Jim O'Gorman holds some of his Jersey Benne potatoes that will be served to Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex during the royal couple's upcoming New Zealand tour. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery
Jim O'Gorman holds some of his Jersey Benne potatoes that will be served to Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex during the royal couple's upcoming New Zealand tour. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery
Like most of us, it would be fair to say Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex probably enjoy a decent spud.
So when the royal couple chow down on some during their upcoming New Zealand tour, they will in fact be sampling North Otago's finest - the ever-popular JerseyBenne.
Among the waist-high grass and weeds Jim O'Gorman, of Kakanui, called "biomass", which grows among buildings of questionable structural integrity, he produces everything from beans, cucumbers and tomatoes to Jersey Benne potatoes.
It is the latter that was in demand from people in high places, to fill the bellies of those in even higher places.
O'Gorman was recently asked by Government House head chef Simon Peacock to supply him with about 5kg of the potatoes to be served exclusively to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at a dinner to be held at the Wellington landmark over the weekend.
It is not the first time royalty would have treated their tastebuds to his spuds either.
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall sampled them in 2016, as did Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in 2014.
In fact, the first solid food baby Prince George ate on that 2014 trip was pumpkin and corn grown by O'Gorman.
Many people have different opinions on how the Jersey Benne should be prepared and served.
For the grower himself, there was only one way.
"Steamed with garlic and parsley butter. Dripping in butter."
When asked what he put the success of his growing down to, he said it was all pretty basic.
"Soil. It's as simple as that - the focus on the soil. My focus is growing or re-growing the soil. Regeneration agriculture is what we're talking about. You have got to go away from organic. Soil is a three-legged science . . . it's got chemistry, biology and physics. If you are not balancing them all, you are not doing it right."
It is the way he has done things for the past 18 years. O'Gorman refuses to use chemicals or even machinery on his plot of land, preferring to work by hand.
He hoped the Queen would one day taste his potatoes and was confident she would appreciate them as much as any other royal or commoner would.
