Roughwood Table Talk

Newsletter of The Roughwood Center For Heritage Seedways

“Rooted In History, Feeding The Future”

Robert Michell Potato Donation: September 2023.

In 2020, the Roughwood Seed Collection, which is housed at The Roughwood Center For Heritage Seedways, suffered a major setback with the loss of a large portion of our potato collection. Since then, we have been gradually restocking what was lost but many of the potatoes were so rare that finding a reliable source has been challenging. Fortunately, Robert Michell of Glenn Dale, Maryland had been collecting some of the same potato varieties and has donated a windfall collection of replacements. We want to recognize his generosity because within a year or two we will be able again to offer rare seed potatoes for sale.

Here is what Robert gave us. The numbers represent our original collection accessions:

POT001: Early Rose (1861)

POT005: Bliss’s Triumph (1870s)

POT007: White Peach Blow (1872)

POT017: White Duke of York (1891)

POT021: Beauty of Hebron (1878)

POT026: The Yam (pre-1737)

POT034: Cups (pre-1800)

POT044: Cow Horn (pre-1870)

We are grateful for Robert’s donation, and look forward to integrating them into our surviving collection, some of which are seen below.

This is a picture of POT057: Pillpintu which is a rare Incan Potato whose name means Purple Butterfly.

This is a picture of POT020: Lumper (pre-1770) which was the favorite potato in Anglo-Ireland. This potato fell to the blight in the 1840’s and caused the Great Famine.

This is a picture of POT044: Purple Cow Horn (pre-1860) which was displayed in the U.S. Centennial Exposition 1876 in Philadelphia.

We are in need of a refrigerator to house our seed potatoes.

HELP us SEED the Future by making a donation.

The Roughwood Center For Heritage Seedways, P.O.Box 75, Devon, PA 19333

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PO BOX 75, 107 Old Lancaster Road, Devon, PA, 19333, United States of America