A short history of the potato, including its introduction to Wales;
The potato is now regarded as an essential component of the diet, providing starch, vitamin C, potassium as well as being an excellent source of fibre. But that has not always been the case; at first, they were treated with suspicion and considered to be of little nutritional value.
The potato is thought to have been first cultivated in the area between the south of Peru and the northeast of Bolivia over three thousand years ago, though scientists believe they may have grown wild in the region as long as 13,000 years ago.
1532 - The Spanish conquistadors first encountered the potato when they noted that the Incas had learned to preserve the potato for storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance called chuñu which could be stored for up to 10 years. As well as using the potato for food, the Incas also thought that they made childbirth easier and also used it to treat injuries.
1570 - The potato arrived in Spain, although they were regarded with suspicion, unfit for human consumption and used only as animal fodder.
1589 (28th July) - Sir Walter Raleigh is reputed to have been the first to bring the potato to Ireland and planted them at his Irish estate at Youghal, near Cork. However in Ireland and the UK many Protestants would not plant potatoes, as they had no mention in the Bible and Catholics would only grow them if their seed potatoes were sprinkled with holy water and planted on a GoodFriday.
1776 - It was reported that potato cultivation was widespread at Milford Haven. Up until this date, the British diet had consisted primarily of dairy produce, bread and meat. Vegetables were seldom consumed, being regarded as worthless and even harmful.
1801 – 1851 - England and Wales experienced an unprecedented population explosion, due to the Industrial Revolution, their combined population doubling to almost 18 million. High yielding, easily prepared potato crops were the obvious solution to resulting increase in demand for food, which also helped mitigate the effects of such diseases as measles, dysentery, scurvy and tuberculosis. The higher birth rates and lower mortality rates that potatoes encouraged led to a tremendous population increase.
1801- 1809 - In the USA, potatoes did not become widely accepted until they received an aristocratic seal of approval from Thomas Jefferson, the Welsh speaking President, who served them to guests at the White House.
1845 - The Irish Potato Famine. The most dramatic example of the potato's potential to alter population patterns occurred in Ireland. By 1800, potatoes were the staple crop, and the population doubled by 1841. There was no introduction of industry or change in farming methods, simply the cultivation of the high-yielding potato. By the early 1840s, nearly half of the Irish population had become dependent on the potato. When the crop was blighted, many thousands starved.
1922 - The growing of Pembrokeshire Earlies on a field scale began.
1945 - After the Second World War, consequential market and political pressures resulted in an increase in the acreage of potatoes being grown in Pembrokeshire, the majority being sold to markets in the large population centres of South Wales and the Midlands.
1950's - 1970's – There was an increase in the growing of the early potato sector, with Pembrokeshire farmers selling the majority of early potatoes to markets in the Midlands and North of England to meet growing consumer demand.
1980's - Thirty Pembrokeshire growers came together to form a Potato Marketing Group which ensured that only potatoes of sufficient quality were supplied to the market.
1995 - A potato processing plant was built in Pembrokeshire to grade and prepare potatoes for the mass market.
The Pembrokeshire potato is a brand that is in strong demand; it is regarded as a quality product with a distinctive taste that is used by many top chefs and appears as a named ingredient on their menus.
Pembrokeshire Earlies is the name given to immature potatoes of the solanum tuberosum species of the Solanaceae family. They are small in size because the potatoes are young when harvested. The potato is round or oval in shape with a soft skin and distinctive strong nutty flavour. It has a creamy texture and is a bright white colour. The first crop in May is sold with the soil still on in order to protect the soft skin of the potatoes. As the season progresses the skin hardens sufficiently to allow washing. Pembrokeshire Earlies are harvested from the beginning of May until the end of July, after which they are called main crop potatoes. There are particular skills associated with growing Pembrokeshire Earlies, with stones being left in the soil to aid warming. Hand picking is necessary to minimise damage during the first two weeks of the harvest when the potatoes are very soft. As the season progresses, the potatoes harden sufficiently to allow careful machine harvesting.
It is the short growing time and the mild climate of Pembrokeshire generated by the North Atlantic Drift of The Gulf Stream, which helps keep the western coast of Great Britain a couple of degrees warmer than the eastern side. This minimises the risk of frosts damaging the emerged crop, enabling Pembrokeshire Earlies to be grown and harvested earlier than in most areas in the UK.
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