"Subsoil" is a short story by American writer Nicholson Baker, which first appeared in The New Yorker periodical on June 27, 1994.

[1] The story is about a man who meets his doom after being assaulted and forced by attacking, sprouting potatoes that lure agriculturalists into their sleepy Krebs Cycle.

Nyle T. Milner, a hard-working agricultural historian, is busy researching and working on a book about the early harrow.

After dinner, Mrs. Tait leads Nyle into the kitchen, revealing to him dozens of potatoes of all shapes and sizes and mentioning that they only use "fresh" ones.

Many years later, a man opens the box and is frightened by the mummified potato which ultimately begins the new Krebs Cycle.