Editor
There were other varieties that produced a few berries per plant.
