MARQUETTE — Queen City Seed Library’s eighth-annual Community Seed Swap will begin with a free, hands-on workshop, sure to be popular with those who enjoy growing a Yooper favorite — potatoes.

The workshop will be at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday at the Peter White Library.

Potatoes are one of the easiest and most nutritious crops grown in the Upper Peninsula climate and can help provide greater food security for families and local communities alike.

Experienced potato grower Dawn Andersson of Calumet will lead a free workshop that examines differences and benefits between seed potato versus true potato seeds. Workshop participants will learn how to use true potato seeds to develop potato strains uniquely adapted to one’s own specific growing conditions that, remarkably, results in the avoidance of almost all potato virus contamination.

Fortunately, growing TPS potatoes is easy; if you can grow tomatoes, you can grow TPS potatoes. Participants will learn valuable tips and techniques based on the extensive experiences of the presenter; see interesting, never-seen-before TPS potato examples; and receive free true potato seeds to get started developing one’s own, wonderfully unique potato varieties.

For more information, contact Michael Riesterer at queencityseedlibrary@gmail.com or call 906-360-6839.