To each his/her own, but beware of false logic..... Small potatoes are not necessarily "more likely produced by weaker, less fit plants more likely to have been infected with viruses and other potato diseases," as proposed by mike_marietta above. Small potatoes are the ones formed last and have not had time to grow large by the time the potatoes are dug and harvested. It's just like with so many other vegetables/fruits; the ones formed close to harvest, won't be as large/ripe/mature as the ones formed earlier. The old timers I grew up around knew their potatoes and how to grow them. They had grown potatoes for generations. They chose the smaller (1 to 1.5-inch dia) potatoes for seed, and I guess the reason was that the smaller ones have more eyes and, therefore, produced higher yields. And perhaps they believed that the small potatoes were less likely to be diseased due to their young age. Sometimes with store/market-bought potatoes, the largest potatoes have diseased parts, whereas the smaller potatoes from the same harvest/bin don't have diseased parts. On the issue of storing potatoes in the ground, I'd be concerned about mice and other vermin eating and fouling the potatoes with excrement. On the issue of wrapping seed potatoes, it sounds like a very good idea.

It really depends on the farmer's market. I love my farmer's market. The vendors have to have grown the stuff themselves, and they have to be certified organic. I consider it to be the next best thing to homegrown. I use my FM as a backup for my garden. There are some things I can't grow myself, like tree fruits or eggs, and sometimes I mess up and have a lousy crop of something just due to my own error (like I set out plants too early and they froze or something). The FM is great to fill in those gaps. Home grown is probably better. It's certainly cheaper. But the FM is usually better than the grocery store, as long as it's a "real" farmer's market where you're buying directly from small farms. I think farmer's markets are very valuable for people who don't have the means to grow all their own produce but still want to eat fresh, locally grown, organic produce.

Looks like a pro botanical garden!

dbryal, how many bananas does it look like you'll get off of this one? I'm curious as to the yield of these. My own two plants just arrived in the mail today, tiny, wilted, with browning leaves. I've got them planted, hopefully they'll perk up... kinda wondering what I can expect out of them in a few years.