Bodega Red Potato

Slow Food Presidium

United States

California

Vegetables and vegetable preserves

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Bodega Red Potato

Bodega Red is one of only a handful of potato varieties introduced to the United States directly from the potato motherland: South America. It is one of a rare group of potatoes brought up the west coast of South, Central America and Mexico to the United States and was adopted by early settlers. Genetic testing has shown that the potato originated from Chilean potatoes.
Bodega Reds are part of a small group of potatoes, which includes the Makah Ozette that made their way all the way up the West Coast into Southeastern Alaska. Local legend claims that before the Gold Rush of the late 1840s, the Bodega Red potato jumped ship with a sailor in northern California above San Francisco at Bodega Bay in Sonoma County. It prospered, and this area – Bodega Bay to Petaluma and along Tomales Bay into Marin County became known as the potato capital of California. During this time, the Bodega Red was shipped on barges from Bodega Bay to San Francisco where it fed the San Francisco Bay area.
It was also taken to gold fields in the Sierras to feed the miners. Spud Point Marina, in the Bodega Bay Harbor, was given its name after a barge filled with Bodega Reds sank at that spot.
The historic area of production is located in the Northern California area of Bodega Bay to Petaluma and along Tomales Bay into Marin County. The Bodega Red potato is still being produced in the same area. Studies by horticulturalist and botanist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) found that the potato was extremely susceptible to blight. After struggling in production, Bodega Red yields came to an end in the 1970s.
The Bodega Red potato is slightly flattened and oblong in shape with pink-red skin. It has a rich potato flavor that is both creamy and nutty. The texture is an excellent balance between waxy and starchy. The skin is delicately thin with no bitter flavor. The Bodega Red is a versatile potato that can be baked, steamed, boiled, deep-fried, grilled, mashed, pureed. Traditionally, during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, cooks used to prepare them outdoors in field kitchens and served them to miners.
The most common planting to follow potatoes is a cover crop, typically a mix of legumes and grasses as the cover crop restores soil fertility and adds organic matter. The Bodega Red growers practice rotation with kales, winter squashes, root crops. As the name implies, the potato’s history is closely tied to the coast, especially benchlands near rivers or creeks where hydrology can support dry farming.
The Red Bodega Potato is in season during the summer and autumn and sold in local farmers’ markets in California.

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The potato is currently produced at small family farms, the majority of which are certified organic or biodynamic. Before Slow Food Sonoma County North intervened, the Bodega Red was on the brink of extinction. An anonymous donation of a few tiny tubers to the Bodega Land Trust rekindled interest in the potato. Research geneticists worked with the tubers, flowers and leaves and identified the Bodega Red as a distinct potato variety. In 2018, Slow Food Sonoma County North chapter distributed 2000 pounds (900 kilos) of seed potatoes to growers. In total, local farmers grew an estimated 60 acres (25 hectares) of Bodega Red potatoes that year. The goal of Slow Food Sonoma County North is to raise awareness of this potato variety and its cultural and social connection to the local area. Through work with the seed potato source, the intention is to encourage more farmers to grow the potato and return it to prominence in the region.


Area of production
Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, and San Mateo counties in California
58 farms, home gardens, and retailers from Marin, Mendocino, Napa, San Mateo and Sonoma Counties purchased Bodega Red seed in the spring of 2023.

Seed Potato Source
Zuckerman Heritage, Inc.
111 Zuckerman Road
Stockton, CA 95206
209/939-3320
Slow Food Presidium Coordinator
Barbara Bowman
Slow Food Sonoma County North
tel. +1 7074338444
slowfoodsonomacountynorth@gmail.com
The potato is currently produced at small family farms, the majority of which are certified organic or biodynamic. Before Slow Food Sonoma County North intervened, the Bodega Red was on the brink of extinction. An anonymous donation of a few tiny tubers to the Bodega Land Trust rekindled interest in the potato. Research geneticists worked with the tubers, flowers and leaves and identified the Bodega Red as a distinct potato variety. In 2018, Slow Food Sonoma County North chapter distributed 2000 pounds (900 kilos) of seed potatoes to growers. In total, local farmers grew an estimated 60 acres (25 hectares) of Bodega Red potatoes that year. The goal of Slow Food Sonoma County North is to raise awareness of this potato variety and its cultural and social connection to the local area. Through work with the seed potato source, the intention is to encourage more farmers to grow the potato and return it to prominence in the region.


Area of production
Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, and San Mateo counties in California
58 farms, home gardens, and retailers from Marin, Mendocino, Napa, San Mateo and Sonoma Counties purchased Bodega Red seed in the spring of 2023.

Seed Potato Source
Zuckerman Heritage, Inc.
111 Zuckerman Road
Stockton, CA 95206
209/939-3320
Slow Food Presidium Coordinator
Barbara Bowman
Slow Food Sonoma County North
tel. +1 7074338444
slowfoodsonomacountynorth@gmail.com

Territory

StateUnited States
RegionCalifornia