The shelf life of the common potato.

[Brandane]

Just another observation on modern life.
When I was young, I can recall potatoes being bought by the sackload as we were a family of six. Said sack of potatoes, covered in mud au natural, seemed to last a month or so.
So; why is it that when I go to buy potatoes in my local supermarket they now have a "best before date" of about 4 or 5 days hence? And they come nicely pre-washed in a little polythene bag, costing one of your British pounds for enough potatoes to feed one full grown male for 3 meals if he's not too hungry!

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

S'funny, I've been having the same thoughts myself. Can anyone tell me how I can stop them sprouting within 3-4 days? I keep them in a bin with a lid on, in a cool, dark place but still they sprout.

 

[subaqua]

It's cos they have already been stored for ages in dark in nitrogen then packed and left in daylight . Think along lines of forced rhubarb .

 

[Dave 123]

Mrs Dave works in the potato breeding industry. Her answer-

You are currently eating stored spuds. The quicker you eat them the quicker stores can be turned round.

You're dictated to by the supermarkets. Small bags= convenience. Granny ain't going to hoist 20 kilos on her shoulder.

Diets change. We eats pasta and rice now, not chips with everything (sadly)

 

[alicat]

Personally I ignore best before dates for raw veg and only discard if they have gone soft. Potatoes are fine even if they have sprouted. Just discard the 'sprouts'.

 

[steveindenmark]

I came by a field in November where they had a mountain of potatoes covered totally in straw and then covered with tarps. They stayed there over a month before they loaded them on trucks.

So now you know how to keep spuds.

 

[classic33]

I came by a field in November where they had a mountain of potatoes covered totally in straw and then covered with tarps. They stayed there over a month before they loaded them on trucks.

So now you know how to keep spuds.

Straw's to keep them warm.

 

[gavroche]

Just another observation on modern life.
When I was young, I can recall potatoes being bought by the sackload as we were a family of six. Said sack of potatoes, covered in mud au natural, seemed to last a month or so.
So; why is it that when I go to buy potatoes in my local supermarket they now have a "best before date" of about 4 or 5 days hence? And they come nicely pre-washed in a little polythene bag, costing one of your British pounds for enough potatoes to feed one full grown male for 3 meals if he's not too hungry!

Sorry to spoil your post but somebody is soon going to find it offensive to new potatoes and brand you as an old git. Take care.

 

[NorthernDave]

This might be of interest:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/jul/13/foodanddrink.features18

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Root veg definitely keeps longer in better condition if you keep some mud/Earth on them. Parsnips and carrots especially.

(Allotment person)

 

[Spinney]

This might be of interest:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/jul/13/foodanddrink.features18

I'm feeling a sudden urge to grow my own...

(I won't, of course, I'm too lazy).

 

[growingvegetables]

[QUOTE 4660727, member: 259"]Calling @growingvegetables ![/QUOTE]
Well - that's my bluff called .

Some years since I kept an allotment, but from memory we'd store sacks of potatoes harvested in July/August/September in paper sacks, in a cool dark place for months and months - probably through to the middle/end of February; maybe even into March? Aye, but they would be beginning to shoot by now; used to check 'em regularly, and just rub off any sprouts as they started.

By mid-March? Forget it - they knew they needed to grow, and it was pretty much a waste of time trying to keep them any longer.

But the poor b*****s in supermarkets? They're just confused. Treated to stop sprouting, but ain't no way a potato doesn't know when to start growing again - it's light and warmth; pity that it's on the supermarket shelf

 

[growingvegetables]

I belong to something called the Gleaning Network, which rescues ends of crops that can't be harvested economically and passes the produce on to hostels and community kitchens. Last year we sorted several vast crates of potatoes that would otherwise have gone for compost or animal food. They were the last of the previous year's crop, and getting in the way of new ones. The crates are stored in vast hangars, and only a very few spuds were unusable. We can take some home too, free food

Neat - brilliant idea. Thank you . Signed up ......... aye, but no group yet in West Yorkshire .

Link for anybody else interested - http://feedbackglobal.org/campaigns/gleaning-network/

 

[gbb]

[QUOTE 4660718, member: 259"]Once they're out of the dark and the chill, they start to wake up and sprout, so you wouldn't want to buy massive bags from the supermarket.

We get ours in sacks from the local farmer - with authentic mud - and they cost bugger all. If we get them into the cold cellar, they last a few weeks before sprouting, especially mid winter.

I do grow spuds, but only waxy and early ones nowadays, as I'm not organised enough to do maincrops properly.[/QUOTE]
Likewise. Our local farmer spends every Saturday and Sunday selling his tates from a lay by and has a faithful and ever growing fan base. He probably makes a good deal more than selling them to the potato marketing board (is that the right entity)

Victoria for me, yellowish flesh, buttery taste, mash, chip and roast, some prefer other specific varieties but he's very specific about some things...no nitrogen, properly stored and definitely not irrigated when growing, he gets a smaller yield but much better quality and they store for longer.

There is a point in the year when his have just been stored too long...but it's months after they've been picked I assume....I'm going to ask him next bag I get.

I hate buying potatoes from supermarkets, tasteless rubbish compared to his.

 

[Dave 123]

I belong to something called the Gleaning Network, which rescues ends of crops that can't be harvested economically and passes the produce on to hostels and community kitchens. Last year we sorted several vast crates of potatoes that would otherwise have gone for compost or animal food. They were the last of the previous year's crop, and getting in the way of new ones. The crates are stored in vast hangars, and only a very few spuds were unusable. We can take some home too, free food

Friends of Mrs Daves family had a strawberry nursery in the Tamar valley. Their 'uneconomic to pick' looked like a polytunnel full of strawberries. Out came the rotovator. It's a crazy world.