Marble-sized potatoes with white flesh and brown skin that used to grow wild in MN 80 years ago - Ask Extension
Hi there! My 90-year-old dad was recently telling me about a small wild potato that he used to find all over in central Minnesota when he was a kid. H...
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Marble-sized potatoes with white flesh and brown skin that used to grow wild in MN 80 years ago #870774
Asked May 30, 2024, 1:39 PM EDT
Hi there! My 90-year-old dad was recently telling me about a small wild potato that he used to find all over in central Minnesota when he was a kid. He didn't remember the plant's leaves but said the skin was brown and the flesh was white. Everyone would pluck them out of the ground easier with a jack knife and at them raw. Any ideas what these would be? I would love to hunt some down and grow them for him this summer. Thank you!
Crow Wing County Minnesota
Expert Response
Thank you for writing.
I believe that your father was talking about prairie turnip, which has an edible root. Apparently the Pomme de Terre Fort and river were named for this plant. Pomme de terre means potato. In this case, however, it refers to the prairie turnip (Psoralea esculenta), a potato-like root vegetable which was commonly eaten by the Sioux people.”
https://foragerchef.com/tinpsila-harvest/
https://www.prairiemoon.com/pediomelum-esculentum-prairie-turnip
I believe that your father was talking about prairie turnip, which has an edible root. Apparently the Pomme de Terre Fort and river were named for this plant. Pomme de terre means potato. In this case, however, it refers to the prairie turnip (Psoralea esculenta), a potato-like root vegetable which was commonly eaten by the Sioux people.”
https://foragerchef.com/tinpsila-harvest/
https://www.prairiemoon.com/pediomelum-esculentum-prairie-turnip
Hello Steve!
And many thanks for your message and thoughts.
I shared the image of the prairie turnips with my Dad, and he says it's a different plant than the one he remembers. Specifically, the "potatoes" he remembers were perfectly round.
Also, he said the potato (or the edible part of the plant) had an almost white skin. In my original email, I think I said it had brown skin.
Any other ideas?
Very grateful for your help,
katherine
How is this one?
https://nativefoodsnursery.com/indian-potato/
https://nativefoodsnursery.com/indian-potato/
