Britesea
Sustainability Master
Potato scab is caused by a bacterium-like organism, Streptomyces scabies, that overwinters in soil and fallen leaves. The organism can survive indefinitely in slightly alkaline soils, but is relatively scarce in highly acid soils. It is transmitted to plants by infected seed tubers, wind and water.'
Potatoes need to be kept moist and cool - not as cold as a refrigerator or it turns the starch into sugar and your potatoes end up tasting sweet. Of course, you can just bring them into a warmer area for a week or so and the sugar will go back to starch, but who plans ahead that far?
I found I prefer to dehydrate the buggers. Shredded, they make wonderful hash browns when reconstituted as the texture stays a bit firmer and they don't disintegrate like fresh potatoes can. If you cut them into slices to dehydrate, they are very good for scalloped or au gratin, and not too shabby in a stew. I tried dehydrating diced potatoes and that was a bust. No matter how long I cooked them, they still ended up with a little kernel of hardness in the middle.
I love the idea of the trash can, except you might want to rig up some sort of way to pull stuff out easily, like a net or a wire cage, or you will be lying down in the snow or mud trying to reach the ones at the bottom of a 4' deep hole in the ground. Also, it might be a good idea to dig the hole a couple inches wider and deeper than the trash can, and fill in with sand or something to allow water to drain away quickly or it might get inside the can and rot all your goodies!
Potatoes need to be kept moist and cool - not as cold as a refrigerator or it turns the starch into sugar and your potatoes end up tasting sweet. Of course, you can just bring them into a warmer area for a week or so and the sugar will go back to starch, but who plans ahead that far?
I found I prefer to dehydrate the buggers. Shredded, they make wonderful hash browns when reconstituted as the texture stays a bit firmer and they don't disintegrate like fresh potatoes can. If you cut them into slices to dehydrate, they are very good for scalloped or au gratin, and not too shabby in a stew. I tried dehydrating diced potatoes and that was a bust. No matter how long I cooked them, they still ended up with a little kernel of hardness in the middle.
I love the idea of the trash can, except you might want to rig up some sort of way to pull stuff out easily, like a net or a wire cage, or you will be lying down in the snow or mud trying to reach the ones at the bottom of a 4' deep hole in the ground. Also, it might be a good idea to dig the hole a couple inches wider and deeper than the trash can, and fill in with sand or something to allow water to drain away quickly or it might get inside the can and rot all your goodies!
