potatoes ?
 

astonishingly a hefty crop in the new raised bed. But what now? Do I have
to lift them and store (in my old fridge, only proper dark place I have), or
can I leave them in the ground? If so, do I take the green stuff away or
just leave it?

tia

Do you know what variety they are?

Spuds ready at this yime of year will keep in the ground. It the tops
remain, they will continue to grow. That is why commercially the tops
are sprayed to brown them off, so the tubers remain the size the
supermarket wants - also stops them getting blight infestation later.

They are unilkely to keep over winter if that is your intention, as it
is early for late season spuds.

Cliff
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Oxymel of Squill wrote:
astonishingly a hefty crop in the new raised bed. But what now?
Do
I have to lift them and store (in my old fridge, only proper dark
place I have), or can I leave them in the ground? If so, do I take
the green stuff away or just leave it?

If they're suitable for keeping -- which is unlikely, this early in
the season -- make sure the old fridge has plenty of ventilation, or
they'll go off. That means it won't be dark, so I'd actually chuck
out the old fridge and use a few cardboard boxes inside one another.

--
Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
Oxymel of Squill wrote:
astonishingly a hefty crop in the new raised bed. But what now?
Do
I have to lift them and store (in my old fridge, only proper dark
place I have), or can I leave them in the ground? If so, do I take
the green stuff away or just leave it?

If they're suitable for keeping -- which is unlikely, this early in
the season -- make sure the old fridge has plenty of ventilation, or
they'll go off. That means it won't be dark, so I'd actually chuck
out the old fridge and use a few cardboard boxes inside one another.

--
Mike.



The old method of keeping 'tatoes was a potato clamp. You pile the potatoes
into a heap, or several heaps is better, resting on straw, then you wrap the
rest up in straw as you pile earth on top. Leave a straw filled ventilation
hole in the
top, and gently compact the earth around the potatoes so it is stable.
Voila, a
potato clamp. They allegedly keep for months stored this way, but it is wise
to
break the clamp(s) open every so often to check if any have gone rotten.

I suspect you'd have to have an awful lot of 'tatoes to need potato clamps.

Andy.

In article ws.net,
"Oxymel of Squill" wrote:

astonishingly a hefty crop in the new raised bed. But what now? Do I have
to lift them and store (in my old fridge, only proper dark place I have), or
can I leave them in the ground? If so, do I take the green stuff away or
just leave it?

tia

In my experience, the longer they stay in the ground the more slug
damage results. If this is a crop of earlies, I'd use them as needed
from the ground for a month or so, but immediately cut all foliage off
as soon as you see any signs of blight. Once this happens you may as
well lift them all and keep in a paper sack in a dark cool place.

John