Are Potatoes Legumes? If Not What Are They?

on October 28, 2022

Potatoes are one of the most widely eaten vegetables in the world. They have become a staple in many diets around the world since being introduced to Europe in the 16th century. The main reason for this is because they are one of the highest yielding crops per square foot, however, you may be wondering, are potatoes considered legumes, if not what are they?

Potatoes are not legumes, they are from the Solanaceae family which originated in central and South America and includes vegetables such as Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants. All of these family frost-sensitive plants do require relatively high temperatures to grow successfully with the exception of potatoes which are more tolerant of cooler temperatures.

This is because potatoes originated in Peru and Bolivia in an area that is a little bit cooler however the plants are still definitely frost sensitive. Due to these characteristics, they became particularly suitable for growing in Europe in many regions where the temperatures were a little bit cooler. In places like the UK where peas had been the dietary staple, they were largely replaced by potatoes.

Legumes on the other hand are a specific plant family called Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) and the members of this family are often referred to as pulses.

Which Vegetables Are Legumes?

Within the legume family, there is a wide range of commonly eaten vegetables which includes peas, beans, chickpeas, peanuts, and lentils. All these plants produce a characteristic pod with a seam running down the side that contains the plant’s seeds.

These plants are also notable because they have nitrogen-fixing characteristics which means that the plants with the aid of bacteria in the soil can take nitrogen from the air and store it in nodules within their roots. The advantage of this characteristic is that these plants require less fertilizer than other vegetables that are grown to the extent that these plants are often used as a green manure by many gardeners.

Green manure is a plant such as peas or beans that are grown by gardeners specifically to increase the fertility of the soil by increasing the nitrogen content within it. This is typically done by planting seeds from this family and allowing them to grow a foot or 2 in height before cutting them down to the ground and allowing their roots and stems to rot which releases nitrogen into the soil improving fertility.

Are There Any Common Features Of Legumes And Potatoes?

The common feature of legumes and potatoes, in general, is both vegetables are relatively starchy vegetables, however, legumes tend to contain much higher levels of protein which means they are much more suited to weight Loss diets as they have a lower level of carbohydrates present in them.

Potatoes typically consist of around 20 to 35% carbohydrates depending upon the specific variety that has been grown whereas most legumes typically only have around 10% carbohydrates and 5 – 7% proteins compared to 2-3% of the protein that appears within potatoes.

However, due to the nature of how potatoes are generally prepared particularly things like fast foods the levels of fat and salt that are consumed in the process of eating potatoes in the modern diet are extremely high.

Are Potatoes And Legumes Easily To Grow At Home?

Both potatoes and legumes are relatively easy to grow at home. If I had to choose between them potatoes would definitely be the easiest to grow as they require virtually no effort whatsoever to produce a crop.

To grow potatoes all you need to do is place the seed potato or even just potatoes from the supermarket in the ground and leave them. They will multiply in the ground over a period of 3 to 4 months and typically if you look after them and do one or two things you will end up having typically 4 lbs per seed potato placed in the ground. And honestly, all you really need to do is wait for the plant to die back and then dig them up.

However, there are a couple of things that you can do to make sure that you get the most out of each seed potato. The first is to ensure that you plant the potatoes at a depth of approximately 1 foot as new potatoes are only produced above the point at which the seed potato is planted.

Secondly, it is a good idea to earth the potato plants up when they appear which means mounding the soil up around potato plants as this will encourage the formation of additional tubers and ensure that they spend a reasonable amount of time in the ground before being harvested.

Lastly, it is important to ensure that you do dig up the potatoes once the plants have died back though it is possible to harvest them a little bit earlier typically I would not harvest them before the plant has flowered.

In terms of legumes, generally are also quite easy to grow though there is slightly more work associated with these plants and also it does depend a little bit on the type of legume that you are growing as to when you can grow it. Peas for example are restricted to being grown in the cooler parts of the year typically in spring and autumn, and sometimes in winter if you live in an area that has relatively mild winters.

Whereas beans for example need to be grown in warmer conditions and will happily grow throughout the warmer growing season. However, irrespective of whether you grow beans or peas or even something else most legumes do require some sort of support structure as they will generally grow anywhere between 3 to 8 feet tall. Typically, if you are growing Peas most people use a trellis and plant seeds at the base of the trellis and then tie them in as they get taller.

Beans on the other hand tend to wrap around the support structures by themselves and generally do not need to be tired in. Again, the plants are relatively easy to grow and really only require regular watering and picking the pods as they appear. However, in the case of peas, it is best to choose snow peas or snap peas which have edible pods because shelling the peas is a long painful process which honestly I don’t think is worth it.