I am looking for some ideas for storing larger amounts of potatoes perhaps 2-3 hundred #'s, long term, from folks that do it all time. I live in central Indiana. jack

-- Jack Childers (injack1@aol.com), December 28, 2001

Answers

Jack,I havent been doing it a long time, but you could try this method that I read about. dig a pit in reasonalbly well drained soil. make a nest of straw, and put potatoes on it. cover with more straw. Straw 6 inches or a foot deep. Cover with soil, enough to prevent freezing for your climate, in pointed mound so water runs off. A small peice of plastic might help to keep additional moisture off. Dry, and not freezing is where you want your spuds, as far as I know. Good luck.

-- roberto pokachinni (pokachinni@yahoo.com), December 28, 2001.

Jack, what I did was in the local paper I got two 21 cubic ft. freezers that didn't work for hauling them away. I dug them into the ground. I can put 550 lbs of potatoes in them no problem. Been doing it for years. I put them in October and have potatoes until June. One thing don't just dump them in, put them in crates and allow air flow around them. Good luck

-- H Miller Central Pa (hwmil@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

H Miller beat me to it...I moved in with hubby on the farm here and ran across a buried fridge in the garden and wondered "what the ...". That's just what his aunt did who's farm we live on.

-- Susan (smtroxel@socket.net), December 28, 2001.