THE POTATO
Forget about "the year of the rat" for a minute, let's focus on the potato. About a year ago, He spotted a potato sprouting happily in the kitchen vegetable basket. The next I knew, the tatty had disappeared, buried in the garden. We forgot all about it: He, forgot where exactly he had buried it and me, I did not have anything to forget really, but I did. Soon something grew, it grew and grew, so tall that I really thought it was going to reach the sky and produce beans. We kept asking people "What does a potato plant looks like?" "does it look like this?" opinions varied.
Then, Ann and Barbara came over for the "digging ceremony" which involved a pound, a bet: winner takes all. Lots of arguments later, at his great amazement 8 spuds were unearthed.
The story does not end here. The idea germinated, Ann and Barbara wanted to do it again, before I knew what was happening we were having a party, rules were distributed to friends and neighbours: plant a potato, bet a pound, and when the time comes we will have another party involving digging, arguments and a couple of winners. The Potato contest was born.
Amazingly, a little later, the U.N. yes that very one: the United Nations were doing something very similar. I wonder where they got their idea from? they called it the International Year of the Potato.
Very kindly, in doing so, they have saved me a lot of typing and their research is impeccable, the growing your own page will be very useful to the contestants. Now I just need to take my basket full of seeds, wrapped in African batik for the occasion, around the houses for the long awaited distribution.
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