Here's how we harvest potatoes. It isn't rocket science, its just dirt. Watch our how to video first.
Like I said, its not rocket science to harvest potatoes. The most important thing is to not pierce the potatoes when harvesting them. If you use a shovel or gardenfork, you may pierce them. No big deal, just cook those pierced potatoes for dinner tonight.
I think the best tool to harvest potatoes is your hands. Gloves help. Most of us don't have massive rows of potatoes, so hands work pretty good. Besides, we have them nearby. Just add gloves.
Storing potatoes is harder than harvesting potatoes. For best storage, the potatoes need to be mature. Dig up a potato and see if the skin rubs off easily. If it does, the potato is not mature. You could still harvest potatoes at this point, but they would be for cooking in the near term.
To store them long term, you need to 'cure' them. Two weeks of dark storage at high humidity, about 80-90%, and then 40-45F at high humidity. A cool basement may be a good place for storage, check the humidity level first. Cook up any damaged potatoes, they can ruin a crop if left in storage. Learn more about potato curing here.
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