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Long term storage of potatoes with NO root cellar!?

27K views 37 replies 28 participants last post by  Harry Chickpea 
#1 ·
My neighbors have been so graciously giving me all their unwanted potatoes. I have been very generously giving them to ANYONE who will take some home! I still have around 200lbs and I haven't even dug up my 120' row of potatoes!:eek::stars:

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I have dehydrated some and canned some. I would like to store some like they are for use later on down the road but don't know how. In my dreams I have a root cellar and maybe one day I will actually have one but right now I have nothing.

Please give me some tips/secrets on what to do with all of these things!?!?!?!

I have nightmares of little potato people taking over my home! ;)
 
#2 · (Edited)
I don't have a root cellar ether. Put all the potatoes in boxes that are ventilated and no light can get to them. Put them in the coolest place you can find. This works for me. Every year I plant the sprouting potatoes. They are still good to eat even if they are sprouting. I do cann a bunch tho, they are faster cooking That way, for things like breakfast.
 
#3 ·
Do you have somewhere with a concrete floor, put 2- 1" boards on the foor to make an air gap and put boxes on top of them. Cardboard boxes are fine. Put several layers of newspapers on top to keep light out. Make sure and let the potatoes dry good before boxing them but not in direct sunlight. They keep ok....James
 
#4 ·
Shread some of them and dehydrate for Hashbrowns....I just today, put 50 lbs, in a gallon size package. They are really great to have on hand If you have a food processor, it will speed up the process Hope this helps and I wish I was close enough to help you dig! lol
 
#8 ·
I put mine under a big shade tree in a wire trailer and sprinkle pickling lime on them, last year they kept until spring planting time, just be sure to go look at them every couple of days and pick out any that are starting to rot. This year we didn't have enough to keep any, after I canned we were all out, just not a good year in my garden.
 
#9 ·
Find a well-drained area in your garden. Dig a pit at least 3 feet deep, piling the dirt around it. Line it with 6" of dry straw. Dump the potatoes in, after making certain that they are dry. Cover potatoes with more straw and a tarp or plastic to keep rain out. Retrieve enough potatoes for a meal or two merely by reaching down through the straw. This also can be done with sweet potatoes in the South where cellars aren't common. Technical term is "clamp".

Martin
 
#15 ·
leave yours in the ground.
Excellent advice for the OP's which are still in the ground. "One in the ground, two in the cellar." That's what I grew up with and it's so true. One more day left in the garden meant two more days in storage. I'm running into that right now. My early ones have been feeding us for exactly a month. Today I noticed that the additional 15+ hills of All-Red/Cranberry Red are fading fast in the main garden. Same number of Red Norlands also changing color from bright green to yellow. Not a single desire to dig a single hill of either, plus 4 other varieties, until around the first week in October. Only when they are dug and cured will their dormancy clock begin ticking.

Martin
 
#16 ·
You can also freeze hash browns. Just blanch them and put thom in big freezer or zip lock bags. I flatten them out when I freeze them so that they are skillet sized. No need to thaw out, just drop the pre-shaped frozen mass in the pan.
 
#19 ·
Long ago i had neighbors with a house built on a steep slope, front was just off the ground and rear was about 5 ft. the area under the rear of the house was where they stored potatoes, they had a cellar as well, but used it for other things.
 
#20 ·
Yeah, what's the lime do?
If you dehydrate some for hasbrowns, do you have to blanch them first? Won't they turn dark in the dehydrator? I'm wondering how I'm going to store mine too. The shed isn't heated so they'll freeze out there and the cabin's too small and warm. I don't have access to straw but there's lots of wood chips and sawdust to be had. I'm wondering if I can bury them in that, or would there be too much moisture in the sawdust? I'll have to figure this out pretty soon!
I've got reds in the 16' skiff to the left, Yukons in raised beds next to the cabin and russets & blues behind the water-catch shed. It's so far been the best growing season we've had in years!




 
#21 ·
Sawdust is perfectly OK for storing any root vegetables or potatoes. However, one can't use the clamp system in Alaska. That method has always been just for the southern half of the country where frost doesn't go very deep. Although sawdust does not easily conduct heat or cold, not certain how thick it would have to be for your coldest temperature.

Martin
 
#22 ·
The last couple years I froze some for roasting or frying. Worked Great & they don't turn brown either.

Cut up in bite size peices, put in a bowl with what ever herbs like rosemary, Thyme, parsley, etc. on them that you like. Toss in enough Olive oil & stir to make sure the potatoes are all coated in the olive oil. Put enough in freezer bags for a meal.

Roast in the oven at 400 degree's for about 35 minutes(depending on the size of your peices) on a cookie sheet.
Can also fry them in a pan or deep fry them, put them in a tin foil pouch on the grill even.
 
#25 ·
We made an insulated room in our cellar as a root cellar. We kept potatoes very well down there along with winter squash and our canned goods. The room never froze and to build it was a weekend job. Unfornutately we no longer are able to do the stairs so we can't store as much. We do have a small room unused now that is unheated and we keep some items there. Instead of buying 50-100 lbs of potatoes we keep 25 lb bags in there. We did find that buying the best potatoes seemed to keep longer.

Hope you find a plan to help you.

RenieB
 
#26 ·
The use of lime is a Southern thing due to certain molds that exist there, especially in regards to early potatoes. Temperatures would not be able to be maintained cool enough otherwise. Especially when ideal storage temperature is 36ºF.

Martin
 
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