Sprouting potatoes: still good to eat?

[kedrys]

I noticed while feeding the cats this morning that the two potatoes the s.o. stored in a bowl on the counter are starting to sprout. Are they still edible, or should I bury them in the backyard and make more potatoes?

[miss_american_pie]

1. As long as they aren't green

you can eat them.

But they freak me out once they sprout, so I compost them.

[kedrys]

2. Green all the way through?

or green near the skin? How far do I have to carve it open to see how far gone the potato is?

[miss_american_pie]

3. Hmmm

I always toss them if I see any green, but I bet you could cut the green parts off.

Try this link http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fp96.htm

[kedrys]

4. Interesting link, thanks!

We were gonna bake those guys, so maybe it's time to go bury them in the yard and see if they sprout baby potatoes. :)

[Gormy Cuss]

14. Plant'em!

If the sprouts are little and the skin isn't green they will be just fine for cooking. We used to snap eyes out of potatoes frequently when I was a kid because our potatoes were grown locally and weren't treated.

On the other hand, growing them can be fun. My sister had a roommate who stuck a sprouting tater in a pot and grew it as a house plant. It was a mighty impressive vine in a few months.

If you cut each tater into chunks with one sprouting eye on each before planting them outside, you could have quite a crop of little taters at the end of the season.

[Scout1071]

5. I've read that any green is bad.

Bad potato!

[Benfea]

6. OMGWTFBBQ HES EATING POTATOE BABEES!

MURDERER!!!!!11!!1!!!!1!~!!!!!!1!!!!oneone

[CatholicEdHead]

7. Good to plant in the ground

[kedrys]

8. I've never tried that, actually

Anything special I need to do if I actually want more potatoes? My gardening experience is confined to tomatoes, chives, and strawberries.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Sure! I use them all the time.

And I'm not dead yet! :hi:

[oneighty]

10. Potato green tubers and sprouts

Alt name Solonum Tuberosum

Toxin is Solanine very toxic in small quantities.


So Google says.

When I was a little boy slave on a farm my masters told me friends of theirs died from eating potato sprouts.

Darn might have been true. Shoulda fed some to my masters.

180

[johnnie]

11. Why do hate American potatoes?

You are making spuds across America cry.

[kedrys]

13. LOL!

Um, they hate *me*, evidently, if they're trying to poison me... :rofl:

[skygazer]

12. They should be okay if they're just starting to sprout

But in future, potatoes should always be stored in a cool, dry place (that's why people in the old days had a root cellar). Light turns them green and you shouldn't eat green potatoes. They can make you sick though they generally do not unless it's a child or an elderly person (or someone with poor health) who eats them. Better to be safe, though.

In grocery stores, it's customary to cover up the potatoes with black plastic at night - they have to be visible during the day, of course, but we cover them at night to protect them from the light and we cull out any that get green or begin sprouting.