Comments on: potatoes for dinner, but not for storage (yet) http://awaytogarden.com/potatoes-for-dinner-but-not-for-storage-yet Organic gardening inspiration from Margaret Roach Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:28:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Margaret http://awaytogarden.com/potatoes-for-dinner-but-not-for-storage-yet/comment-page-1#comment-42123 Margaret Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:48:59 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=6121#comment-42123 Welcome, Stacey -- and yes, y mud room does the trick, too! Mine are on the closet shelf beneath the big box of candles, next to the vacuum cleaner, tee hee. Some varieties are good "keepers," some aren't, so even the best spot won't work for certain varieties as well as others. Nice to meet you; see you soon. Welcome, Stacey — and yes, y mud room does the trick, too! Mine are on the closet shelf beneath the big box of candles, next to the vacuum cleaner, tee hee. Some varieties are good “keepers,” some aren’t, so even the best spot won’t work for certain varieties as well as others. Nice to meet you; see you soon.

]]> By: Stacey http://awaytogarden.com/potatoes-for-dinner-but-not-for-storage-yet/comment-page-1#comment-42118 Stacey Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:17:42 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=6121#comment-42118 My husband will be really interested to read the finer points of potato storage....we never knew we should cure them first! We live even farther upstate than you, Margaret, and a couple years ago had a mud/laundry room built our of 1/3 of our garage. Unlike our garage, we insulated the laundry room, but saw no reason to heat it with anything other than a manual baseboard heating unit. The idea of the room was to have a place to leave the mud before coming into the house proper, and to have (relatively) clean place to do the laundry. (I also got a potting sink and seed-starting area out of it, just dumb luck, though.) So in winter it stays about 40 degrees---perfect for storing potatoes! For the past two years we have been storing them in one drawer of a long sideboard we put in the mudroom. Top drawer: mittens and hats; next drawer, old towels and dog accessories/products; side cabinet, dog and cat food, side cabinet, martini fixins', THIRD DRAWER: POTATO STORAGE!! I layer them on old egg boxes to ensure good air circulation, and this system works like a charm! Maybe a few of your other readers could use our system to store their very own potatoes over winter. My husband will be really interested to read the finer points of potato storage….we never knew we should cure them first!
We live even farther upstate than you, Margaret, and a couple years ago had a mud/laundry room built our of 1/3 of our garage. Unlike our garage, we insulated the laundry room, but saw no reason to heat it with anything other than a manual baseboard heating unit. The idea of the room was to have a place to leave the mud before coming into the house proper, and to have (relatively) clean place to do the laundry. (I also got a potting sink and seed-starting area out of it, just dumb luck, though.)
So in winter it stays about 40 degrees—perfect for storing potatoes! For the past two years we have been storing them in one drawer of a long sideboard we put in the mudroom. Top drawer: mittens and hats; next drawer, old towels and dog accessories/products; side cabinet, dog and cat food, side cabinet, martini fixins’, THIRD DRAWER: POTATO STORAGE!! I layer them on old egg boxes to ensure good air circulation, and this system works like a charm! Maybe a few of your other readers could use our system to store their very own potatoes over winter.

]]> By: Margaret http://awaytogarden.com/potatoes-for-dinner-but-not-for-storage-yet/comment-page-1#comment-13915 Margaret Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:39:44 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=6121#comment-13915 Welcome, Jan. So many factors can cause blackening inside potatoes, and though you say they got to 23 degrees the ideal temperature for storage of potatoes is more like 45. Have a look at all the causes of darkening inside tubers on <a href="http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Potato_Detection.htm" rel="nofollow">this Cornell potato diagnostic site</a> (it's a little clumsy as the photos are not clickable right now, but if you see the one that looks like your situation you have to scan through text to find that image number and get the cause). But if your potatoes really got to 23 F, hurry and dispose of them before they degrade into a smelly pile of mush, which they will. Sorry not to have good news, but maybe it will prevent future mishaps. Welcome, Jan. So many factors can cause blackening inside potatoes, and though you say they got to 23 degrees the ideal temperature for storage of potatoes is more like 45. Have a look at all the causes of darkening inside tubers on this Cornell potato diagnostic site (it’s a little clumsy as the photos are not clickable right now, but if you see the one that looks like your situation you have to scan through text to find that image number and get the cause).

But if your potatoes really got to 23 F, hurry and dispose of them before they degrade into a smelly pile of mush, which they will. Sorry not to have good news, but maybe it will prevent future mishaps.

]]>