The potato grows in over 180 countries from sea level to 14,000 feet above it.

In England the potato made the transition from a vegetable grown in small quantities for the gentry to a major food of the common people during the period 1765 to 1775, some 200 years after it was first introduced.

The first documented European sale of potatoes was by a Hospital in Seville in 1573.

The potato is now a staple food for two thirds of the World's population.

The Irish famine of 1846 was caused when a fungal disease attacked their staple potato crops two years in a row.

Potatoes are pollinated by certain types of bee that collect pollen by buzzing the flower and shaking it out of the pores at the end of the anthers.

The terraces where ancient peoples of the Andes grew potatoes are often spectacular and built frequently with dressed stone by skilled masons.

The largest potato ever recorded was 7 pounds 13 ounces, about the same weight as a new born baby. It was grown in 1994 by K. Sloan from the Isle of Man.

Collectors from the UK went to Mexico and South America in the 1930's to collect wild and cultivated potato species for evaluation and conservation.

Boiled potatoes have the 2nd highest concentration of folic acid after bread. Baked in its skin, an average sized spud contains over 30% of the Recommended Daily Allowance.

Before the end of the sixteenth century, families of Basque sailors began to cultivate potatoes along the Biscay coast of Northern Spain.

During World War II, government information leaflets advised Britons to eat at least 1lb of potatoes daily' to provide vitamin C to 'prevent against fatigue and help fight infection'.

In 2003 Rooster potatoes were served at The G8 Conference at Gleneagles where world leaders gath-ered and enjoyed a menu created by Michelin-starred chef Andrew Fairlie.

Some people believe you can treat frost-bite or sunburn by applying raw grated potato or potato juice to the affected area.

Potatoes are the world's leading non-grain food crop with a global production of 320 million tonnes in 2007.

Potatoes contain health promoting carotenoids – a complex class of compound of which 600 types

The first permanent potato patches in North America were established around 1719, most likely near Londonderry in New Hampshire.

Britain produces six million tonnes of potatoes a year involving 3,400 grow-ers.

The 2007 World Catalogue of Potato Varieties lists 4,200 varieties from 101 countries. In addition, CIP (International Potato Center, Lima, Peru) maintains 3527 cultivars native to Latin America alone.

At one time it was believed that potato crops were ruined by evil spirits (rather than common patho-gens such as late blight).

Since 1920, the Scot-tish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and its predecessor the Scottish Plant Breed-ing Station have made over 32,740 potato crosses.

A field of potatoes creates more energy per acre per day than a field of any other crop.

In Quechua, the language of the Incas, the name for the potato was 'Papa', a name spread by the Spaniards.

A medium sized baked potato with its skin contains more than half of a child's daily vitamin C.

After the wreck of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Irish coastal villagers rescued potatoes and planted them.

There are two con-tending theories about which part of South America the European potato came from... one states Chile, the other Peru.

Historical and genetic evidence suggests that the potato reached India not very much later than Europe, probably taken there by the Portuguese.

The man who invented the potato crisp was a New Englander, George Crum in 1853. It was his variation on the French- fried potato.

The international potato trade in 2005 was estimated to be worth six billion dollars.

Belarus boasts the world's biggest consumption of potatoes 338 kilos per capita; more than two and a half times the level in the UK.

Potatoes are crucial to the food security of hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, where the annual consumption has now risen from 9 kg per capita in 1961-63 to around 21 kg today.

The Incas used to place raw slices of potato on broken bones to promote healing.

Norway, Sweden and Denmark are said to have received their first potatoes from Scotland by the mid eighteenth century.

If you must peel potatoes take off the thinnest layer just before cooking. If you leave them exposed to the air or standing in water you risk losing the valuable nutrients.

Potatoes provide approx 15% of Britain's Vitamin C intake. Rice and pasta provide none whatever.

When potatoes are exposed to either artificial or natural light, they can develop a green color due to chemical changes. These green bits are unsuitable for consumption.

Potatoes are a root and will naturally sprout. These must be removed before cooking. To delay sprouting, pop an apple amongst them.

Potatoes are 72-75% water, 16-20% carbohydrate, 2-2.5% protein, 0.15% fatty acids, 1-1.8% dietary fibre.

The first potatoes brought to Europe in the 16th century were accused of being a cause of madness, leprosy and worse.

In the early 1950s, the J.R. Simplot Company developed the frozen French fry, a product that was perfectly suited for the quick preparation needed for the expanding fast food industry.

About 219 different wild tuber-bearing Solanum species are found throughout South America, Mexico and the Southern USA.

The first watercolour painting of a potato is dated 1588 and was sent by Philippe de Sivry, Prefect of Mons in Belgium, to the herbalist Clusius in Vienna in 1589.

Potatoes actually top bananas in potassium content: a medium banana contains roughly 450 mg, while a medium baked potato or 20 French fries contains 750 mg.

Start boiling floury varieties like Rooster in cold water and simmer gently, to reduce the risk of them breaking up.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, global potato production is on the rise, increasing 4.5 per cent annually in the past decadt

Weather conditions are important for all crops, but more so for potatoes. Dry conditions are required at planting time. Rainfall is important to bulk up tubers, but warm and humid weather also leads to problems with the disease late blight.

China is the world's largest potato producer, increasing its area given over to the crop by 30 per cent over the past five years. 72 million tonnes were produced in 2007, however they still import 70 per cent of their French fries.

There are more than 20 widely grown potato varieties in Britain. As well as supplying supermarkets with top selling varieties, Albert Bartlett also grow and exclusively market Osprey, Vivaldi and their own-branded Rooster.

In Zambia, they claim an African potato can cure almost anything. The plant is only grown in Mkushi, in the north of the country. Traditional healers use it for a range of illnesses.

The world's largest potato crisp was produced by the Pringle's Company in Jackson, Tennessee in 1990. It measured 23" x 14.5", roughly the size of a tabloid newspaper.

In Ireland amateur distillers mashed up potatoes then boiled and distilled them to produce the sometimes lethal Poteen (pronounced pocheen).

A particularly knob¬bly Andean variety of potato has a name which means in Quechua 'Daughter-in-Law' s Bane'. It was used to test the potato peeling ability of marriage candidates.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has a potato insect reference collection which includes 32,000 aphid specimens.

Potatoes are an important crop for Scotland, which has an international reputation for producing the highest quality seed potatoes. In 2006 the total value of the Scottish crop was £180 million.

The rapid growth of China's fast food industry is boosting demand for frozen French fries and other processed potato products. 89 A poisonous potato fruit was the chosen weapon for a murder in the Dorothy Sayers short story 'The Leopard Lady'.

A poisonous potato fruit was the chosen weapon for a murder in the Dorothy Sayers short story 'The Leopard Lady'.

When Lord Selkirk left Skye early in the 19th Century, to establish a community at Orwell point, on Prince Edward Island in Canada, he took potatoes with him. And it was these and the locally caught cod that helped keep the new community alive.

Farmers in the Andes have known for a very long time that a thin sheet of cloud over the stars at the summer sol-stice means that potato planting should be delayed. Only recently have scientists realised that they are accurately forecasting an El Nino event.

One medium potato supplies, on aver-age, 30 mg vitamin C, nearly as much as in a glass of tomato juice and 1.5 mg iron, which is around the same amount as in an egg.

Armed with the slogan 'Think potato, grow potato and eat potato', the Bangladeshi government has organized for its 500,000 troops to eat potatoes. Since rice prices soared, about a third of Bangladeshis have had to skip one or two meals a day. Potatoes are regarded as a wholesome replacement, being a safe crop that can be planted in October and harvested by the end of February before the often devastating monsoon floods.

'One potato, two potato' is a popular children's game that recently featured in a TV advertisement for Albert Bartlett Rooster Potatoes.

The state of Idaho is the biggest producer of potatoes in the USA.

The first known printed illustration of a potato was by the Englishman, John Gerard, in his volume entitled 'Herball' in 1597.

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, so you need it in your diet everyday as it passes through the system and is not stored. An average portion of new potatoes will deliver 26% of Recommended Daily Amount, and an average jacket potato will provide almost 50%, compared with rice and pasta which contain no vitamin C.

Wartime government scientists' instructions on how to get the maximum benefit from potatoes advised housewives to use potato water for making soups and gravies, and re-use uneaten potatoes by substituting them for flour when making pastry, pancakes and scones.

Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to Ireland in 1589 cultivating 40,000 acres of land near Cork which was given to him for the purpose by Queen Elizabeth I, eight years earlier.

Hash browns or hashed browns are a simple potato dish in which potato pieces are pan-fried after being diced, riced, shredded, or julienned.

Potatoes should be stored in a cool dark, dry, ventilated area to avoid greening. Remove them from plastic bags and don't store them in the fridge or near strong smelling foods such as onions.

The first biofuel? During the Second World War petrol starved German forces developed a potato based alcohol to fuel aircraft and military vehicles.

To counter the potato's poor reputation in 18th century France, Antoine Augustine Parmentier a chemist, and potato enthusiast created a number of delicate recipes that found their way to King Louis XVI's Court.

When boiled, a medium sized potato contains about 3g protein, half the adult daily requirement for Vitamin C and substantial amounts of Folic Acid, Vitamin Bl, Vitamin B6, as Dietary Fibre, Iron, Potassium, and Zinc.

Growing potatoes is the world's most efficient means of converting land, water and labour into an edible product.

The Rooster Potato has proved so versatile that it was dubbed an 'Ubertuber' by the food correspondent of The Independent Newspaper.

The first record of cultivated potatoes outside South America is their export in 1567 from Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands to Antwerp In Belgium.

As testimony to the spud's versatility, the famous Irish chef and spud-devotee Lucy Madden produced a recipe book entitled 'The Potato Year: 365 Ways Of Cooking Potatoes' which features a different potato based dish for every day of the year.

Winnie the Pooh creator A A Milne once said: 'If a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow'.