Home Canned Potatoes...

We dehydrate spuds, carrots and so on, almost everything. The big advantage of dehydrating is the space saving. A 2 kg bag of frozen carrots, dehydrates down to 3/4 jam jar. (Frozen vegies are already blanched, cheap, and easily available).
We started using a solar dehydrator, and I made delicious fruit strips that were gone as soon as they were dry ! No chance to store anything ! We have 2 round, el chepo 240 volt dryers that work OK, if time consuming as they can take a day and a half to dehydrate properly. Now have a 10 shelf, unit that does twice as much in 3/4 the time, on good days. Runs perfectly from the solar system (Takes around 1/2 kw continuously), and has a timer built in. Plenty of offerings on the net.
Yes, seed spuds were difficult to get, but u gota be lucky sometimes. Went to Norco for some feeds and there was a huge box of seed spuds for a few $/kg. Waited in line and in that 5 minutes, almost the entire 100 kg box went. Still managed to get 10 kg of them though.
Sweet potatoes grow well here almost all year round. Dehydrate well, and will keep for months in a dark place, say your wallet !
She who must be obeyed is going to experiment with dehydrating meat as soon as the weather gets a bit better.
Then comes eggs, and anything else from the garden.
The dehydrated vegies work very well in fried rice, and its a nutritious dish that can be made from most of your own garden produce, apart from the homemade chicken stock that we make from chicken carcasses from the butchers that are cheap. (Render them down for a few hours when the wood stove is on, most days now).
Fuel run to town today, bye bye $500 +.




Its a fine line between fishing and standing still.

I've always wondered at the value of dehydrating fruit and veg. From my understanding they loose about half of their nutrition value that way. Is it better to store canned products or is the nutrition about the same?

Why on earth do you need to preserve items that are available all year around. Your time, effort and energies should be spent on other matters.

Because the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables including carrots and potatoes is just not there presently.

Because the quality of those that are available is extremely poor.

Because I live in a remote area where when I drive down the mountain there are only smaller stores available without traveling longer distances, those stores are prone to runs and shortages regularly.

Because they are available all year round .... till they aren't. I lack the capability to produce them year round in my climate and location. Crop failures happen every day. 

Because I have shoes older than most preppers and I have been at this a long time. Because my time, energy and effort will be spent on the same choices that have kept me alive for the last SEVEN decades. Because if it isn't broken don't fix it.

Because I buy what I can't produce. I choose to produce rather than consume and I am not driven by cheap. I trust my own capabilities, knowledge and skills to provide what the people inside these fences of mine need only then reaching out to my immediate community.  Regardless of the national/global supply system successes or failures or anything that is happening outside my fences or what other people/preppers tell me I SHOULD be doing potatoes are easy to grow and easy to preserve cheaply right at my farm. When the world falls apart I just close the gates, circle the wagons and work even harder to continue to produce and protect that within.

And lastly Why on earth would I not? I have thousands of jars at my disposal. Canning in this country is a cultural thing and is done more widely. It seems that while many in AUS commonly can (water bath) fruit in recycled containers canning everything in the U.S. is more common and affordable. I can fruits, vegetables, meats, and soups extensively. Potatoes here are a cool weather crop grown in early spring in a 7 to 8 month total growing season. 

I also dehydrate, ferment, butcher and smoke my own meats and make wine and liquors all of which I can buy cheaper... till I can't!

My approach is a bit different. Example I grew green beans last year. I canned almost 400 quart jars of green beans not to mention what I dehydrated and pickled. This year I will grow a small amount of green beans to eat fresh and concentrate on different crops to can large amounts of.  That 400 jars should last me several years. This year I am concentrating on red beans but a specific heirloom type that my family like but are not available commercially. I have 4 rotations planted at different intervals. I will can and dry the targeted amount of jars (200) and dried beans (also seeds) and then next year move on to other crops. 

This is in addition to a normal garden eaten fresh!

I base what I grow on what I need fresh and what I need or want to can that year to fill holes in my existing supplies. This also helps with garden pests. Lets say I plant potatoes and have a large concentration of potato beetles. If I don't rotate potatoes back in to the garden for several years those potato beetles tend to fade away.  This keeps those populations low. 

Been there, done that and moved way south.

I think maybe the take away is that there is not one thing/crop or one way to prep. Three different commenters, three different countries, three different climates, two different continents, different dietary restrictions/requirements and meal preferences and numbers all come into the equation. Just maybe more important that we all make the effort to prep and know that it is possible if needed to preserve in different ways for whatever your reason.

Tim if you are contemplating canning potatoes my personal opinion from someone who has done it often is that many people do not care for canned potatoes because it changes the consistency somewhat. It is easily done though.

For me my personal preference is dehydrated in either shredded or sliced form. They can be stored in jars or mylar and buckets and become shelf stable for decades. I personally have 5 gallon buckets of them stored. Dehydrated they are easily stored in less space and have more versatility. Rehydrated they can be used in casseroles, soups, hash browns or even mashed for mashed potatoes.

If I were worried about a shortage and looking to stock up I think that would be the way I would personally go.

Where do the majority of the potatoes consumed in Canada come from? In the U.S. Idaho is the big potato producer and supplies the majority. I have not heard of any major potato shortages predicted in the imminent future though that doesn't mean a thing.

You can always grab some frozen hash browns (shredded potatoes) and run them through the dehydrators to hedge your bets if you can find them. Maybe experiment with a few jars canned to sample how they taste.

For me personally my carb of choice is rice anyway.

Where do the majority of the potatoes consumed in Canada come from?
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Actually... Potatoes for North America are quite wide spread.. Far eastern Canada, far north east US produce a lot.. Wisconsin, Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, Manitoba... Idaho, Washington, Saskatchewan, Alberta and lower British Columbia all on either side of the mountains produce a lot.. My swamp savage cousin in lower Georgia state US saying they produce a lot..

Trivia.. North of us there is an old pioneer homestead preserved as a historic site.. It started as a homestead to run the river ferry that ran on a cable.. It evolved into a cross roads for the local area with store, post office, blacksmith, and the like.. This all as part of the route to the gold fields in the northern province, Yukon, Alaska, North West Territories... They are likely most famous as they grew potatoes on the river delta there that sustained many during all this time.. If you visit the site today you can tour the homestead, and still buy potatoes grown locally..
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I think maybe the take away is that there is not one thing/crop or one way to prep. Three different commenters, three different countries, three different climates, two different continents,
Different tastes....
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Yes, yes... Double yes... That is the best explanation I have heard of all this.. Bless you for your far sightedness.. One can look all around to the limits of there individual horizons and one way of doing things does not fit all.. THIS is the advantage of todays world to be able to share local practices and experiences that provide bits of info that make our individual practices better and more productive..

Prep on campers... “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome”

Root cellars are not at all common. I don’t know anyone that has one.

(Basements and attics are also less common.)

I’ve seen many US cooking videos that use frozen shredded potato. I had to just use fresh potatoes but frozen would be very convenient sometimes, especially as it seems you can get them with nothing added!!

I wonder if the lack of root cellars and less of a culture of preserving is because over most of Aus you can grow useful food pretty much all year so long term storage wasn’t as necessary.

Unless you live in zones 9 & 10 where year round gardening is possible but it is so hot and the soil not great in most of those regions.
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There are a lot of zones between zone 2 and 10 in North America that are more capable of growing than many may realize.. Some of the problem in many areas is providing water...
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A root cellar in many areas, even here in the far north will essentially be indoor pools.. Or ice house too many months of the year..