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Post By Paquebot
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Post By Dale Alan
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Post By Paquebot
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Post By suitcase_sally
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11/01/12, 07:43 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Kitsap Co, WA
Posts: 3,025
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Potatoes in the ground...
So I'm just going to leave my potatoes in the garden, dig them up as needed. What's the best way to keep them happy? It's very soggy here, so I was thinking maybe I should clear away the died-back vines and put a layer of straw on top and then put a tarp or something over that to shed the majority of the rain. What do you think?
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11/01/12, 08:20 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: MN
Posts: 7,610
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Does that work? Would think they would rot left in the ground.
Wouldn't know, our ground freezes up solid - sometimes a few good ones turn up in spring in the old patch after spring thaw, but sometimes it's just mush.
--->Paul
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11/01/12, 08:31 PM
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Living the dream.
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Morganton, NC
Posts: 1,982
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Bugs and rodents will eat our potatoes if left in the ground, but carrots seem to do fine. Tater will sprout too if we get a warm spell. Maybe dig half or so for safe keeping, and let us know how the other half do.
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11/01/12, 09:01 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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Soil isn't going to get any drier under a tarp and lots of bad things can happen to them when they remain wet. If you don't have a place to store them, dig and cure them for a few days. Figure out how much you have and go to WalMart and get a plastic storage container big enough to hold them. Dig a hole that size and put the container in it. Line it with straw, dump the potatoes in, and add enough straw to fill it. Gets all of the digging done in one go, no muddy potatoes and boots, and it's basically how it was done for centuries.
Martin
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11/01/12, 09:10 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Northern New York
Posts: 272
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Plus one... with what Martin says . He nailed it .
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11/01/12, 10:32 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Kitsap Co, WA
Posts: 3,025
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paquebot
Soil isn't going to get any drier under a tarp and lots of bad things can happen to them when they remain wet. If you don't have a place to store them, dig and cure them for a few days. Figure out how much you have and go to WalMart and get a plastic storage container big enough to hold them. Dig a hole that size and put the container in it. Line it with straw, dump the potatoes in, and add enough straw to fill it. Gets all of the digging done in one go, no muddy potatoes and boots, and it's basically how it was done for centuries.
Martin
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Hmmn. You're probably right. OK.
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11/04/12, 12:09 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Kitsap Co, WA
Posts: 3,025
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So I'm digging them up today. Should I spread them out to cure, or can they be in a bin with lots of circulation?
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11/04/12, 12:39 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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Spread them out somewhat and let them dry for several days. That's to allow any nicks and scratches to scab over. The skins also toughen a bit to seal the moisture in.
Martin
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11/04/12, 12:41 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: True Northern California
Posts: 13,459
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In my damp climate, I put them in the garage and keep them in the dark to prevent greening.
__________________
For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.
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11/04/12, 01:33 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Washington, USA
Posts: 2,900
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Look up "clamping potatoes".
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11/04/12, 08:45 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Michigan's Thumb
Posts: 6,322
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paquebot
Soil isn't going to get any drier under a tarp and lots of bad things can happen to them when they remain wet. If you don't have a place to store them, dig and cure them for a few days. Figure out how much you have and go to WalMart and get a plastic storage container big enough to hold them. Dig a hole that size and put the container in it. Line it with straw, dump the potatoes in, and add enough straw to fill it. Gets all of the digging done in one go, no muddy potatoes and boots, and it's basically how it was done for centuries.
Martin
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I thought plastic totes were a recent invention.
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11/04/12, 08:49 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suitcase_sally
I thought plastic totes were a recent invention.
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See reply #10.
Martin
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11/05/12, 06:50 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: western New York State
Posts: 2,863
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I don't purposely leave any roots in the ground. If they don't freeze and get mushy, something eats them. I "lost" some carrots and found them again when rodents starting eating into the dark tops and spreading bits of orange around. I have some beets, turnips, mustard greens and leeks in the garden yet, but they're coming up this week.
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11/05/12, 10:23 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: South Central Wisconsin
Posts: 14,801
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It's because of critters that I no longer advocate the original method of storing anything in a clamp. I've used a 28-gallon Rubbermaid container for roughly 15 years for carrots, rutabagas, and beets. For a few years, used a clamp for cabbage for eating and yellow collards for seed production. Straw was used in the pit with leaves over that and then covered with plastic. Worked great until last winter when voles moved in. Any vole is going to have to work harder this winter. There was a lot of leftover ½" exterior plywood from rebuilding a pigeon loft so I made a bottomless box 15x15x30 with a cover and buried that to the top and lined with straw. That was then covered with plastic and then a large bag of leaves. The collard plants and heads of cabbage need to have a higher humidity than the root crops which are packed in sawdust. Old methods still work perfectly using modern materials.
Martin
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