What is the best way to store potatos?

[PufPuf23]

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

How about a thread on storage and growing and recipes for potatoes?

My immediate and real question is regards storage in that I do not seem to be able top prevent sprouting.

Is storage different for different varieties?

I may plant potatoes in my small vegetable garden this Summer.

An annual seasonal dish from my Mother and Grandmother was new potatoes and peas.

[LisaM]

1. In a root cellar!

If you don't have one, a cool, dark place.

[Laffy Kat]

6. Oh, snap!

When we were building this house I forgot the root cellar!

[PufPuf23]

13. My grandparents had a root cellar where they kept potatoes, hung meat, etc.

Their root cellar was a small cement enclosed basement that was packed with ice before electricity was available.

During my life (actually childhood in 1950s and early 1960s) the root cellar was used to store canned (jarred actually) goods and store apples and hang game before butchering and freezing. Potatoes then were bought and used relatively fast.

I buy potatoes at Costco or Winco and in 10 day to two weeks they sprout and start to go bad, the pattern maybe varying by variety.

I have about half left of a ten lb sack of Alaska yellows purchased maybe 6 weeks ago at Costco. Once I bumped off sprouts and washed and now there are more sprouts and some bad areas extending in from eyes. I kept them (and potatoes in general) hanging in a closet in a utility room with no heat, this time of year temperature is 30 F to 50 F at night (so no light aerated and dark) but put them in refrig drawer after the one refreshing and they sprout in the refrig.

[Mendocino]

19. I had a "root cellar" growing up

in a house my dad built in 1951. More of an unheated corner room of a full basement . We would put up veggies in the fall, buy apples by the bushel and keep them there. Taters, turnips, onions all kept well. In a modern home without a basement I would suggest a closet or pantry unit on an inside wall away from light, dry but not without some humidity, away from heat sources (heating registers, sunlight, stoves, even the the fridge; they give off heat). Inspect the taters regularly, soft rot spots can turn the whole batch into mush. Rotten tates are a smell once experienced, you never want to repeat.

[denbot]

2. Belly fat..

At least it is in my case..

[PufPuf23]

3. I empathsize. nt

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Love new potatoes and peas.

We have them as part of our Easter dinner, a long time family tradition.

I agree that a root cellar is the best or a dark cool place.
No matter, potatoes seem to know when spring is here and sprout even in the dark!

[Marthe48]

5. I hear that poatoes from groceries

are from a previous year? Here is a link about that:

https://idahopotato.com/dr-potato/qa-timing-from-harvest-to-grocery-store-shelf

It used to be that the potatoes we bought lasted through the winter and didn't sprout until Spring. But now, I buy potatoes and they sprout in a week. I have stored them in the fridge, the cupboard, the basement, always cool and dark. And they sprout. On the upside, if I am planning a garden, I can plant them as soon as danger of frost is gone and get a few new potatoes in early summer.

My father-in-law said that some people would cut the potatoes in 1/4s, making sure there were eyes on each piece, and plant the pieces, to get a bigger crop.

If you like scalloped style potatoes, here is a recipe:

*Cheesy Potatoes*

3 cups raw potatoes, sliced (peeling is optional, but make sure unpeeled are well-cleaned)

1/4 cup butter, melted, set aside

2 TBS oliveoil
1/3 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
and then fill the can 3/4's with milk

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded, divided

Panko crumbs

Use a casserole dish. Butter bottom and sides and set aside. Mix the olive oil, sour cream, soup, milk and about 1 cup of cheese together. Put the sliced potatoes in a large bowl and pour the soup mixture over. Mix it until the potatoes are coated. Pour the mix into a greased casserole dish (2 qt size) and drizzle the melted butter over the top. Then sprinkle a 1/2 cup of cheese over the butter. Then top with Panko, or other bread crumbs. Cover and bake for about 35 minutes until bubbly and golden on top. If you use a metal casserole dish, bake at 350 d, center oven. Glass pan, 325. Remove the cover about 10 minutes before to get the top crispy. You can make these in a slow cooker, just leave the crumbs off. ANd you can add some diced ham to make it a main dish.

[Laffy Kat]

7. Wonder if one can grow potatoes in Colorado?

I'm gonna try this year. I had my first success growing something last year: pumpkins! Of course, I planted them too late and they ripened in mid-November, but.. still.

[Marthe48]

9. Plant in a spot that gets plenty of sun

Plant them in hills, maybe some mulch? You could probably check your state's agriculture site for tips. My Mom lived at Vallecito Lake for years and never stopped trying to grow things. She had good luck with lilac bushes.

[Laffy Kat]

15. I've got just the place. I'll give it a go.

[Marthe48]

16. Good luck!

If they growm you are in for a treat. Nothing like truly fresh potatoes!

[PufPuf23]

11. Modern potatoes were domesticated from wild potatoes potatoes in

Inca country (Peru. Bolivia, Chile) of South America 5000 or more years ago so they modern potatoes are from strains of mountain tubers.

[politicat]

22. Yes, quite well.

The best way I've figured out is to grow them (without a digger) is above ground, in big landscape fabric bags. Plant them in a couple gallons of soil/mulch/compost mix, with the bag rolled down. When the plant gets above the top of the bag, add more soil. Repeat until the bag is full. They grow great, and you can start them before May 10. Water regularly. When it's time to harvest, have a second bag handy, and scoop the soil into the bag, the potatoes into a basket.

This is pretty much the method I use. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato/growing-potatoes-in-bags.htm

My old garden faced south, my current one faces west. The biggest issue for all Colorado gardeners is the late start of season, but we usually make it up on the autumn side. If you're worried about something getting frost-bit, water walls and Mason jar bell cloches will protect tender plants from late snows and frosts. This year looks like we're going to not have the late spring snows, so we may have an extra long season, but generally, gardening starts in May in the Front Range. My personal issues have always been cool season plants, not warmth lovers, because spring is just not predictable.

[GP6971]

35. You probably won't get a response.

The member you replied to hasn't posted for over 4 years.

[fizzgig]

23. this might be of help to you

http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/vegetable-gardening-in-the-mountains-7-248/

[Nac Mac Feegle]

24. I'm going to say yes.

I grew up in Western Nebraska, where they were grown, and had some relatives in the Fort Garland area that were associated with the commercial growing of them.

It all depends on where you are. Maybe contact the County Extension Service??

Good luck, fresh is always best!

[demmiblue]

8. Why in the Vicar's bum, of course!

[PufPuf23]

12. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

[OriginalGeek]

10. I'm not sure how to accurately describe it

but a friend of mine in the midwest grows them in what is basically a tube made of widely spaced wire about 3 feet in diameter and maybe 5 feet tall. Full of mulch or something and he says it produces a lot of potatoes. He just reaches in the wire and picks them out but I don't know where he stores them after harvesting. Says it beats digging in the dirt for them. He is trying very hard to live as naturally as possible without chemicals or much mechanical assistance. He has goats for milk and other critters for meat. I believe it's called permaculture or maybe that's a different thing he writes about all the time.


Frankly, though we were close in high school in the late 70s, he's become too much of a trumpster to pay too much attention to nowadays. Today he made a "scientifical" post regarding the expansion of the world's deserts. Since the great world-wide flood of Noah that is.

I tried to appeal to his sense of environmentalism and his love for living off the land and explain what a tragedy trump will be for the environment but he figures god will sort that all out. If he gets poisoned by all the chemical pollution trump will allow it is just god's will.

[Runningdawg]

14. Don't throw out those stretched out tights ladies!

In the old day my Irish mom and grandma used stockings, but if you aren't the type to have those around the house today, tights work just as well.
Drop in a single potato, tie a knot, another potato, another knot, until you have reached the top of the tights or stocking. Hang from the ceiling, in a cool dark place. A pantry will do if you don't have a cellar. Untie, don't cut the knots to remove potatoes. Wash tights or stockings before re-use. All root vegetables can be stored this way.

[FakeNoose]

17. If they start to sprout, throw them out

I learned the hard way on this one.

Sprouting potatoes will turn soft and inedible, because it's Mother Nature starting a new potato plant.
If you have no intention of planting and growing potatoes, you shouldn't save the sprouted ones.

The dark spots are called "eyes" where the new sprouts come out - and they're actually poisonous to eat.
You can get sick from eating a sprouted spud.

[UTUSN]

18. Eating?

[Kimchijeon]

20. In a cool dark place, like a cellar is probably best.

But if you don't have a cellar, you can put them in a cool dark place like a basket or wooden box.
I am not sure what kinds last the longest, but it seems like the large russet ones fare the longest intact.

Then again, I don't have a root cellar, I use baskets by a drafty window in a Minneapolis brownstone.
I have kept yams and other winter squash pretty well like that all through the fall and into winter.

However, some of the smaller sized potatoes like red ones or smaller russet potatoes seem to get squishy/sprout much faster.

Guess it just depends on the potatoes!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

21. Convert them into vodka. Long shelf-life, vodka. nt

[furtheradu]

25. Window screens!

Organic gardeners store tators on window screens on platforms or legs, in a cool,dark place.my
There needs to be air circulation between the tators..they also check 'em regularly, turning them. If one goes bad, throw it out asap, it will 'infect'the others. .
P.Allen Smith has great info on this, PBS.

[furtheradu]

28. Ps. Where's Mopinko?

She's an amazing Garden Goddess. ..she can tell Ya 'bout tators!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Absolutely not in the refrigerator.

Other than that, they will do quite well in a dark place that doesn't get too warm.

[Warpy]

27. Store them cool, dry, ventilated, and dark

You can generally store the thicker skinned Idahos a little bit easier than the thin skinned new white, red, or Yukon potatoes.

I buy them singly and use them quickly, so it's not an issue for me. When I grew them, I'd leave a lot of them in the ground, store the rest in the kind of potato bag that used to be made out of paper with a grill in the front for air circulation. That grill would be to the back of the bin so the potatoes wouldn't turn green from light.

Just don't store them in closed cabinets where they can be pushed to the back. Rotten potatoes have their own funk and it's a different flavor from rotten chicken but easily as bad.

New potatoes and peas is one of the truly great, simple dishes, especially since dairy was starting to come in at about the same time.

[MosheFeingold]

33. Bingo

Ventilation is the key. Same with apples and most fruit, btw. Also, be quick to remove one that sprouts as soon as you see it.

The expression "one bad apple spoils the bunch" is equally valid with potatoes. It's a gas -- I think CO2 -- that triggers the sprouting, which is generated by the sprouting process.

I have used a wire mesh hanging tray to keep them in the pantry for ages. Don't double stack.

[Rhiannon12866]

29. All I know is that they need to be kept in the dark

When I go to the grocery store, it's usually fairly late, and the potatoes are already covered up and tucked in for the night.

[Throck]

30. I have a friend from the WWII era.

His winter farm job as a kid was to sort through the mountains of stored potatoes in the storage barn and pluck the eyes off to stunt the inevitable sprouting. This was how they kept potatoes for market in the northern states during that time when fuel and trucking produce from the south was limited.

[applegrove]

31. I had an aunt who collected seaweed and grew potatoes in it. I asked

her if the potatoes were nicely salted when they were dug up. LOL!

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. For a pretty tasty recipe, try this gratin'

The first portion of one of my old threads from the Cooking and Baking group;

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1157&pid=20926