Potato Art II

The potato finds its origin in the southern region of Peru and was first grown for consumption between 8000 and 5000 BC.

From Peru, potatoes made it to the Canary Islands in 1567 where they were grown for the first time outside Central and South America. Sailors brought the potatoes to Europe when they used them for food during the trip back to Spain.

The leftover tubers were planted and spread across Europe as food for the Spanish army where the potato was taken up as new crop by peasants and after 1600, the potato spread quickly to Asia and from there to China. During the 1750s the potato became an important staple crop in northern Europe.

In the 19th century the potato literally and figuratively gained ground throughout Europe, mainly due to the fact that it was cheap, nutritious, filling and didn't spoil so easily. The US followed quickly and in 1838 potato plants could be found in Idaho and the production has increased ever since.

As creative as we are, we found all kinds of other uses for potatoes, besides cooking them; fries, chips, mashed potatoes, soups, etc., are some of the examples.

Yeah, potatoes sure left their mark all over the world, which reminds me; they lend themselves very well making stamps!