The Potato Patches

The Potato Patches are the only ground on Tristan flat and sheltered enough to grow a serious crop, a stretch of walled plots about two kilometres west of the settlement where every household has an allocation and grows potatoes, which have been the island's staple since the nineteenth century. Stone walls break the wind. Small huts stand among the plots for shelter and storage, and the whole system is worked communally by agreement.

What you actually see

• The walled plots - stone enclosures breaking the wind for the crop.
• The household allocations - the system that gives every family ground.
• The storage huts - the small shelters standing among the patches.
• The staple crop - potatoes as the island's mainstay since the nineteenth century.

When to go

October to March is the southern summer and the growing season. Planting and lifting are communal occasions. Wind is constant in any season.

Honest expectations

This is working ground, not a display, and the plots are private allocations. There are no facilities. Reaching Tristan at all is the hard part.

Nearby

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is east, and Queen Mary's Peak rises above.