Whether you like them baked, fried or mashed, there is no doubt that potatoes are some of the most tasty and useful crops around. Many gardeners will add them to their plots and to enjoy the starchy, scrumptious storage crop all year round. If you are growing potatoes for the first time, though, you should know that planting potatoes is a little different than other crops you may be starting in the spring. “When you plant potatoes, you plant the actual tuber,” said Kate Garland, horticultural specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Potatoes are best grown from cuttings of a sprouting seed potato.