Sounds Good. You could even put small holes in the totes if you needed. I store my potatoes in paper boxes that have holes in them with newspaper. Once in a while mice have gotten in the pantry thru the dryer vent. They have never messed with the potatoes. I've never tryed to store leeks tho. You don't want to store your apples neer other cellar foods tho.

 

We have a crawl space the full length of our house and would like to dig up our potatoes to store there. I, too, am worried about mice getting in to them. I think heavy plastic bins would be the way to go. We use a shrink wrap system for storing fruits and vegetables in a closet storage area and wonder if that would work for the potatoes in the crawl space. Or would it just be best to let them winter deep in the garden soil where they are?

 

I'd leave them in the soil. At the first hint of warmth, I've found that potatoes either sprout or rot. No way would I store a large bunch of potatoes together either - too much chance of one with rot infecting the others. If you've ever cleaned up bags of rotten potatoes you may rethink what a great "deal" that 10 for $10 is. If you have access to a lot of dry sawdust, it might work as a storage medium, absorbing the goop from the rotting ones. Sweet potatoes and squash are much better behaved for long term storage.

 

I think heavy plastic bins would be the way to go

Mice will go through plastic in just a few minutes

You need metal containers or a hardware cloth (1/4 inch) enclosure to keep mice out

 

Potatoes need cool dry air not himidity and darkness, moisture build up in sealed plastic or metal containers will cause rot. You need something to keep varmits out but also let out humidity. A good cellar is vented for air circulation. Figure out what you use between trips to town and let them store it. Spend your time researching and getting things ready for when you do have a crop....James

 

Since we now have the woodburner going in the basement cold storage of produce has become an iffy proposition

Could you build a wall to seperate the basement from the crawl space?

That could give you a "root cellar"

Since it wouldn't have to be "structural" you could wall it off with nothing more than styrofoam panels on a light framework

 

My basement is separate from the crawlspace. There is a block support wall between the two. But the styrofoam panel on a framework is the idea I was kicking around for a "door" between the crawlspace and the outside. I had thought of building a cold room in the basement but there's not enough room for that.

It's not any more humid there than the outside air. It is lit with a couple shop lights. Not total darkness but enough light that stored potatoes would turn green unless they are covered.

The plastic bin isn't the airtight seal type. I do plan on checking for moisture and rot problems on a regular basis. The problem with the store storing the potatoes is the store is about 15 or so miles round trip. When potatoes sit around in the store they do turn green. These were just unpacked and in real good shape. As I said, I checked for any potentially bad ones and those were either eaten last night (oven roasted potatoes with onions, mmmmm) or right on top where I can get to them first.

There really is no acceptable place in the house to store potatoes for more than a week or two. I like potatoes but not every day. I probably won't fix any more this week.

Sawdust would have been better, but no access to lots of sawdust. Had to work with what I've got. I did store potatoes in plastic buckets last year with no rot. Had them in ds's house which was heated just enough to stay above freezing. Not an option this year. We will be working in there and will need to keep it wamer. Plus the mice were unreal! They didn't eat the potatoes but they did get every single squash I had stored.

I don't plan to store the potatoes there all winter. I expect most will be gone in a month or so. The ones I grew are still in the ground and I figure they will still be there in the spring. I've got the straw to cover them to keep them from freezing.

I really don't want to clean up a bunch of rotten potatoes, btdt, not fun. Just threw out a few I had forgotten that were stinking up the kitchen.

This is a work in progress. I have the potential for setting up an actual root cellar at the guest house. Just trying to see if this could work or be more efficient.

I appreciate the input and will keep everyone posted as to how this works. I don't expect these potatoes to last much past Christmas. If they are available we eat them too fast.

 

Just wondering, since you don't have access to sawdust, I wonder if DRY leaf mulch or leaves could substitute?

 

I wonder if DRY leaf mulch or leaves could substitute?

Hay would work well

 

I think wheat straw or oat I guess would do better than hay which has so much more organic-leafy, moldy if moist, kind of flattening stuff...straw is so much more tubular in shape and more airy. Make sense? My vet always tells me not to use hay for my dog, but that straw is much better...he stated the organic material as potentially more moldy... dialogue.

=scrt crk

 

Well dried leaves would work just fine. I've stored bulbs in dried leaves before with no problems. My window for getting well dried leaves is unfortunately past. Shredded cardboard would be good also but I've heard it's expensive. Wood shavings could probably also be used.

Has anyone used cedar shavings to store potatoes? That would keep mice away but I don't know if it would affect potatoes.

What straw I didn't use for taters is covered and stored for use in the rabbit cages and mulch in the garden, if it lasts that long.

I saw in the trash can storage thread the tip about using hardware cloth. That would be a great idea. Build a frame out of wood and staple hardware cloth to the inside of the wood frame. Make a cover too. Set the frame on concrete blocks or bricks so the wood isn't in contact with the soil (I wouldn't want to use treated lumber for this). Then if you have a lining of straw, sawdust or leaves that keeps the potatoes covered enough they wouldn't turn green. A cardboard box or cardboard inside the frame would give enough cover too.

I just got enough straw bales to cover the openings in the front and back of the crawlspace. Needed the insulation anyway. Where it had been stored they either had a huge mouse problem or it's going to be a long nasty winter. There were lots of little hollows (not holes, just areas about the size and shape of half a golf ball) on the top and bottom of the bales. I have never seen anything like that before, but then we always had cats in our barn.