Tammy's Recipes

Hmn, I've had my share of potato poisoning so I am very leery of potatoes - if they're soft at all or look funny I toss them.
You're a brave soul to keep them around that long. My mom used to freeze them but they just came out black and squishy - I don't know what she did with them after that.
http://blog.mommywizdom.com

I have heard the same thing about potatoes and onions but I don't know why either. I store my potatoes in paper bags in the back of a closet. Of course I never have that many!
Toni
http://thehappyhousewife.com

I believe onions or maybe it's potatoes...At any rate one of them or both produce some sort of gases that causes the other to spoil faster.

I enjoy reading your blog.
take care!
Beth
jasonbethandfamily.blogspot.com

Can you store them in a fridge drawer?

Thank you for hosting Kitchen Tip Tuesdays. We have grown potatoes for the first time this year, but I haven't thought about how to store them. Thanks for the info!

We store potatoes in a shallow boxes under our bed. We keep our bedroom cool (50 F or so) during the winter so they keep pretty well under there. The potatoes in the store are kept in huge warehouses where the temperature is somewhere around that. If potatoes are kept in the refrigerator the starches will turn to sugar. This can be remedied by leaving them sit out a day or so after removal from the refrigerator as the sugar will revert back to starch. No, the flavor is not as good as freshly dug potatoes but usually better than store bought. Our neighbors keep their potatoes stored in wood crates in their root cellar. We can't grow onions well here (too much daylight) so I have no advice about storing them together. We try to dry as many as we do grow even though they are small (golf ball size) but we normally just stick with leeks are they love our Alaska summers!

Hope this helps!

Peggy

From what I understand, potatoes don't do well stored in the fridge. Supposedly, the starch in the potato will turn into sugar at that low a temperature and make your potatoes sweet. I would assume they are still edible, just not very good.:)

My Grandma used to grown potatoes on half of her property. That was a lot of potatoes! She had a large, wooden bin in the basement for storage. Her basement was more of a hole in the ground, no concrete walls or floors, so it was kind of an "earthy" atmosphere. The potatoes would last until spring.:)

Joyce

Actually, both potatoes and onions produce gases that spoil each other. Just like bananas. And no, don't store them in the fridge, just like was mentioned earlier, it changes the starch to sugar and makes them mealy. Same thing with tomatoes (though I know people who store them in the fridge, to me they taste much better when kept out on the counter, if at all possible!).

Kimmie

Thanks for the tips Tammy! We keep ours on the basement steps in the bag they come. I'll have to try and put them in the storage closet. It's pretty dark in there.

I'm very new to gardening, I'm still learning!

I just want to say thanks for doing Kitchen Tip Tuesdays, I have participated yet but have learned so much from you and everyone else!

Per the farmer who runs my csa, some dirt should be left on stored potatoes. Not a lot, a dusty layer over the skin.

Stuff
proactivebridemaid.wordpress.com

My grandparents used to store 2-3 hundred pounds of potatoes all winter for their large family. They spread them out in single layers in large crates. They would pile them up separating each layer with newspaper. My grandpa said his brother used sawdust for the same effect. Anyway, they kept them all in their cellar/basement and were VERY careful about not storing other things near them like onions, leeks, etc. There are some excellent books out there on root cellaring that would give better tips on how to store veggies all winter long. You don't have to have a root cellar to store them...a cool closet or mudroom can be used in the same way for certain items.
www.henzegirls.blogspot.com

Our small bag of potatoes from the grocery store always seems to sprout before we finish them...it is great that your parents are able to keep them fresh for a whole winter! Good tips Tammy.

I also wanted to add that after having homegrown veggies like potatoes or green peppers, the ones from the store feel wilty. The potatoes from my parents' garden are very hard and crisp. I think the homegrown potatoes probably keep longer than ones from the store because they are fresher!! :)