If you love growing your own potatoes but hate putting up with Colorado potato beetles, flea beetles and potato leafhoppers, ‘King Harry’ may be your answer. This gold skinned spud has a secret weapon against the usual potato pests - hairy leaves. If you’ve ever worked around scratchy foliage, you can appreciate why bugs will avoid hairy leaves in preference for the more accessible smooth leaved varieties. So ‘King Harry’, an improved ‘Prince Harry’ makes a good case for growing potatoes organically.
‘King Harry’ was developed by Cornell University researchers and then tested by Wood Prairie Farm, a small Certified Organic family farm in Northern Maine. ‘King Harry’ is an Early season potato, taking about 70 - 90 days to mature. The white flesh is moderately moist with a waxy texture that is good baked or boiled. ‘King Harry’ is also a good keeper, so you can plant a lot and store them to enjoy after the harvest season.
‘King Harry’ won a 2007 Green Thumb Award from the Mail-order Gardening Association. This is a program that recognizes outstanding new garden products “based on their uniqueness, technological innovation, ability to solve a gardening problem or provide a gardening opportunity and potential appeal to gardeners.”
'King Harry' is available from several seed potato retailers including Wood Prairie Farm's web catalog.
