Quick Navigation
Main Navigation
About Us
Education & Events
Ways to Give & Membership
Preservation
Shop
Stewardship news report
Meet Curzio Caravati, SSE’s own ‘Johnny Potato Seed’
It does n’t matter that the wet , heavy snow is coming down in force . Or that it ’s freeze cold alfresco . Or that there ’s a copper frying pan of heirloom onions and potatoes ( ‘ Skagit Valley Gold ’ ) sizzle on the stovetop in the kitchen . No , none of that deters the ebullient , 60 - something human race from bursting out the front door of his modest home on a quiet side street in Kenosha , footslog down the snow - covered drive , and inquiring , with true worry and an unmistakable idiom , “ How was your drive ? ”
Meet Seed Savers Exchange member Curzio Caravati , self - name “ horticultural researcher , ” caretaker of rare white potato varieties , and founder of theKenosha Potato Project ( KPP)—an initiative to augment the work of Seed Savers Exchange , theU.S. Potato Genebank , and others to safeguard the genic diverseness of the tater , one of the most crucial crop in the world .
We at Heritage Farm — Seed Savers Exchange ’s headquarters in Decorah , Iowa — also endearingly call him “ Johnny Potato Seed ” and “ The Potato Crusader , ” in tribute to the deathless enthusiasm he has for saving and sharing rare white potato varieties .
Curzio Caravati, Seed Savers Exchange’s own Johnny Potato Seed, displays ‘Skagit Valley Gold’ seed potatoes from his collection.
“ Growing , economy , and gather information on rare potato varieties helps protect against disease that could wipe out potatoes worldwide , ” says Curzio , noting that the KPP , formed in 2004 , today has 4,900 supporters in over 100 countries who exchange tipsvia Facebookon how to best grow and preserve rare spud multifariousness .
Curzio credits writer and militant Michael Pollan — and specifically his 2002 bookThe Botany of Desire — with sparking his passion for stewarding the harvest .
“ My goal is to cheer host of future murphy breeders just like Michael Pollan inspired me , ” says Curzio , a outspoken , loyal , and , yes , very enthusiastic Seed Savers Exchange phallus andExchange lister . In 2025 he listed 176 true Solanum tuberosum seed varieties , 2 potato varieties , 2 garlic varieties , 2 tomato diversity , and 1 peppercorn in the organization ’s Yearbook : “ I use all the space I can , ” he says with a middling impish smile , “ just like I do with my garden here in Kenosha . ”
Curzio Caravati, Seed Savers Exchange’s own Johnny Potato Seed, displays ‘Skagit Valley Gold’ seed potatoes from his collection.
Raised in Switzerland , Curzio has made his family for decades in Kenosha , where he also co - found the vibrantKenosha HarborMarketthat pull over 200 vendors each Saturday in the springiness and summer ( when it operate just off the shore of Lake Michigan ) and few in the winter month , when it move indoors . Curzio made a name for himself selling heirloom Allium sativum at the grocery store , a harvest he lead off to educate presently after settling in Kenosha .
Despite live short about horticulture , Curzio was a quick study , and before long he was also reap crops of apple , chestnuts , tomato , and , of course , potatoes on the three acres of land smother his household . ( He also added beekeeping , through the Swiss Bee Chalet , to his résumé . ) “ I have a Brobdingnagian noesis of scientific husbandry recitation from educating myself , ” he enunciate , “ and I expend those practices in grow my crop . ”
Indeed , Curzio does n’t profess to be a Fannie Farmer or a scientist , but he nonetheless has stack of solid advice to offer potato lovers as “ the biggest recreational spud showman in America , ” the ( very apt ) phrase he used to delineate himself toPotato Growerin 2018 .
Curzio Caravati keeps detailed data on all his potato variety grow-outs.
And sound potato - growing recitation , he says , begins with great soil . Each year Curzio orders a full articulated lorry - load of organic Purple Cow compost , most of which he uses to fill the ( approximately ) 400 fabric Irish potato grow bags that line his backyard in farsighted , colorful ( smart red periwinkle and poppy - cherry ) rows from spring through fall . The bags ’ framework air - prune roots for strong , salubrious plants and eliminates the problem of pool body of water , which can make roots rot .
“ [ long time ago ] , I was grow potatoes in the ground , and I did n’t know how to keep the varieties freestanding so I started using bag , ” he enjoin . “ A giving part of my inquiry is to observe varieties that will give more vertically than horizontally and to prove you do n’t need to own a lot of Din Land to uprise potatoes — that you’re able to successfully uprise many variety in urban areas . ”
Comparing datum from year to year , Curzio identifies luxuriously - bring on potato varieties , a critical part of keep ( and narrowing ) his collection of more than 400 potato varieties . ( “ You ca n’t call yourself a collector unless you grow the skill of selecting , ” he order . “ The goal should always be to improve the ingathering , not just develop everything . ” )
True Potato Seed varieties, packaged for sharing by Curzio Caravati.
And what exactly does he do with the dog pound and British pound sterling of Irish potato he give way each year ? He consumes the ones that are smaller than a chestnut — the “ micros , ” in Curzio ’s parlance — and donates many of the ones that are larger than two ounces to local intellectual nourishment bank . It ’s the “ minis ” that he plants in grow bag in his backyard , or shares with other Irish potato lovers via Seed Savers Exchange . And as if that were n’t enough , Curzio also produce and portion out true potato seed , harvest from fruit produced by potatoes under the veracious growing experimental condition .
Those seeds , he explain , are essentially a virus - liberal package for storing the mother plant ’s genetics long - term ( up to 70 years , he says ) . He dishes up ( and rates , of course ) a different potato variety at breakfast every sidereal day . “ I live , deplete , and breathe white potato , ” Curzio proudly proclaims . “ And I must be on to something because I have n’t had a sick day in more than 40 years . ”
He also take in the work of Seed Savers Exchange as decisive today more than ever .
“ At a time when biodiversity is continuing to decline rapidly and , keeping source grow is the best way to keep them vital and regenerating , we need Seed Savers Exchange doing this vital work , ” he says . “ Please join me inbecoming a memberand show up your support for the Seed Savers Exchange mission that will help secure that seeds are here for us now and for genesis to come . ”
Originally published May 19 , 2019 . update January 31 , 2025 .
Keep explore
When you make a leverage from Seed Savers Exchange , you help fulfill our nonprofit mission to protect our food and garden heritage . Do even more good by make up a donation to help us preserve and share even more heirloom varieties !
3094 North Winn RoadDecorah , Iowa 52101(563 ) 382 - 5990
Copyright © 2025 Seed Savers Exchange . image on this internet site are protected by copyright — unauthorized use is not allow .
Seed Savers Exchange is a tax - nontaxable 501(c)3 nonprofit organisation dedicated to the preservation of heirloom seed .
