The super-sized commercial unit I'd been lusting after ever since I experienced LARGE, efficient-to-operate commercial cooling units when we owned and operated the restaurant?
I'm down to the very last of my potatoes I grew in the garden last year. These pretty little spuds have been kept in the bottom of my roomy, spare refrigerator since they were harvested. Are they not still beautiful? And they're still crisp and firm.
Granted, the reds have not fared nearly as well, but I sure am pleased with the way the whites kept.So who needs a root cellar? Just invest in several spare refrigerators to store all of your root crops in. (Don't take me seriously, 'cause I would LOVE to have an old-fashioned root cellar dug into a hill here on the property! Maybe someday?)
13 comments:
Great looking potatoes and a beautiful fridge! We have two refrigerators and two freezers but still have to store some things in the room under the stairs in our shop - it maintains a very cool, consistent temp so we store wine and onions there. What I really want is for Tramp 1 to build a root cellar under the house - you can stand up under there - but he just looks at me like I am nuts!!
I can't believe you just used "roomy" and "refrigerator" in the same conversation... I'm green with envy! I agree, nice potatoes!
Red potatoes must not like cold or something. I tried keeping them in hubby's "beer" fridge in the garage and they turned out mushy.
I LUST--yes-LUST!!!! after your fridge. If you weren't one of my favorites, I'd steal it from you. Well, that and I don't know where you live...........
Rats.
Do you have the fridges turned on to a specific temp? I would expect if you were storing root crops you wouldn't want the fridge to be very cool.
We have a root cellar, well, kind of. There used to be a trap door in the kitchen floor. Now there is a dug out part about the size of our kitchen and the hot water tank and furnace is in it. The only way to get into our little dug out basement is from the door outside. I wish someone would come and dig the entire basement out so we could have a real basement and not a dirt crawlspace where spiders go to die.
How do you resist planting that sucker. It has "plant me" written all over it. Your really sticking to your guns!
*chuckle* I see I'm not the only one fantasizing about a root cellar!
Love your new fridge! I kept my onions in the fridge this winter and was very happy with how long they lasted - until they were gone! I was thinking a fridge like that would be nice too. I can keep dreaming. :) Congratulations to you, however!
2 Tramps - That room under the stairs sounds great. And what is more important to store properly than onions and wine!
Erin - This commercial unit is the first time I've ever had room to spare in a refrig! It's a disease I inherited from my mom who always fought with a crammed refrig. That's continually been my problem, too, and I think I passed it on to Chicken Mama!
Sue - I wonder if it is too cold in the refrig for reds? Never thought of that. Or are whites generally just better "keepers?"
Still lots to learn, eh?
Sparkless - My spare refrig's temp is set on "regular" . . . nothing different for the root crops stored in there.
Our crawl space BREEDS spiders, I think!
Jane - A short time back when you were looking for potatoes to replant, I seriously considered boxing up these reds and sending them to you. BUT if you remember I had that wire worm problem in a few of my potatoes last year and although I sorted them and kept only ones that showed no signs of being infested, I didn't want to take the chance of sending you any "problems."
Dmarie - Well, you know those old-timers had so many GOOD, practical ideas that we've lost much by discarding them.
Patty - Wow, I always thought onions liked a dry, warmer temp than you would find in a refrig. Glad that worked for you!
I just got a book on root cellaring. Amazing that you still have spuds!!
But I think Jane is right, those babies needed a dirt home!
APG - Even if I had done the full-blown garden this year, I wouldn't have used these as seed potatoes because of the fact that some of the taters had the problem with wire worms last year. These that I saved looked perfectly healthy but the wire worms freaked me out. Supposedly the best cure for getting them out of your garden soil is to let the soil lie fallow for a year. Good thing I'm not planting anything in the field garden this year, eh?
Oh gosh yes, your potatoes stored beautifully. I love my extra fridge too, though its not as large and energy efficient as yours. Still, it's a great way to keep things that otherwise I couldn't!
Leigh - I know, every gardener NEEDS a spare refrig for keeping garden excess at all times of the year!
Post a Comment