Hi!

WHAT

I want to:

  • grow one potato in my balcony,
  • cook it with solar energy on June 21st, and
  • tell the internets (with solar energy if I can).

Plant growth uses solar, so that's three solar energies rolled into one project.

Your situation may vary:

  • If you're late to the project, you can buy a potato and do the other 2 things in the list. I won't tell anyone!
  • I'm still trying to find a foolproof way to cook a potato, so that anyone will be able to join in. Of course, people who want to do it faster etc can do the harder stuff. It's your potato.
  • "Tell the internets" may be as easy as "take a picture and email a few friends", or "gather a huge party and do videostreaming having a conversation with the International Space Station and of course using solar energy to power your laptop". I said "one", not "small".

WHY

It's #OneHotPotato because (add your own reasons to the end of the list):

  • I wanted to do the smallest possible thing, so it's one. Potatos are easy to find, generally. "One" carries half of the excuses of "two". So I gathered all my courage and planted the darn thing. There, done, phew!
  • It had to be hot, as in appealing.
  • The potato suggested itself because I live in the Canary Islands, where it's part of typical dishes. Yeah, in many other places too. Variety of cooking styles? I want to try papas arrugadas. Doesn't need much water and tolerates the sun.
  • I was (and am) a bit fed up with people talking about fracking oil in the Canaries, with incumbents in favour and greens in opposition, but everyone sucked into the same subject, when in fact I'd like to have conversations about solar. How useful is it, who knows the science, who has the technology, what are the economics, what can each interested person do, who can I ask for help or join for a project?
  • (Found out once the project started) it's a good conversation starter. In fact, people have given me ideas (of the "you go do them" kind, but it's a start), seeds, advice on watering, a discarded parabolic antena, and general encouragement ("new picture today?"). Just because I take pictures of the plants every day, and show them if there's something particularly exciting or troubling. I found other people were keeping their plants and nobody knew!

HOW

At it. Feel free to add to this page!

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