We plant potatoes in mid-March.  We're fortunate to have enough seed potatoes donated for every student to plant one potato.  This was not always the case.  Originally, we started our potato planting by using grocery store potatoes.  Older potatoes with eyes growing are just what you need.  The eyes are where the new potato plant will sprout.  So, if you have "sprouting" potatoes, you are ready to plant.  Large potatoes are cut to about two inches.  Just make sure each piece has one or two eyes.  We let the cut edges dry for 1-2 days to reduce the chance of their rotting, and they're ready for planting.

The potato plant is in the same family as tomato, eggplant, and peppers.  The only edible portion is the tuber.  Potato plants can produce small fruits that look like small, green cherry tomatoes, but the potato fruit is not edible.  All parts except the tuber contain solanine which is toxic when ingested.  The color of the flower indicates the color of the potato.