In 1880, a farmer called Hugh de la Haye bought a potato. 100 years later, a stamp was issued to celebrate the occasion.
Those are the facts behind the stamp. Honestly…
By way of additional people who may not be fans of the potato: the spud that Mr de la Haye purchased had 15 eyes (the little sprouting things that grow from potatoes). He cut the potato into pieces and planted them; those eyes enable new potato plants to grow. And one of those potato-children came out with a kidney-type shape and a papery thin skin. Oh and it was delicious. It was originally called the Jersey Royal Fluke but this was later abbreviated to Jersey Royal, probably for marketing purposes. It’s also known as the International Kidney, but that definitely doesn’t get used on supermarket packaging.
Real Jersey Royals are only grown in Jersey (which is a small island in the Channel between England and France). Between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes are grown each year with 99% being exported to the UK.
