Getting potatoes on the farm.

My sister is married to a wonderful potato farmer who shares his bounty each and every year.  This year he allowed us to come over and get a truckload of potatoes which we were able to take our fill for the year and share with many of our friends at church.  He truly blessed many peoples lives this harvest.

Each year we store the potatoes in a cool dry place and they keep clear through spring, however we have a potato-less summer and hungrily anticipate the day that my sister says harvest begins and we are again allowed to beg the best potatoes in Washington.  (note:  I am not simply bragging about my brother-in-laws potatoes, but he has won several awards for the best grown potatoes in Washington.  I am accurate when I say the potatoes come from the best).

This year my husband and I discussed what to do about our potato situation and our remedy was to can the potatoes so that when the end of spring comes and our potatoes are sprouting and getting too soft and rotten that we will still have some more until the next harvest in late September.

We simply refuse to purchase potatoes at the grocery store because they are no where close to being as good as our family’s.

Luckily for us potatoes are one of the simplest vegetables to can at home.  Watch this video to learn how and scroll to the bottom for directions.

Directions for Canning Potatoes:

• Cut and Peel Potatoes
• Place potatoes in canning jar
• Add 1 teaspoon for quarts and 1/2 teaspoon for pints of canning and pickling salt (do not use iodized salt)
• Put lids and rings on
• Process in pressure cooker for 40 minutes after it reaches 10 pounds of pressure.
• When canner is done let it sit on the on the counter to cool and de-pressurize before opening the canner and removing the jars.
• Remove the jars and set them on a clean dry towel overnight to cool and seal if they did not already.  Generally all of your jars will seal in the pressure canner.
• Label and store once cooled.