Lots of Potatoes Lots of Mud

Dug Potatoes this weekend. It's been very wet here so the spuds are very muddy.

Anyone have a easy way to clean a 3-4 hundred pounds of potatoes for storage? In the past they have went in the cellar as is, but clean would be better.

Ours rotted in the ground it was so wet here no spuds for us.

about half usual here,may have to let em dry somehow.

Threw them out on the grass and it's rained on them for two days but most still look like mud balls.

We had great potatoes here this year.

I always would take my entire tater haul inside my pole barn and lay them out on the floor for a week or so to "harden", as the Old Timers would say. I never tried storing spuds that have been washed off.

Normally we just leave them on the grass to harden for a week. Then they go in the cellar but this year it's hard to tell they are Potatoes they have so much dirt on them.

They have been like this before, maybe it is what it is.

i have washed , if you soak them in wheel barrows of water then transfer to someplace to dry like saw horses with planks on them , they need some time to "harden" when they get left in the sun or out to dry the outer skin drys some and gets tougher.

if they don't get a good dry outer layer they can mold much easier then they rot.

U have a harvester/puller one or two row puller or do you dig them by hand?

Skid steer with forks. I put both forks tight together.

Normally we have 1000-1200#. But we cut back this year because we storage space

I bet that works pretty good. I have a few friends that have those old time potato harvesters. They are an awesome piece of equipment for a small potato field.

It’s not the easiest but take a cattle tank fill it so the water is running over one end put the potato’s in until the mud softens and then start wiping carefully, the probelm is you can take the skin off but you will need the fresh water coming in to help with the dirt.

I planted mine differently this year by laying them on the ground and covering them up with straw. The theory is you just rack the straw back and pick them up. They didn't do too bad but this where still muddy with the monsoon here. I sprayed them off with a garden hose and set them in my shop to harden. Easier to pick but the mice seemed to have a heyday in the straw. May do things a bit differently next year.

I scatter mine on the barn floor. Keep them outta the light so they don’t get sunburned. Sometimes put a fan on them too.

For those who leave them out in the sun, have you had problems with them turning green? (Green potatoes can be toxic.)

Why not wait to dig when conditions are better

Old bed springs and a garden hose

I HATE TO SUGGEST SOMETHING THAT LIKELY WAS OBVIOUS TO YOU BUT IF I WANTED TO WASH THEM ALL AT ONE TIME I WOULD PUT THEM IN A GILL NET SUSPENDED OFF THE GROUND AND PRESSURE WASH THEM. I AM PRETTY SURE THE PRESSURE WASHER WILL GET RID OF THE MUD AND SINCE THEY ARE POTATOES NOT TOMATOES THEY WILL HANDLE BEING WASHED.. IF YOU WANTED TO DO THEM IN SMALLER SAY 25 LB BATCHES USE A LARGE KOKANEE LANDING NET.
60+ YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER WE WASHED OUR SPUDS WITH A SPRAY NOZZLE ON A GARDEN HOSE BUT WE DIDN'T OWN A PRESSURE WASHER AND OUR IRRIGATION WATER PRESSURE WAS ABOUT 120 LB OUT OF THE FAUCET.