Potato Storage Fail

One aspect of growing my own food I underestimated was preservation. I spent so much time learning how to plant and grow food (and of course, eating it), that I didn't pay much attention to how my hard-earned food was going to overwinter until I could get fresh stuff.

A total newbie mistake.

Well, if I hadn't learned the lesson before, I have learned it now. I was cooking a special dinner for my SO and I decided to use all local ingredients. I purchased fresh, local Cod, direct from the fisherman at the farmers market. I used local butter to make it even more delicious. I cooked up some of our canned green beans from last year's garden. And then I ventured down into the basement to grab some of our potatoes.

I keep the potatoes in burlap bags deep in a big box so no light can intrude. Even though my basement has lights, it's still pretty dark in there so I carried a flashlight to inspect my potatoes. I pried open the top of the box and saw this horrific image:

Boo!

Night of the Living Dead!!! Yes, I shrieked like a school girl. But once I got over my fright, I realized that perhaps this was not the best way to keep potatoes. My basement stays around 55 degrees, so too warm. And I obviously have not checked on the potatoes in quite some time. Two lessons there.

In other news, the canned beans were perfect, so canning was a success. But my yummy whole chickens are starting to freezer burn. There are several ways to preserve chicken in the freezer in a safer manner, and I will dutifully perform them next year. So far I have scored a C- for preservation. Now I need to study up and stop underestimating the food storage aspects of small farm life.