What to Know
- The massive tater would make 30,325 servings of mashed potatoes
- It weighs more than 6 tons, about 12,130 pounds
- Like french fries? This potato could make 1.5 million of them
If you happened to see a giant potato being hauled on a barge on the Hudson River Wednesday, your eyes were not deceiving you.
The 6-ton spud, resting atop a tractor-trailer on a barge pulled by a tugboat, has been making cross-country trips since 2012, when the Idaho Potato Commission strutted it out nationwide to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
The tater's national tour was such a hit the commission opted to make it an annual event. The potato is the equivalent of 32,346 medium-sized Idaho potatoes and is 1,102 times heavier than the largest potato ever grown.
It travels the country promoting the certified heart-healthy Idaho Potato, and its mission is to help small charities in town and cities with its Big Helping Program, according to the Idaho Potato Commission's website.
Other fun facts: the massive tater would make 30,325 servings of mashed potatoes and more than 1.5 million average-sized french fries.
Idaho couple Chris Schofield and Sharolyn Spruce, who have toiled on hundreds of big custom projects and designs, built the enormous tater with help from several contractors, according to the Idaho Press-Tribune. The duo said the monstrous spud, made of steel, plywood, foams and concrete, was the first "vegetable" they'd ever built.
The next stop on its grand tour is Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey, Aug. 26 before a trip to West Point and then to Plymouth, Indiana, for the 50th annual Blueberry Fest.
