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Potato storage


Cassis
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How do you store your potatoes here?  I can't find paper or hessian sacks anywhere, not even the agric shop, so what's the preferred method in France?  I've got plenty of cool dark space in the cave but not sure whether just to stack them in caissons if I can't find any sacks. [8-)]

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[quote user="Cassis"]How do you store your potatoes here?  I can't find paper or hessian sacks anywhere, not even the agric shop, so what's the preferred method in France?  I've got plenty of cool dark space in the cave but not sure whether just to stack them in caissons if I can't find any sacks. [8-)]
[/quote]

 

My father stores them in his 'sous-sol' where it is very cold in winter and cool in summer. He has made a big box out of thickish planks about 2ft deep, 4ft wide, 2 ft tall, it is off the floor on some bricks (about 6 or so inches)  Quite a big box really but then he had 4 kids to feed! The box is on the north side of the 'sous sol' possibly to make sure it is in the coldest place possible (some kind of old garderner's tale according to him).His crop goes in there and every layer or so, he sprinkles over them some kind of grey powder which will inhibit the growth of the 'eyes' of the potatoes.... So when consuming extra wash the spuds to make sure no residue of powder is going to be ingested....Don't know the name of it but could find out for you. I think he gets it from 'Bricomachin watsit' or som'it like that. And over that box, as a lid, is a big sheet of potato sack but you could cover it with newspaper just the same. It seem to work OK as his crop does see the family through until at least march/april of the next year...

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[quote user="Cassis"]What exactly do you do with the newspapers, Pads?
[/quote]

Ohhhh im so tempted to say....................[6]

But no...............

I wrap them up in it, put them in a big cardboard box and leave them in my cool dark pantry, how do you do yours normally?

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Thank you Pads and MYB. 

We had industrial quantities of spuds last year and they started to sprout by Jan or Feb - ended up dumping about half of them, they sprouted so much.  So I've cut back by about 30% the amount planted this year to about 15 metres in 3 rows. 

I don't fancy wrapping each one with tender loving care - you have the prize for the most comfy potatoes Pads - so I'll try the big box method, which sounds not dissimilar to the crates covered in a black plastic sheet method I used last year.  Maybe the problem last year was we just kept them in the big barn - I'm hoping the consistent, cool conditions in the cave (actually a second, smaller barn whose back wall is sunk underground) will keep them better.

MYB, if you can find out what the magic dust is and where to look for it I would be very grateful.

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[quote user="Christine Animal"]

Here's something about it Cassis, a bit long and complicated :

Bilan de l’étude de l’hétérogénèité de l’application des traitements anti-germinatifs au chlorprophame (CIPC) sur pommes de terre

[/quote]

Thanks, Christine - just read that study.  So I know what the stuff is now.  I'm not going to Belgium for it, though!  Sounds like it's just for commercial producers, maybe?

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>>>Thank you Pads and MYB....We had industrial quantities of spuds last year and they started to sprout by Jan or Feb - ended up dumping about half of them, they sprouted so much...... so I'll try the big box method, which sounds not dissimilar to the crates covered in a black plastic sheet method I used last year<<<......

The plastic is the cause of the early sprouting!... (my opinion!).... Under the plastic the air did not circulate and created like a mini-'green house' for the sprouting to take place, so try with a hessian sack instead which will allow the cold air to circulate through the rough weave and slow down any envy these sprouts will have to say hello to the world!

>>>MYB, if you can find out what the magic dust is and where to look for it I would be very grateful.<<<

I'll give my old man a ring when he is back from his hols! What a life! Retired and still goes on his annual holiday!....
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Cassis

Our neighbour told us to go to the local Intermarche and pick up a few of the used wooden fruit and veg cases they leave by the checkouts for you to stick your shopping in - so that's what weare using. He says he always uses them. Then he starts to tell me that to pack the potatoes, you pick a spot on the north wall of the cave, wait until the moon is at the right point in the sky, sprinkle over some magic powder etc etc......

Warren

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My book recommends either storing in an old deep freeze, with straw between each layers, or clamping, which works well for large quantities of potatoes, but won't keep out a very hard frost.

I wish I'd grown some this year, every time i buy a bag in the supermarket they have gone soft and start sprouting in less than a week, and this is when stored in a closed cardboard box. [:@]

I really need to find somewhere that sells those huge sacks of potatoes, with the muck still on, in the UK they would keep for months!

Louise

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Hi Louweezel

I'll have a look for an old freezer or fridge next time the bennes de monstres are announced.  Sounds like a good idea.

I thought about the clamp option for about 10 seconds - but I really don't fancy digging up potatoes in the depths of winter!

Phil

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I too find the same with shop-bought potatoes in France; they sprout very quickly.  In England, tecnazene is commonly used on commercial crops to prevent sprouting.  I can only assume that French spuds don't have the same treatment, which is probably a good thing.....

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  • 5 months later...
[quote user="Meg and Mog"]

I really need to find somewhere that sells those huge sacks of potatoes, with the muck still on, in the UK they would keep for months!

Louise

[/quote]

I also would like to find sacks of potatoes (and other veg) being sold directly by the growers ( farm gate sales). We always bought our veg in bulk that way when living in Wales. Do such sales exist in France, particularly in Normandy, after all its a similar rural environment ?

We also bought our meat in bulk ( Dewi James, Cardigan), Is 'freezer meat' bulk buying an available method in France?

Sorry, thats not a Potato subject ( but allied, its food related after all !!!!!!!)

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