[AT] digging potatoes

[charlie hill]

I've heard of folks having potato houses and certainly the commercial 
growers have
them but we never did.  I do seem to remember daddy having some potatoes in 
the
smoke house on occasion but mainly I remember granddaddy burying them.  He 
did the
same thing with sweet potatoes.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: jtchall at nc.rr.com
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 10:03 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] digging potatoes

Interesting! I always assumed everyone else had a potato house like us. It's
an enclosed room built on the back of the smokehouse, probably about 8 x 12
with a wood floor. There is an aisle down the center with 2 sets of shelves
on each side. Counting the floor you could put in 6 rows of potatoes, don't
know how many bushels it would hold, but it would be way more than any one
family would eat. I think it was built in the 50's. When freezing weather
arrived we would move the potatoes to dad's basement.

John


-----Original Message----- 
From: charlie hill
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 8:44 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] digging potatoes

John,  when I was a kid my grandfather would bury his potatoes, sometimes
under a hay stack
but sometimes just in a bank of dirt.  He'd dig a hole, layer the bottom
with hay or straw, lay on a
layer of potatoes then another layer of hay, then potatoes and hay for 2 or
3 layers at least.
Then, with hay on top, he'd cover the whole mound under 6 or 8 inches or so
of dirt.
When he needed potatoes he'd just "scratch them out".

The main thing is to keep them cool and dry and dark.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: jtchall at nc.rr.com
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 8:29 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] digging potatoes

David and Charlie, the straw is a new idea to me. If it ever quits or at
least slows up raining, we'll try to get them up.
John


-----Original Message----- 
From: David Bruce
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 3:03 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] digging potatoes

My experience related to a 1/4 acre of spuds - if a much larger spot
this might not be possible but I raise the idea in the hopes of
generating ideas.

I can say that once the spuds are cured the skins are a lot tougher.  In
those times we would place the cured spuds in a room in the tobacco
packhouse that was lined with straw, potatoes poured on the straw then
covered with more straw.  Later old quilts were used to cover the pile
and all light was blocked.  For us (in NW NC) the program worked and I
remember tossing potatoes from the last season in prep for the new spuds
that were way better than what you see every day in the supermarket.
Maybe not viable on a larger scale but maybe something to spur thoughts.

David
NW NC


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