to get the most out of your home-grown potato harvest taking the steps towards proper curing
and storage are key depending on the variety some potatoes can be stored for up to six to seven
months which is really nice to have fresh potatoes in the middle of winter now the first step towards
storage success is to choose a variety that's well known for its storage ability and this is going
to include varieties like german butterball yukon gold red pontiac and russet burbank just to name a
few now to get maximum yields from your potato harvest wait until the foliage is dying back
prior to harvesting this will give your potatoes the longest amount of time to grow to their full
size in the ground ideally you want to harvest in dry conditions you want to avoid watering about
one to two weeks prior to harvest rainfall obviously can't be avoided but if you see rain in
the forecast and you're getting close to harvest time i'd recommend just going ahead and digging
the spuds if you can if not just give it a couple days and let the ground dry out before you dig
harvest the spuds carefully trying really hard not to nick or pierce them with your spade or
your pitchfork or whatever you're using to dig them now i'm totally guilty of this every single
time that i dig potatoes i slice one in half or jab one with the tine of my fork or multiple ones
for that matter and that's okay you'll just want to be sure to set those spuds aside and use them
first after harvesting you'll want to brush off any excess dirt from the potatoes but do not rinse
the key here is to avoid any excess moisture now i don't have the absolute ideal conditions to cure
my potatoes but this is what i do and it seems to work pretty well for me now to start the curing
process i lay all my potatoes out in a single layer i prefer to use old window screens and i
just prop these up on saw horses oral crates and this helps to provide maximum air circulation and
keep the potatoes up off the ground now you want to cure your potatoes in a cool protected space
out of direct sunlight and the point of the curing process is that you're going to allow the skins to
dry out and any small nicks or cuts or punctures in the surface to heal over this part is key
if you are storing your potatoes this whole process typically takes about 7 to 14 days and
the ideal climate is right around 60 to 65 degrees fahrenheit with the humidity at about the 85 to 95
range now this is not realistic for me nor is it for many of you in a home setting so i'm just
doing this in my big pole barn the humidity varies all over the place the temperature varies all over
the place but it seems to get the job done well enough that these potatoes store a nice long time
for me now after the potatoes are thoroughly cured i'm going to move them into long-term storage
potatoes are best stored as close to 45 degrees fahrenheit as possible so in a home setting you're
probably looking at like an unheated garage a basement a root cellar if you're lucky enough to
have one i store mine in my basement i'm guessing it stays closer to 65 down here than 45 but it's
the best spot that i have for them the other thing is again humidity the higher the better commercial
potato producers typically store their crops at levels as high as 95 i don't know about you but
there is nowhere in my home that is 95 humidity nor would i want it to be but you definitely want
to err on the side of more humid than less in really dry conditions for example in the
refrigerator where it's very very dry the potatoes would tend to shrivel up and get kind of nasty
the other key is that you want it to be dark any sunlight exposure is going to be detrimental to
your stored potatoes and that is because sunlight will prompt the production of chlorophyll which
is also often accompanied by a toxic alkaloid called solanine and that's why you've probably
heard the advice not to eat green potatoes now a little bit of greening on the skin can be cut away
it doesn't cause a big issue but to be safe just avoid all sunlight exposure on your
stored potatoes now as far as what you store your potatoes in your imagination is the limit
but what you want to aim for is something that again provides some air circulation
allows some humidity in and allows your potatoes to breathe my go-to is these black
crates because they have plenty of holes for air circulation and they're just really convenient
but you can also use baskets or paper bags or plastic bags as long as they have holes punched
in them now a note on the plastic bags if you are having a hard time keeping your potatoes
from drying out the plastic bags will help hold a little humidity in around the potatoes so that's
a good option if your house is really really dry and a final word on storage conditions you
may think well since potatoes have to be kept cool i'll just stick them in the refrigerator
this is generally advised against not only because as i mentioned earlier the refrigerator tends to
be very low humidity the potatoes dry up get shrivelly but also because when stored at
temperatures lower than 45 degrees the starches in the potatoes start to convert to sugars
so you have a process called sweetening that happens sometimes that's reversible but when
potatoes are held in very cold storage for an extended amount of time it can really mess with
the eating quality and it will cause the potatoes to turn very dark when cooked and you'll want to
check your potatoes in storage periodically you just want to get in there and look for signs of
any decay or rot and get rid of those bad spuds right away so that you don't end up with a gross
rotten mess and if you have any advice you can share about storing potatoes at home be sure to
drop a line in the comments below and let me know thanks for watching and i'll see you next time