Those without root cellars

[pickapeppa]

Where do you store your potato harvest? We never seem to have a good place for them. We've stored them in burlap in the garage, but it freezes in there. If we bring them in the basement (tri-level, so basement is half underground and living space) they sprout.

We have a fridge outside we can put them for now, but when the freeze comes, that will be out of the question.

Any good suggestions? We have about 75 pounds, and no time to process.

[sbeerman]

I don't know about what you have aviable, buy do you have a room that dosen't have heat, we heat with wood but our bedroom is cool. And the closet in the hall is cool too. Try and find the coolest spot/ and use your burlap bags. I'm not sure how many lbs. of potato you are trying to store but we keep two full bags going till almost planting time last year. My potato harvest this year was not good. The MOLE had a good time. LOL.
sandie OR 5/6

[Highground]

Does the fridge outside work? If so, use it.

[Paquebot]

If you just harvested them now, they should be able to last through Christmas just on their normal dormancy. After that, cool temperatures and darkness are all that are going prevent them from sprouting in January. With your tri-level, find the darkest corner of that basement and partition it off even if it's only a cardboard or plywood affair. My basement storage area is not far from the furnace but I keep the potatoes in boxes and covered with a blanket. Opposite end of the basement is where all of my potted plants spend the winter so they need light. As long as the potatoes don't see the light, they don't sprout.

Also, 75# now isn't all that much even if only 2 people. At a pound per day, that would only last just into December. We've probably got 3 times that much and wife has been duly informed to plan an awful lot of potato meals until further notice. Even did my part today by frying up some fingerlings for lunch! So, best advice is to make use of what you've harvested while you have it.

Martin

[turtlehead]

You'll have time to process before the potatoes go bad. Potatoes will last a long time just hanging in a room in the house. We can and dehydrate ours because we don't have a root cellar, basement, or garage.

[pickapeppa]

Turtlehead, do you have to treat potatoes to prevent darkening before dehydrating? That might be an easy option.

[susieM]

I dehydrate mine. Just be sure they're somewhat cooked, first, or they'll go black. They turn amber when dry, but they're still good to eat.

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by pickapeppa

Turtlehead, do you have to treat potatoes to prevent darkening before dehydrating? That might be an easy option.

This is according to Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook:

1. Peel the potatoes.

2. Slice the potatoes into 1/8" to 1/4" slices.

3. Drop pieces into pot of boiling water until they change color but remain firm, about 5 minutes. Drain and cool.

4. Dip slices into solution of 1/4 cup lemon juice mixed with 2 cups water.

5. Dehydrate about 8 hours until slices are hard.

6. Store in airtight container.

Martin

[turtlehead]

Exactly what Martin said! The only difference is I steam-blanch mine and soak for about 45 minutes in a mixture of 1/2 cup lemon juice per 2 quarts water. I got my directions from "Stocking Up III" from Rodale.

If you steam-blanch yours, spread them out in your wire basket or whatever so that they are only a single layer deep. Don't let them overlap.

The first batch I did, I did too many at once. The areas that didn't get adequately blanched still looked opaque white like a normal raw potato. The adequately blanched areas turn kind of translucent. You'll know it as soon as you see it. After dehydration, the blanched portions were amber, as SusieM noted. The unblanched portions were still quite white.

I also tried to cram too many in my lemon/water mixture so some bits poked up out of the liquid. The areas that didn't get soaked well turned black. Yuck! Talk about unappetizing. Most of them were lovely though.

To reconstitute the potatoes, pour boiling water over them. Use equal amounts of water and potatoes. Soak them for 25 minutes.

This is my first year dehydrating potatoes but I'm thinking they'll make some great scalloped potatoes and potatoes au gratin. You could probably also saute them with onions and maybe peppers, kind of like potatoes o'brien.

[pickapeppa]

Thank you for the directions. I'm thinking this is a good way to go. Canning just seems to be kind of undoable this year for some reason. I guess because it's so time consuming, and I just don't have the large chunks of time required to manage the processing right now.

I've tried frozen potatoes in the past, they were delicious, but turned a bit gray and unappetizing. It isn't worth the effort if you can't get the kids to eat it.

[Farmer Willy]

The Mrs. canned a LOT of them last year (we just finished them about 2 weeks ago). I'm not sure if I even have any to work with this year, this weekend will be my first chance to try lifting some. If so we'll team up and have at it---I'll dig, she'll cheer me on. I'll peel them, she'll can them. I'll peel and slice, she'll dehydrate them. I'll bag some up for fresh and seed, she'll smash me some up for supper. We make a heck of a team.

[seedspreader]

I am suprised no one has mentioned "banking" them. It's not as popular nowadays, but it's definitely a time tested way to store excesses. Granted 75 lbs isn't really much excess but you know what I mean.

[Sonshe]

How do you "bank" potatoes?

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by Sonshe

How do you "bank" potatoes?

If you are in the South or warmer zones, it would simply mean making a pile in the field and covering it with straw. That would be for both regular or sweet potatoes. In colder climes, you dig a pit and line it with straw or hay. Potatoes are put in and then covered with more straw or hay. That in turn is covered with a tarp to keep all rain out. As long as the potatoes don't get wet and never freeze, they should store all winter. That method is not used much nowadays due to the hassle involved in setting it up and using it plus critters moving in and so on. But it is another way to store potatoes.

Martin

[bee]

buried storage;barrel,metal/plastic garbage can or drain tile can be buried for winter vegetable storage. The barrel or garbage can is buried on a 45degree slant with the open end up(duh)about 2 ft of soil on the most deeply buried portion, top whole thing with straw or hay. A nice tight lid keeps out the vermin and water..this system will last for years..worst thing I can see is the remove hay(and any snow or ice on top of it) anytime you want veggies. I would make sure I took em in by the weeks worth. Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel...great info even shows you how to use the underside of steps to root cellar!

[Vera]

On the note of root cellar... I'm wondering what the best option is for northern Minnesota. The ground is certainly not dry here, and I'm told it freezes 8-10 feet deep. I don't have a basement or a non-heated room in the house, and the garage and workshop are not heated and it will be as cold in there as it is outside (minus windchill). So, what I thought might be the best solution is to cut a trapdoor of sorts in the kitchen floor and "frame" a root cellar down in the crawlspace. It should be cold but not freezing, and - this being Minnesota - somewhat humid but not wet... does this sound like a good idea, or is there a better way to put in a root cellar up here (considering what I have to work with)?

[Paquebot]

Vera, your crawlspace root cellar is quite feasible and has its origins in Europe. Peasants were constantly hiding food from the tax man via that method! The area would never freeze unless you were stored very close to an outside wall. Homestead log houses in our North had a cellar for food storage. The original house on our homestead farm had a small cellar and the outside entry was from the north side of the house where it was coldest. The second house was much bigger but same size cellar with entry on the east side. In both cases, it was the back of the house. Both sites also had root cellars dug into the side of a nearby hill with heavy logs to support the soil that was piled on top.

Martin