Potatoes and Other Root Crops

This is my page to question and explore, in depth, storing potatoes and other root crops.  The organization of this information is still taking shape.

It is now November 24.  Awhile back, shall we say...  ~September, I bought a box of potatoes.  Yukon Gold, if I remember correctly.  The best storage place I coud find for them was in their original box, in the coolest room in the house.  In this room, it was still ~60...maybe 65 degrees Fahrenheit.  The humidity though, was higher than what I'd consider optimal.  While I can't remember for sure, I want to say it was around 70%.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take notes.

So, the potatoes started sprouting.  Not knowing what to do, I put a paper bag over them in the box.  Over time, this did not seem to help.  It occurred to me that the humidity is too high in that location.  Unfortunately, I don't have a better place of which I am aware.

This issue of the best method to store food until it gets cold enough is confounding.  What, I ask myself, did "the pioneers" do?  Before that?  Better yet, I guess, is the question "What is the best way I can store these food items now?"

An idea comes to me.  What if a person put shredded newspaper in the box with the potatoes to draw moisture out?  It could work.  I am reminded of the carrot storage idea; which is to put carrots to bed in a Tupperware tote or other box alternating layers of carrots & sand.  This is an idea currently under experimentation to determine what issues arise with this method, and how long the carrots last.

The best method, or should I say the easiest, is to store them in the ground where they grow.  If that works, then sure that is best.  In time, we'll see if this works and how well.