I'm a Kraut. I like potatoes. We have potatoes in some form or another 5 days a week as a rule.

If I buy a 5 pound bag of potatoes at the store, we may actually wind up with 3 pounds of usable potato. The rest is sprouts, scars, bruises, and actual rot if they aren't used within a week, 10 days at the outside.

I know that some of it is the fact that the fucking tree huggers have banned any insecticide/fungicide/herbicide that actually works. I suspect some of it is that the prime stock goes to the industry for chips, fries and whatever.

Some years back I gave up growing potatoes because I could buy them cheaper than I could grow them and the goddamn Colorado Potato Bugs were driving me batshit. Now it's a toss-up: The aggravation of growing my own or the aggravation of throwing away half of what I buy.

Yeah...I always debate about growing them every year, because they are so cheap to buy it hardly seems worth it. But then I get to eat them, and I remember why I do, lol.

My potato problem is that I can't buy the type I want separately .I just want five or six Yukon Gold , not a 5 pound bag. You can get the little ones in a gourmet bag but it costs the same as a bag of the regular size ones.

I did just buy a bag of Russets .The wife and I will never finish it before it goes bad but it was on sale for $3.00

Any thing I try to grow with a tuber the voles eat. Garlic, onions, potatoes,etc.

I feel your pain!

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Originally posted by 92fstech:
Yeah...I always debate about growing them every year, because they are so cheap to buy it hardly seems worth it. But then I get to eat them, and I remember why I do, lol.

True. New Potatoes are a treat by themselves, and new potatoes with fresh Sugar Snap peas are nearly Nirvana. For the last 4-5 years I've planted a short row of Russets just for the new potatoes.

Some years back, a Person Who Shall Remain Nameless gave me a jug of stuff that's the only thing I've ever found that actually works on potato bugs. "You're supposed to have a license to use this, and you didn't get it from me." No idea what it is and I'm darn near out of it.

quote:

Originally posted by 9x18:
My potato problem is that I can't buy the type I want separately .I just want five or six Yukon Gold , not a 5 pound bag. You can get the little ones in a gourmet bag but it costs the same as a bag of the regular size ones.

I did just buy a bag of Russets .The wife and I will never finish it before it goes bad but it was on sale for $3.00

Any thing I try to grow with a tuber the voles eat. Garlic, onions, potatoes,etc.

I feel your pain!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...Yukon Gold. Best boiling potato on the planet. Peel 'em, boil 'em, slather on some real butter and a touch of salt and pepper and eat until you founder.

Boiled, skin on (mostly), couple cloves of garlic, then mashed with some butter and milk. Good eats.

I dunno either, I have a bag out in my cold 41 degree garage and they still go bad way too soon.

I just bought 5 pounds of seed potatoes. I can't plant them until probably the last week of March.

They're fun to grow as well as tasty.

PHPaul, I have managed to keep potatoes for a decent time sonce I bought a covered, vented container. They can still go bad, but it seems in this they last a lot longer than previously. It’s a Tupperware potato storage container. I have been happy with it. Think they make bigger ones, this one holds at least 5 lbs I think.

quote:

Originally posted by 9x18:
Boiled, skin on (mostly), couple cloves of garlic, then mashed with some butter and milk. Good eats.

We like to add a healthy glug of white vinegar to the water. I think its an English thing

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...Yukon Gold. Best boiling potato on the planet. Peel 'em, boil 'em, slather on some real butter and a touch of salt and pepper and eat until you founder.

For another taste treat if you like horseradish mix a spoon full in addition to the butter.

quote:

Originally posted by m1009:
PHPaul, I have managed to keep potatoes for a decent time sonce I bought a covered, vented container. They can still go bad, but it seems in this they last a lot longer than previously. It’s a Tupperware potato storage container. I have been happy with it. Think they make bigger ones, this one holds at least 5 lbs I think.

I'll have to look into that, thanks!

I remember when I was a child - six decades plus ago - we'd buy a bag of potatoes, and they'd be dead in under a week unless we cooked and ate them all early. New containers, and the refigerator help, but fresh is just short term.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul

I'll have to look into that, thanks!

You’re welcome! I got mine thru a co worker who was selling them, but Amazon has them too I just found out.

quote:

Some years back, a Person Who Shall Remain Nameless gave me a jug of stuff that's the only thing I've ever found that actually works on potato bugs. "You're supposed to have a license to use this, and you didn't get it from me." No idea what it is and I'm darn near out of it.

I use child labor. I pay them a penny a bug. Learned that trick from my dad...he did the same thing with my brothers and me growing up. They bring me a jar-full, they get paid, then they get to smash them. Keeps them from fighting with each other for a good while, too .

I gave up on the potatoes in a bag a long time ago for the same reason as the OP. A lot of wastage.

I now buy potatoes by the pound and pick each one individually. I get 6 at a time and now I don't have any wastage.

quote:

Originally posted by m1009:

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul

I'll have to look into that, thanks!

You’re welcome! I got mine thru a co worker who was selling them, but Amazon has them too I just found out.

That doesn't look significantly different than the way we're storing them now. I suspect part of the problem is we're leaving them in the original bags, either plastic or paper. The bags are ventilated in various ways, but perhaps putting them in the bin loose is the answer.

We grow about 30 pounds of reds every year that do very well in our sandy soil. Down the road is a guy who grows hundreds of acres of potatoes. He's given me a number of bags in the past. We don't eat many potatoes any more. Doing the Keto thing.

PH don’t know if you have a Sams Club near you but we have found the veggies bought there tend to last quite a bit longer than those bought at our local Kroger. We usually buy Yukon Golds in a large bag (8#?)and store them outside in the garage this time of year.

I've noticed the potatoes we get from the store tend to go bad fairly quickly - but the potatoes I get from Dad seem to store better. He swears it's because he leaves a bit of the soil on them and based on my observations so far, I think he's right.

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Peel 'em

Blasphemy you say! The skin is the best part, where a majority of nutrients are found.

I grow about 70lbs or so of redskins every year. I just leave them in the ground and dig up as needed until the first frost. I have found that taking store bought spuds out of the bag and storing in a cool, dry place works the best. I keep mine in a big, flat whicker basket lookin thing that resembles a sombrero. It resides in my front hall closet right by the front door. Nice and cool.