Potato ‘Yukon Gold’

* Common name: Potato ‘Yukon Gold’

* Botanical name: Solanum tuberosum ‘Yukon Gold’

* What it is: This potato variety was a ground-breaker when it debuted in 1981 because of its rich, golden flesh. Developed at the University of Guelph in Ontario in the 1960s, it’s a cross between a South American golden potato and a larger white potato.

   Although other golden-fleshers have come along since, ‘Yukon Gold’ remains a popular (and worthy) choice for its good looks and buttery flavor.

   The skin is thin and smooth, yield is good, and the variety stores well.

* Size: Plants grow about 18 inches tall. Space seed pieces about a foot apart.

* Where to use: Potatoes grow best in loose, mounded vegetable gardens or in raised beds that give the swelling tubers plenty of elbow room. They can also be grown in large pots, half whiskey barrels, or straw bales. They need full sun.

* Care: Loosen soil and work an inch of compost into it. Acidy soil is best (5 to 5.5 pH, add sulfur to achieve that) to head off scab disease.

   Plant “sets” or cut pieces with at least two eyes in early April, once soil has warmed to at least 40 to 45 degrees. Plant six inches deep and hill soil or add straw if growing tubers are becoming exposed.

   Keep the ground consistently moist but never soggy. Scatter balanced, granular organic fertilizer over the bed after planting, then a second scattering when the plants produce their violet flowers. Harvest as or after the foliage dies back to the ground, usually in July.

* Great partner: Onions can be interplanted and harvested at the same times, and their scent may discourage potato beetles.