Native Potatoes on the Shores of the High Andes

Native Potatoes on the Shores of the High Andes is an original illustration set in Altiplano near Lake Titicaca, Peru. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is tundra — too cold for trees.

A striped woven cloth holds a heap of purple, red, yellow and mottled potatoes, including small round tubers and long knobbly ones. Nearby, smaller potatoes lie in rows on frosty grass. Low stone walls enclose freshly dug ridges, and a wooden foot plough rests beside them. Beyond the treeless golden slopes, a deep blue lake lies beneath distant snowy peaks.

Why are so many kinds of potatoes spread out on the ground beside this high lake?

Farmers in the high Andes maintain diverse native potatoes with different food uses and responses to difficult growing conditions. Cold dry-season nights also make a traditional preservation process possible: potatoes left outdoors freeze overnight, then thaw in daytime and are pressed and dried through repeated cycles to make chuño. Frost, strong daytime sun and dry air therefore help turn a short-lived harvest into stored food. The treeless plateau and broad lake connect this scene to farming around Lake Titicaca.

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