Isaac Dustin-Eichler had plenty of experience growing vegetables and herbs before deciding this spring to try his hand with potatoes.
Tomatoes, pumpkins, thyme, chives, mint and basil are just some of the crop that’s sprouted out of the 9-year-old’s garden in Hartford Village, but spuds might have proved the most hands-on experience.
“I think they’re harder,” Isaac said while putting the finishing touches on a “spud creature” during Saturday’s Potato Fest celebration at Lyman Point Park. “You have to water them more and you also have to dig them up and continuously mulch them.”
Altogether, he grew about 10 pounds of potatoes — or roughly 30 individual spuds — and the dishes his parents have prepared with them were “so good.”
Isaac was one of many people who took up the call from Community Resilience Organize of Hartford to grow potatoes this summer in backyards, gardens and even indoors.
The group gave away more than 150 pounds of seed potatoes this May in an effort to promote greater self-sufficiency and build a root-vegetable rivalry between Hartford’s five villages.
The neighborhood with the most growers, which turned out to be White River Junction, received an award during a celebration on Saturday.
“Something like more than 90% of potatoes grown in Russia are grown in people’s backyards,” said Paige Heverly, who chairs the resilience group. “We’re thinking, ‘Well, why can’t we do something like that in Hartford?’ ”
Heverly said the competition received grant money for outreach efforts and Potato Fest, while West Lebanon Feed and Supply provided 750 pounds of seed potato, which were distributed to Upper Valley residents during several kickoff events this spring.
Potatoes were chosen in part because of their reputation as an easy crop for first-timers, she said, but also because few people dislike the root vegetable.
Jon Bouton, a former Windsor County forester, said he claimed an unused garden bed in his Hartford Village yard for potatoes. His wife planted three varieties and recently pulled out about 15 pounds.
“We just put potatoes in. We’re notoriously bad gardeners. We’re good at planting but we’re not good at taking care of (the results),” Bouton said. “They didn’t get much weeding at all but they did just fine.”
Some of the potatoes have odd shapes, he said, adding that he enjoys a particular heart-shaped spud that he presented at Potato Fest alongside chocolate truffles with a potato twist.
About 40 people ate at a potato-based potluck, and competed in sack races and a game called “potato butt” during the event. They also came bearing stories and growing tips for one another.
Gayle Fancher hasn’t had luck growing potatoes in the past, but with a little help from her friend Joyce Baldwin, president of the Quechee Garden Club, she had five healthy plants. Meanwhile, Baldwin said she grew her potatoes in a tub as a novelty project.
“It was kind of fun. I got enough potatoes for one dinner,” Baldwin said. “It was something new, something different.”
Learning new techniques was enticing, as was the competition, added Fancher, who followed that sentiment with a “Quechee is the best” chant.
“Anybody could do it,” Fancher said of potato growing. “I encourage people to try because they think, ‘I don’t have a green thumb,’ but potatoes are brown.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.