A potato puff (sometimes called “tater tot” or “potato croquette”) riddle is:
     
Q: How do you make a potato puff?
A: Chase it around the garden.
       
The joke has been cited in print since at least 2001.
 
“How do you make a cheese puff?”/“Chase it around the block,” “How do you make a cream puff?”/“Chase it around the block,” “How do you make an apple puff?”/“Chase it around the garden” and “How do you make a lemon puff?”/“Chase it round the garden” are similar riddles.
   
       
Wikipedia: Tater tots
Tater tots are grated potatoes formed into small cylinders and deep-fried, often served as a side dish. The name “tater tot” is a registered trademark of the American frozen food company Ore-Ida, but is often used as a generic term. “Tater” is short for potato.
   
Wikipedia: Croquette
A croquette (/kroʊˈkɛt/) is a small cylinder of food consisting of a thick binder combined with a filling, which is breaded and deep-fried, and served as a side dish, a snack, or fast food worldwide.
(...)
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Plain potato croquettes are served as a side dish in restaurants and are also available frozen in supermarkets. They are usually called Kroketten (singular Krokette).
     
ERIC
The Cognitive Tools of Children’s Imagination
By Kieran Egan
2001
Pg .15:
“How do you make a potato puff?” “Chase it around the garden”
   
From The Morgue
Ate Cheese, Watched Monkeys
Back from Paris. Was great. Yes. More to come.
Old lady at airport: How do you make a potato puff?
Cal: I don’t know.
Old lady at airport: Chase it around the garden.
Posted on August 11, 2004 Author morgue Categories Uncategorized
 
21 June 2010, The Daily Post (Rotorua, New Zealand), “Joke of the Day,” pg. A2:
Q: How do you make a potato puff?
A: Chase it around the garden.
   
1 March 2011, The Northern Star (Lismore, NSW), “Jokes by Shawn Davis. Shawn has won a $10 Blast Off Voucher,” pg. 25:
Q. How do you make a potato puff?
A. Chase it around the garden.
       
Twitter
Jess Morgan
@MorganBotanical
How do you make a potato puff?—> You chase it around the garden.
10:56 AM · Apr 18, 2011·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
anthony williams
@joivers
How do you make a potato puff ?
Chase it round the garden !
2:46 PM · Jun 30, 2011 from Swansea, Wales·Twitter for iPhone
 
Facebook
Billy Pearce
January 13, 2014 at 2:00 AM ·
Joke Of The Day: How do you make a potato puff..? Chase it round the garden!
 
Facebook
Iannetti’s Garden Center
June 27, 2014 at 10:51 AM ·
It’s garden joke Friday.  How do you make a potato puff?  Chase it around the garden.
       
Twitter
lynn neal
@minilynn3
Replying to @cineworld
How do you make a potato puff?....................Chase it around the garden!
5:41 PM · Aug 6, 2018 from Kettering, England·Twitter Web Client
 
Twitter 
John62
@John6282671699
Replying to @jokesuk
How do you make a potato puff?
Chase it round the garden.
7:01 PM · Mar 20, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
lynn neal
@minilynn3
Replying to @GiftBetterUK and @TKMaxx_UK
How do you make a potato puff?.........Chase it around the garden!
5:12 AM · Feb 22, 2021·Twitter Web App