My hub has told me tonight he is going to dig up all our spuds in the morning whether its raining or not can anyone tell me if this is a good or bad idea, we have always left them to dry out for a couple of days on the ground in previous years, i dont think this will be possible with the weather forcast
it will certainly make it harder work for him,heavier soil and all that,bless him!
Well you need to dig them some time and if you have got the space indoors, then with cardboard or newspaper as a bottom layer, spread them out and keep turning them until they are dry all over then bag them up. (It wont take that long)
Dirty but dry spuds will keep a bit better than washed and dried. The key word is dry but how long in this country do we get to dry them out doors?
prefare to dig up spuds in dry weather but at this time of year it is difficult to find a dry week, today it will be claggy with the soil sticking to the spuds, good luck, ;)
Go for it! beat the slugs who will be revelling in this shall I say 'damp' weather'
All you need is to get them under cover after lifting as soon as possible and lay them out to dry, I have used the garage floor before now.
This is what I did this year and after about three days they were bagged up and in permanent storage under the bench;
Kestrel;
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/Sept%202010/Potatoharvest.jpg)
Fir Apple;
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/Sept%202010/PinkFirapple.jpg)
Bagged and under the bench;
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/Sept%202010/P1140381.jpg)
Not so easy for flat dwellers or people with limited space though :)
thanks, have now got several plastic garden tubs sitting in the porch, I will keep turning them everyday untill they are dry to bag up :)
I acknowledge wht zigzag says about dirty ones, but if digging thin skinned ones at this time of year* I find that it helps to have a bucket of water close at hand - can give the spuds a quick rinse as you dig each plant, and discard any dodgy ones there and then. They also dry out quicker if they are not caked with mud.
* I found last year that 1/3 were slug ravished to the extent that they were no good for storing, and thus would have been a lot of extra work to lug home from the allotment and dry out.