Not only are they versatile, they’re easy to grow in marginal soils without extra irrigation, store for a long time without refrigeration, can be dehydrated and stored even longer, and if it starts sprouting you can just plant it again and get more potatoes.
If there’s two plants you should learn to grow for the apocalypse I recommend potatoes and pumpkins and if you can pick one it’s definitely potatoes.
I wonder if that was a case of a lack of genetic diversity. Potatoes are indigenous to the Americas, so there’s a lot more diversity which can help protect against disease.
Not only are they versatile, they’re easy to grow in marginal soils without extra irrigation, store for a long time without refrigeration, can be dehydrated and stored even longer, and if it starts sprouting you can just plant it again and get more potatoes.
If there’s two plants you should learn to grow for the apocalypse I recommend potatoes and pumpkins and if you can pick one it’s definitely potatoes.
Now that said, potatoes only is probably not a great “Plan A.”
I wonder if that was a case of a lack of genetic diversity. Potatoes are indigenous to the Americas, so there’s a lot more diversity which can help protect against disease.
For Ireland at least, it seems you’re not wrong.
“The crisis prorduced excess mortality” is a great way of putting that