Topic: Potato Clamp.......

[betula]

Anyone tried storing their potatoes this way.

I was watching Victorian kitchen garden and saw one I had missed before.

They made a bed of straw and completely surrounded the spuds with straw so it made a mound.Next theycovered the whole lot with soil and patted it firm...then they left like a small chimney in the top with a piece of pipe.

so simple but would love to know if anyone still uses this method.

[artichoke]

I asked a question something like this when I noticed that potatoes accidentally left in the ground over the winter were in MUCH better condition in April than the dried out ones in paper sacks in cool dark garage.

I'll be interested in any answers.

[Wilder]

going by my expereince of a few forgotten potatoes which were in the ground over the whole winter (snows, ice, floods what have you), I'm definitely leaving them in the earth this year. About 1 in 10 was rotten which was fine by me! Others were perfect

[betula]

Thee potatoes were not left in the ground,they were harvested and then stored as described above .Sorry I was not clear.

[terrier]

I've seen potato clamps mentioned on various growing fori and everyone who has stored spuds this way seem to get along well with it and the potatoes are in much better condition than if kept in sacks. My only worry would be that a clamp would make a cosy nest for vermin.I wouldn't take kindly to sharing my winter spuds with a family of rats  :o

http://www.self-sufficient.co.uk/Potato-Clamp-Storing-Potatoes.htm

[Tee Gee]

This was common practice when I was a lad!

I recall when we were allowed two weeks off school to go potao picking (howking!)

Once picked the farmer would tip his trailer usually at the farm end of the field or perhaps a field near the farm.

This generaly formed a heap about 4-6 ft high.

The sides of the heap were covered with 'stooks'  (bundles) of straw then some soil was placed on top of the straw.

This eventually formed what might best be described as a d!ke/levy many yards long!
 
In spring the farmer would open up the clamp and throw the potatoes on to a potao grader/seive which was basically a shaking piece of mesh.

The mesh was quite often of two or three sizes the first grid was a small mesh 1½" -2" square that let the small potoes through, these would be used as the following years seed! The next mesh was a bit bigger for 'eating' potatoes and those large ones that flowed off the end were 'bakers'

Simple!  ::)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've always worried about rats myself, so I've never tried. But it's tempting.

[betula]

Hmmmm it seems an excellent idea to me.....wonder why it is not done so much these days.

I only have a small patch these days so do not have the space,anybody prepared to experiment with a small amount and see if it works well?? ;D

Tee gee do you remember any problems with vermin using this method  ??

[Kepouros]

When I first started growing potatoes in the 1940s this was the normal method of storing potatoes, and one I used for several years. At that time I had nearly 2 acres of vegetable garden to look after, and grew a lot of potatoes.   I never remember any trouble with rodents, and I always assumed that rats simply didn`t like digging but preferred ready made holes and more easily available food.  For a satisfactory clamp we considered a full 5 or 6 inch layer of soil on top of the straw to be necessary, and for any decent size of clamp that`s a heck of a lot of shovelling.  It was a great relief to downsize and store much smaller quantities in sacks in the garage.  I`ve no doubt that a clamp would work just as well with small quantities of potatoes, but with the present price of decent straw and the work involved I wouldn`t consider it worth while for less than, say, 5 cwt or so of spuds.

[Tee Gee]

I agree with Kepouros it is not the method I would use for small quantities.

What I described above was the process adopted when storing quantities of potatoes that came out of many ACRES of potatoes not areas the size of an allotment.

I wouldn't even consider it even if I had put the entire allotment over to potatoes.

My father in law (a pig farmer) who grew possibly up to an acre of potatoes would store his potatoes in a spare sty and bury them in two or three foot of straw.

OK there was the odd mouse or rat about but when you consider the amount of potatoes involved the amount eaten / damaged was tolerable.

My method of storage is to visit our local seed merchant and get sufficient multiple-ply paper bags to bag up my harvest.

Then I would store them in my frost free greenhouse or garage.

Another fact you have to consider as Kepouros said; straw can be quite expensive,my paper bags are free!

I think this is one area where modern methods are better than the old ones.

[terrier]

The mesh was quite often of two or three sizes the first grid was a small mesh 1½" -2" square that let the small potoes through, these would be used as the following years seed! The next mesh was a bit bigger for 'eating' potatoes and those large ones that flowed off the end were 'bakers'

Using the previous years crop to re plant would be frowned upon these days. I often wonder how long ago was it that farmers started using specially purchased 'seed' potatoes?

[pigeonseed]

Using the previous years crop to re plant would be frowned upon these days. I often wonder how long ago was it that farmers started using specially purchased 'seed' potatoes?

Is it?  ???
Is that because of disease build-up?

[Kepouros]

To pigeonseed... Yes, or rather to prevent the build up of disease.

To terrier ....... Soon after the end of WW2.  I think it was originally started by the Potato Marketing Board, which was a QUANGO invented especially to make Potato Growers` lives a misery, and had very wide compulsory powers - it could dictate whether a farmer could grow potatoes at all, how many acres he could grow and in which fields, where he could get the seed and the price it would pay him for the produce (all the potatoes had to be marketed through the Board)- and it was all paid for by a compulsory levy on the growers, with no appeal.   It has now gone, and its activities (in a slightly reduced form but still of a compulsory nature) are now carried on by the British Potato Council

[sawfish]

I imagine it may turn into a rat nest! No thanks.

[pigeonseed]

That's interesting, Kepouros.

Do you think it's really necessary for allotment growers to buy new seed potatoes every year? Or is it something which was introduced by this potato marketing board without evidence?

[Tee Gee]

Do you think it's really necessary for allotment growers to buy new seed potatoes every year?

I generally buy new seed every year but having said that I always save some pink fir apple every year( I begrudge what you have to pay for these seed compared to others)

Last years harvest was very good from them and looking at their tops this year I see no reason that I shouldn't get the same or better this year again.

Plus they haven' t succumbed to aminopropylid damage!

So I guess the choice is yours but I don't think you should save them above two to three years before restocking.

To do so is tempting fate I think.

[pigeonseed]

Thanks for the advice. I don't save potato seed, because I don't get a great number and eat them all. But I would like to think one day I'd get organised enough to do so.

How do the professional seed growers ensure they're free from disease? Do they test them in some way?

[Tee Gee]

How do the professional seed growers ensure they're free from disease? Do they test them in some way?

Basically no different from anyone else they just monitor their crop/s throughout the year and they have access to chemicals to prevent disease that we don't have!

Plus they possibly lift them sooner than we would as they are growing them for a different reason from us,that is they don,t necessarily want big potatoes.

If the crop returns quite large potatoes they might grade them as was discussed earlier in this thread.

I have noticed with Kestrel some of the seeds can be quite large this is why I get my supplier to count out the number I need rather than way them otherwise I wouldn't have enough tubers to fill the rows I planned to do.

Then there is the fact that they probably have purpose built storage areas to keep them in until needed.

[pigeonseed]

Thank you Tee Gee.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Most of the problem, apart from blight, is with aphid-borne viruses, which are passed on via infected seed. Seed is traditionally produced in Scotland, where there are few aphids until later in the year, and therefore a lot less virus. I'm not sure what they do to eliminate blight. I recently discovered that in the States, seed can have 1% of infected tubers, and this is a factor in the spread of the disease.