My first potatos with Pics...How to store?

[DDRanch]

I am so excited....my first potato crop with red and blue potatos. I mean, I am really excited........never have I even attempted to grow them before. This is a picture of some of them....I dug up probably 10 times as many as shown.

Now I don't know what to do with them. I plan on making and canning a couple of soup receipes....but how should I handle the rest of them?

Should I wash them or leave them with dirt?
How long will they keep?
I do not have a cellar. I do have a refrig in the garage.

Thank you for your help. Aren't they beautiful?

Anne

 

[The Mustard Seed Gardener]

Hi! They are nice looking potatoes! YUM! :rainbow-sun

We do not harvest all our potatoes at once. We dig a plant and use them, then dig another. The ground is a good storage place. Sometimes we dig a bunch and we store them in our extra frig, or if it's cold , we put them in the garage,. I wish we had a basement/cellar...the perfect spot!
We take the real small potatoes and keep them over the winter to get eyes and then we plant them for the next spring. You also can save larger ones and do the same thing; just cut them up with a few eyes to each piece and plant!
We plant yukon golds and red. :tools

Good luck with your spuds! Chris

I'd post mine, but I still can't get my uploaded photos to come on the screen with my message! Oh Well, Have a great day!

 

[DDRanch]

HI Chris,
Thank you for your response. I have already dug them all up....but I love that idea for next year. I will definitely save some and take the eyes for next year.

Should I wash them before storage in the fridge? Should I put them in paper bags? And then in the fridge.....??

I am such a potato newby.

Anne

 

[silkiechicken]

I dug up almost 50 lbs at one time because my accidental pumpkin was taking over and if I didn't get to them, the voles and pests would eat all the potatos, add some rain and they'd all rot.

I took them all out. Let them sit on the ground overnight (only if it doesn't rain), and dusted them off the following evening. I then placed them in a flat layer on cardboard in the coldest part of the house and that is that. Don't wash till you use as you'd risk damaging them. Just go in and check for soft spots and toss any that start to rot. Ours will last only about 2-3 months tops so they store for at least that long with this method.

 

[DDRanch]

Thank you. I will store as you suggest. Pretty exciting at my house tonight. I made some potato soup this evening and oh my goodness was it fabulous. I can now confidently place, "potato farmer" on my resume.

Anne

 

[Beekissed]

You can also get pretty good results with storing in the ground if you dig a hole about 1-2 ft. deep, line it with straw, cover with straw and cardboard, then place a bale of straw on top. This will keep them from freezing and they have a very fresh flavor when kept this way. Just pull aside the bale, reach in and lift cardboard and remove what you need. My folks have been doing this for years and keep their "potato bunker" ready for each new crop. These will keep pretty much all winter this way. For seed potatoes, they just bring a bunch of them into the house and keep them somewhere warm and dry.

 

[Rosalind]

I don't wash mine but layer them in a basket or crate or something for a couple of days, then put newspaper, old rags, or straw on top in a thick layer so they don't get light, and keep 'em in the coldest part of the house--which is the basement in our house. Similar to what silkiechicken describes. Mine lasted about, uh...Well, I dug 'em in October and still had potatoes for Easter. Although the Easter ones were a little sprouty and wrinkly they still made good mash.

Important note: However entertaining you and your immediate family might find purple mashed taters to be, remember that your extended family is more likely to give you some very odd looks and refuse to eat so much as a spoonful.

 

[DDRanch]

Great ideas. Thank you so much.
Anne

 

[Carrol]

Those are just beautiful! I hope my crop next year does as well as yours did for you this year. How do the blue ones taste? They look terrific.

 

[chickaD]

What gorgeous spuds! Isn't it super exciting digging for potatoes (especially bright ones, like reds) - they're like jewels in the dark dirt. And the flavor is so much better than anything from the store.

We store ours in boxes or used feed bags in the basement, trying to keep some as long as possible. Just remember not to keep them directly on the cement floor or near stored apples.

Enjoy!